I pulled the coolant filler neck and my thermostat is missing a piece of rubber. The car never overheats and hasn't ever acted up with a heat problem. The thermostat has about 56,000 miles on it (along with the original motor). Will this affect anything the way it looks?

 

what rubber? that's how it suppose to look. the o'ring around the thermostat seals everything up.

 

Seat seal is compromised - replace it.

Tom

 

Agreed - once you're this far, get a new one from Ray Crowe at Malloy (1-888-533-3400), clean any corrosion out of the seal groove, etc., and put in the new one. IIRC, you can get the seal by itself from them too, and then you can have the old T-stat for a spare.

Do NOT get a cheapy replacement - they have been known to cause trouble.

 

I actually bought a new o-ring for the seal (the larger outside ring). I'm talking about the little rubber piece in the center. Is that no good?

 

I ordered a new t-stat from Ray. Thanks.