Want to do mine? :) Already got the parts

Lol...thats funny

I actually have to do mine too.

Easy.. do it yourself.

Took it apart today, couldnt get the damn fan off, thus couldnt get the final bolt out of the tstat.. grrr! Be like over $150 in labor to have it done in bham... I bought the parts today ($74), wed. Ill take it to our shop and make a tool to get the fan off..

I dont wanna do it...lol

It looks like a PIA

if I can get the stupid fan off Ill be good, its not connected to the 4 bolts holding the pulley on either.. just fyi lol

you need a 1.25" long wrench to get the fan off and a long screw driver to hold the fan in place... the fan also loosens the other way.

ok

Be thankful that its for a BMW.

I just had to change my thermostat in my new 2002 Audi S6. It was a 10 hour job. It required removing the front bumper, radiator, fans, belts, TIMING BELT, water pump and then the thermostat.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e28/RubiconXJ/IMG_0005.jpg
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e28/RubiconXJ/IMG_0004.jpg


http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e28/RubiconXJ/audim3.jpg

ok

the fan screws off clock wise. very deceiving.

if you can get your car down to my shop i will have my mechanic do it for you for $20

clockwise sitting in the car?

clockwise sitting in the car?

no, the fan screws of clockwise from standing in front of the car.

as normally you unscrew a screw counter clockwise.

its basically referred to as reverse thread.

I've completed it. Its not too bad... You're best off picking up a fan tool, they are pretty inexpensive from what I've heard. I used a big adjustable wrench to get mine off and a long flat head screwdriver to hold the fan in place. Smashed up my knuckles pretty bad but I got the damn thing off. Once thats done its a piece of cake.

Drive it over here, I'll do it for you :D

how do you hold the fan in place with a screwdriver?


Umm, spovegas is somewhere I dont get very often lol, but thanks for the offer!

autowaune - You mean a 6hr job your very first time? I didn't find it so hard my first time, just a bit weird that I had to take the ****ing front bumper off. I'm hoping your t-stat didn't just randomly fail on you however, and that you were planning on doing the timing belt anyways and thus t-stat too.

MooneyDriver - Use a 32mm wrench and a hammer, whack the wrench clockwise, and it might break free. You'll need to have the belt on to do that. If it doesn't work, wedge a screw driver in. If you can't figure it out, you probably shouldn't be doing it, no offense please. If you want to drive down to Portland I'll take care of it for you, no charge. Its perhaps the easiest repair possible :)

I did the hammer trick, didnt budge, didnt see any good way to lodge a screwdriver or a prybar in there without hurting anything.... My credentials, I have been building motors and have a race car (runs 10's N/A), built large trucks, motorcycles, quads, for years, it wouldnt come loose with what tools I had at hand. Ill make a tool to catch the water pump bolts thatll take it off, since mine is stuck on really good. No worries.

You need to jam a screwdriver somewhere else other than the fan. On my 318 i put jammed a screwdriver in between the belt and the waterpump i think. Its a 2 person job one to hold the belt and one to move the screw driver. If you can wait till December i can give you a hand.

IC, if I dont have it done by Dec. Ill look ya up, I should have it done in two days when I can get an open bay in our shop. Thank you

Air bleeding question though, anyone drilled a small hole in the top of the thermostat to let air pass? just curious.

I think I'll just wait til my bumper comes and do it when the bumper and everything is off....

IC, if I dont have it done by Dec. Ill look ya up, I should have it done in two days when I can get an open bay in our shop. Thank you

Air bleeding question though, anyone drilled a small hole in the top of the thermostat to let air pass? just curious.

Drill a hole in the top of the thermostat? My housing was metal so that might be hard.

You can drill a hole through anything (I work at a metal/fab shop too), was just curious if it would help get the air out of the system.

You can drill a hole through anything (I work at a metal/fab shop too), was just curious if it would help get the air out of the system.

I don't see the need for that. You have a purge valve on the top of your radiator near the coolant reservoir. You just loosen it up, fill with coolant, rev up the engine, you'll see bubbles. fill up again, rev again, continue till no more bubbles come out of the purge valve. Their is an excellent DIY at pelican parts dot com.

Alright cool, just wanted to ask. Thanks.

autowaune - You mean a 6hr job your very first time? I didn't find it so hard my first time, just a bit weird that I had to take the ****ing front bumper off. I'm hoping your t-stat didn't just randomly fail on you however, and that you were planning on doing the timing belt anyways and thus t-stat too.

MooneyDriver - Use a 32mm wrench and a hammer, whack the wrench clockwise, and it might break free. You'll need to have the belt on to do that. If it doesn't work, wedge a screw driver in. If you can't figure it out, you probably shouldn't be doing it, no offense please. If you want to drive down to Portland I'll take care of it for you, no charge. Its perhaps the easiest repair possible :)


It took about 6 hours, yes, but the book shows it at 10. Yes, the thermostat randomly failed on me. But of course I replaced that timing belt and water pump as well. My S6 only has 63k miles. Sad.

Hey, in case you're still trying to do this (and for anyone else that may be interested), here's a DIY that I wrote up:
http://www.todor.info/repair/

Nice writup, thanks.

Alrighty, got the thermostat and housing changed last night, with the fan out of the way its easy, made a little tool to catch the water pump pulley bolts, and an 1-1/4" wrench, off it came.

Ill get a pic of my thermostat, it was broken, no wonder the car wouldnt ever warm up. Now after a solid 5 min + of driving its fully warm, where as before, it never would be, now to get more flow out of this heater...

been broke for a while, quality part there.. never seen this before.



http://johnvh.smugmug.com/photos/221223774-L.jpg

been broke for a while, quality part there.. never seen this before.



http://johnvh.smugmug.com/photos/221223774-L.jpg
holy crap! i never thought they could break like that... how many miles were on that thermostat? what's the brand?

that looks ****ing old. like really old.

dont know how old it is, the car is only a 95, has 150k on the car. Ill see if I can find out what brand it was, maybe it was the origional? The car still had the plastic thermostat housing, held on with 3 bolts, haha, I upgraded it.