Please bear with me, this is kind of my first part review, hope this helps somewhat. Well guys, have u ever thought of changing you thermostat, well here is your little DIY, just for u. This can be done with the right tools in under 1 and a half hour. Since night time caught with me by mistake, it took me like 2 to three because of some trouble shooting at the end. :D

Tools:
-10mm socket
-Toyota Life long Coolant or High quality coolant
-Obviously: your thermostat
-Thermostat Gasket (if u see it neccesary, just like the manual says)

NOTE: I do not make myself resoposible for any damages done to your car or yourself by doing this yourself. If you don't have any mechanical inclination, don't do it. Go look for proffesional help.

Step One: Drain all your coolant. This is a little messy, at least for me cause I completly removed the drain plug and the radiator cap, so everything would go WAY faster. You'll see what I mean once that starts to drain.





Step Two: Locate the thermostat Housing on the upper part of the lower coolant hose.



Step 3: Use the 10mm socket to remove 2 nuts on the upper and lower thermostat housing.




Step 4: Once the 2 nuts are out, Move the thermostat housing to the side.



Step 5: Try to remove the old thermostat without damaging it. I use somekind of crimper tool, I don't rember it's name. Sorry :D I do not know all the name for my tools. Sorry.

Step 6: Okay, u can use the new gasket you bought, or TAKE THE RISK I DID and Re use the gasket in the old thermostat for the new thermostat. Install it looking carefully that it is in the right position and all. You DON'T want a leak here.

Step 7: IMPORTANT!!!! When installing a new thermostat line up the jiggling part to a good 90* degrees. Look at this diagram here with some instructions.



Step 8: Put everything the way it was before. The pohot above have the proper torque settings for the thermostat housing. Good Luck



Now for the part REVIEW:

"160F" Scion tC Thermostat
All this is at idle with the old thermostat:





At idle with the new thermostat:

 

digimoto, good choice!

how much is the new thermostat?

 

btw, you gotta integrate that liliput into the radio cover man...

 

The radio cover can't be used with this model man... too big. The new thermostat was like $27 with S&H and all.

 

seems like a good price, this will be my next mod

(if it's a 7", it will fit... anything bigger, well, should've gotten a 7")

 

so what temp does it run at now ? idle really isnt a good way to judge this because the fans still kick on at the same temp as always .

 

Have you thought about drilling a couple of holes around the edge of the thermostat to allow some extra coolant to pass through?

 

I know, but since I don't have a co-pilot yet, I will yet see the temps drop down during a harsh enviroment, like the track. At idle I saw a drop of 14* degrees. That's something in my game, after 20 minutes of steady idle at 800 RPM.

 

That would beat ther whole purpose of the coolant valve, why not let it open so all the coolant always go thru. I don't see it as a good thing doing this. Why do you recommend it?

 

are u using the waterwetter rightnow?

 

ok , I just read in ur other post that u did use water wetter . so now im kinda stuck , I wonder if u have a different T stat then I , or if the water wetter is helping u drop from stock temps .

 

Yep, maybe that's why the temps went so down, just at idle. Let's see how this baby shines at the track. I'll see how it is.

 

Could it be the Water Wetter, or the thermostat. Do you know the real purpose of the thermostat, it is to open the path for moving coolant at an earlier temp that the OEM one. Maybe the temps will stay likely the same or at least a little lower, but still it suppose to help at least something.

 

Your "step 6" is a bit dicey... a used gasket won't necessarily seat right if re-used... and its cheap enough that there's no real reason not to put in a new one when you put in a new thermostat.

If this is for a "track only" car, why not take out the thermostat altogether?

 

Well, it's not for a track only, the manual do say to get a new gasket, did I wanted to use a new one. Nop, I did not see the reason to use a new one, and if something fails then I would have make bad decision.

STEP 6 fixed! :D

 

"Well, it's not for a track only,"

I figured, but I was trying to stimulate discussion on how sometimes you can just take it out altogether if lower temps are the goal. It depends a lot on the flow rate from the water pump, and I have no idea whether it would be a stupid idea in a tC or not. In American V8's it works great until the winter months and you *want* the engine to run a little warmer. Then its not so good.

 

Since this is PR, then I would not get worried by winter. LOL But the next time I go to the track I will ask about not having a thermostat at all, and yes, not having a thermostat and having a n all flowing system always on, will wear the water pump earlier.

 

these gaskets actually encase the T stat so there isnt a real concern about leakage .

I am not really familiar with v8s but i always though optimal temp of an engine was in the mid 100s , seems like too cold would make for a bad combustion .

 

OEM temps for the mayority of the engines are suppose to be 210F.

 

right but thats just for emmisions , optimal for hp is mid 100s