sorry if its out there somewhere guys...i have searched the net, and this forum and have yet to find a good DIY on replacing the thermostat...on a 2.8L. the 1.8ts are everywhere...but thats not what i drive. anyone know where i can find a good detailed DIY? hoping to be able to do this **** without taking the whole front of my car off...havent had any luck finding that though....any help will be appreciated! thanks guys

 

You can probably do it without taking the front of the car off but honestly that isnt too bad. This is the very first thing I did to my Audi. If I were you I'd consider doing a timing belt job while you're all the way in there.

 

do you know where i can find a detailed DIY? maybe even with pics...dont you gotta take the bumper and all that **** off??

 

Hopefully Jeremy will chime in here, he can do a t-stat on a 2.8 in 15 seconds while hanging upside down

 

ya i need to talk to jeremy....haha my heat isnt working...last year i just dealt with it...got 2 young daughters now...would like to get it fixed...ive had the thermostat for a while just havent put it in yet. i flushed the core and bled the system w no luck....i wanna do the thermostat before it gets too cold outside

 

isnt falls church up by DC?...im in chesapeake

 

It's 3/4 of a timing belt job according to Jeremy.

 

Lol just saw this post. It's a big job and swapping it out involves removing the timing belt, or at least sliding it forward on the cam sprockets (that's how I did mine since at that time I had another 27k miles to go on the existing timing system). If you're 10k or less away from a t-belt job, or just don't wanna duplicate the labor, order a timing kit (FCP Groton FTW) and do it all at once.

Do you still have my number? Shoot me a text when you have a minute and I'll call you and talk you through it. It's time consuming but not overly difficult.

 

im confident in how to do it....its just getting to it as easy as i can

 

By far the easiest way is to remove the front of the car. Yes it's more work, but it's far better than trying to wedge your arms down in there, fumbling for bolts you can't see, trying to fit tools down there without damaging the radiator. Pull the front end - easy to do and it'll make life a lot easier.