Thermostat on a supercharged 6

[yZoH]

One of the most amazing thread digs I have ever seen!

Good work Hatchman76, And nice tips with the thermostat change.

Cheers
Mat

 

[monkeys437]

I'm a backyard hack at best when it comes to cars and this took a long time even by my standards. Why for the life of me Holden put the thermostat in such a ridiculous position is beyond me, surely it could have been done better, it shouldn't have to be that hard to replace a thermostat on a Commodore.

Have a look at one on a FWD supercharged 6 from the US.

It will all make sense then....

 

[frogsta]

Should write a how to

 

[wod300]

I joined this forum just because of this thread as it was very helpful, I've got a VX S2 S with a supercharger and I would have to say that replacing the thermostat is an absolute bastard of a thing to do.

I did it this way:
Removed the throttle body
Removed the vacuum diaphragm on the side of the supercharger next to the U-bend (no way I can get to the bleed screw with it on)
Removed the U-bend intake - ring spanners needed here
Removed and replaced the thermostat and gasket
Put it all back together in reverse order trying to remember where all the bloody vacuum hoses go! I also replaced the gaskets on each end of the u-bend while I was at it.

Ring spanners did the bulk of the work although I used a socket wrench for the thermostat housing. Removing the bolts for the U-bend at the back are ridiculously pain-staking, I could only move them about 2mm at a time so it took forever to get them off.

I'm a backyard hack at best when it comes to cars and this took a long time even by my standards. Why for the life of me Holden put the thermostat in such a ridiculous position is beyond me, surely it could have been done better, it shouldn't have to be that hard to replace a thermostat on a Commodore.

Hey Hatchman, you didn't happen to take any pictures when you did the thermo housing, did you? Please!!!

 

[Adam H]

Hey guys. I needed to remove the thermo housing today as I found it leaking after doing LIM gaskets and putting on a S/C insulator. I replaced thermostat but didn't use any gasket maker (wrong move).

So I got the thermo housing off without taking off the U bend.

Remove everything as posted by others above, undo the bolts for the sensor/regulator that is on the s/c and swivel it towards front of motor. Wiring loom at the firewall is a pain but if you remove nut that holds a bracket to the firewall with loom in it you can get it out of the way so as to give clearance to the thermo bolt under the U bend.

The tool. I used a 10mm ring ratchet spanner with the offset swivel on it. 10mm extension socket for the easy one. Once everything was removed out of the way I had thermo housing off in 5 minutes.

Hope this helps in the future.
Cheers

 

[Liamgeddes22]

Hey guys I replaced my thermostat and hose I installed a new thermostat and new o ring on top of that then a paper gasket did it up tight and re installed everything and started it and it seemed to start leaking from where it bolts together it’s not cracked or anything any suggests maybe use rtv instead of paper gasket or something?

 

[losh1971]

If it's like early V6 you use a gasket and sealant. Again if it's like early V6 the thermo housings warp, hence why sealant is sometimes needed even with a gasket.
Plenty of blokes on here using SC engine and will have proper knowledge on this.

 

[Adam H]

RTV mate, Ive had no issues since last post.

 

[krusing]

Keeping in mind, you need to bleed the S/C Cooling system correctly !
Because you will most likely get an airlock in it.
Which will cause it to overheat and make some horrible noises in the radiator.

 

[krusing]

If it's like early V6 you use a gasket and sealant. Again if it's like early V6 the thermo housings warp, hence why sealant is sometimes needed even with a gasket.
Plenty of blokes on here using SC engine and will have proper knowledge on this.

^^^^^ Like he Said !