Just a few days ago, I was cruising home from work and I noticed the temperature gauge on my 1999 Mazda 626 was higher than usual. Once I got home, I confirmed my suspicion that the thermostat had stuck closed. Replacing the thermostat on my 626, which has the 2.0-liter engine, is not much different […]

My dad has a 1998 Ford Expedition with a 4.6-liter Triton V-8 engine that produces 215 horsepower and 290 foot-pounds of torque. It’s a nice truck, built on the extended-wheelbase version of Ford’s "U" platform. He discovered, though, that all the horsepower and torque don’t help one little bit when the engine overheated. It was […]

My friend has a 2005 Chevrolet Blazer with the optional ZR2 wide-stance package. It’s a nice truck. It has the 4.3-liter V-6 engine. When it started overheating, he gave me a call to help him replace the thermostat. We put the floor jack in the center under the front crossmember and then put jack stands […]

I have the 170-horsepower, 3.4-liter V-6 engine offered as an option on my 2000 Pontiac Grand Am SE, which all sounds great until it overheats and I have to replace the thermostat. Luckily for me, it was a nice day and I had nowhere special to be. Promoted by How I Got My Cool Back […]

Years ago, I had a 1996 Chevrolet S10 with the 2.2-liter engine, so when my friend had to replace the thermostat on the same truck with the 4.3-liter engine, I gave him a hand. Changing the thermostat on the 2.2-liter engine is just about the same as on the 4.3-liter engine, as I found out. […]

In 2004, after more than a century, Ransom E. Olds’ namesake company closed its doors. But before doing so, Oldsmobile turned out two last Aleros. The very last car, a V-6 GLS, is still on display in a museum in Lansing, Michigan; the second-to-last car, a four-cylinder GL1, somehow found its way down to Florida. […]

I arrived at the shop this one particular morning to find my co-worker, George, smiling rather smugly in my direction. It seems there were two 2002 Ford Tauruses on the lot and both of them needed their thermostats replaced. Knowing that both cars had 3.0-liter engines, George’s competitive nature kicked into high gear. "You take […]

When I think of all the cars I’ve owned, my 1997 Cutlass with the 3.1-liter V-6 was my favorite. It gave me very little trouble, though I remember one time I was driving around town and it overheated. Turns out the thermostat stuck closed and I had to replace it. Replacing the thermostat wasn’t a […]

When the Honda Element arrived in dealers for the 2003 model year, its quirky style attracted me, but Honda’s well-known quality and the Element’s usefulness sold me on it. Now with plenty of miles under its belt, some minor mechanical problems, like the stuck thermostat that caused it to overheat, are rearing their heads now […]

She’s getting up there in age, but my 1995 Grand Cherokee just keeps on going, and the 235-horsepower, 5.2-liter, V-8 engine is still plenty powerful for day-to-day use. As she gets older, little issues pop up here and there, and one example is when my SUV’s thermostat stuck closed on the way home from work […]

History of the Hummer H2 can be traced all the way back to 1979, when AM General began designing the M998 High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle — the Humvee. The Humvee went on to be built as a military-only vehicle until 1992, when AM General released different versions of the vehicle for civilian use, naming […]

There’s a little more to replacing the thermostat on the 4.2-liter engine in your 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer than just popping off a radiator hose and removing the thermostat housing. I found that I had to take the alternator off to get to the thermostat housing. Now that I’ve done it once, I can share my […]

Since the radiator on your 2000 BMW 323i is sealed and does not have a pressure cap, a coolant expansion tank secondary is provided as a means to catch excess coolant — which expands when it is hot — from the radiator. The expansion tank also provides you with a pressurized cap where coolant may […]

The Nissan Quest hit the market in 1993 in a joint venture between Mercury and Nissan — the Mercury Villager is its near-identical twin. In 2004, the Quest entered its third generation and parted ways with its Mercury teammate to become its own, unique minivan. I had to replace the thermostat in my 2004 Quest […]