ok so what I understand the thermostat is behind the piece where the rad cap is. there is 3 10mm bolts. the one on the bottom right is behind a pulley. Is there a trick to get the pulley off? Thank you in advanced. and please excuse my lack of knowledge. I just dont want to mess something up more than it already is.

 

Replacing the thermostat shouldnt require any pulley removing.... I had my thermo housing off twice now, and all I did was remove the 3 10mm bolts, and pull it off. I recently replaced the gasket around the thermostat itself and did just what I said, remove 3 10mm bolts, pull housing, use small screwdriver to pry out the thermostat, replace gasket, and pop it back into place. Seemed pretty easy and took 10 minutes.

 

the pulley thats in my way just covers it enough that I cannot get a straight shot at the bolt. its aftermarket for sure. maybe its larger than the orig. they are greddy pullies. if that helps

 

Yeah that's a bigger water pump pulley. I used a 10mm socket and 10mm wrench to get the bolts out of the pulley. 1 to hold the pulley the other to remove the nut, if that makes sence. The second time i did it i use an air rachet way faster and way easyer.

 

cool. is there anything special I have to be aware of with removing the pulley or belt? thanks.

 

Nope. Just put everything back together the same way u pulled them off.

*Note: It also helps to put some cardboard below because you should get some coolant leakage when you pull off the thermo housing.*

Or maybe that just happend to me because I was lazy and changed the thermostat in about 5 min.