The heat in my car is not that hot and so I hope that it is my thermostat and not my heater core. My car is running at normal temperatures. I looked in my service manual and it says that I have to remove the air pump to get to my thermostat. So here is my question, is it absolutely necessary to remove my airpump to get to the thermostat? I know I seem lazy but I have been working on my car all week after work at night and I am tired. The joys of new used car ownership.

 

Yes. It's behind the water pump housing, which cannot be removed without taking off the air pump belt and air pump. It only takes 2 min to get the air pump off, so don't sweat it.

Dave

 

what do I do with the tension in the belt? Can I remove it and not have to loosen anything else like the alternator? Basically can I remove the pump and put it back on with messing with anything else? Thanks for your help.

 

ditto... i wanna know too
i've been meaning to replace my thermoswitch but i don't want to have to take off the alternator and deal with the belt tension and such when i'm putting it back on

 

The belts are not that hard guys. Least of your worries.

traric, you could just take off the airpump without lossening the alternator belt, but it would be difficult to move the inner belt around. Also, it's a good idea to replace the belts if they haven't been done in a while.

 

I did not remove the pump or loosen the belt when I replaced my thermostat. Use a ratchet wrench or a 1/4" ratchet,extension and 10mm socket. To get more room, I removed my M2 IC.