2003 Vue Thermostat

[gunneroo7]

AFTER GETTING THE WONDERFUL NEWS (407.52$)TO REPLACE MY T-STAT, I PURSUED A MANUAL FOR THIS VEHICLE. NOT READILY AVLIABLE. THIS IS EVEN AFTER PURCHASING A 3000.00 EXTENDED WARANTY:upset: . THEN THE DEALER WANTED ME TO PAY FOR DIAGNOSTICS, 95.00, WHEN I TOLD HIM THE TROUBLE CODE WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS DROPPED OFF. WELL IT'S BEEN A DAY, BOTTOM LINE, I NEED PROCEDURES AND OR PICTURES FOR REPLACING MY THERMOSTAT AND HOUSING.

[ssicarman]

Welcome to the Board.

Which engine?





:| PS writing in all capital letters is considered yelling and if nothing else annoying.

[gunneroo7]

I have the v6, 3.0 AWD.

[body-snatch-her]

Don't know your mileage & history but you might consider replacing water pump & timing belt at the same time.

[ssicarman]

Here you go. More of a pain in the back side than it sounds form the description but at least you have the VUE which has more room than the L-series to get the pipe out of the t-stat housing.


Thermostat Replacement (L81)
Removal Procedure
Drain the coolant. Refer to Draining and Filling Cooling System .
Lift and support the intake manifold. Refer to Intake Manifold Replacement .
Disconnect the radiator hose from the coolant pipe.

Remove the coolant pipe/engine lift bracket bolt.
Rotate the oil level indicator and tube away from the pipe.


Remove the thermostat extension pipe.
Remove and discard the O-ring seals.

Remove the thermostat with the housing.
Remove the bolts.
Tilt the rear of the thermostat housing upward.
Lift out the housing.
Remove and discard the O-ring Seal.






Installation Procedure
Important: The SUV thermostat housing is different from L-Series.


Install the thermostat with housing.
Install a new O-ring seal.
Position the thermostat with the housing.
Apply thread sealant PST 565® to the bolt threads.
Notice: Refer to Fastener Notice in Cautions and Notices.

Install the housing bolts.

Tighten
Tighten the thermostat housing bolts 20 N·m (15 lb ft).

Lubricate the coolant pipe O-rings with coolant.
Install the O-rings on the coolant pipe.

Important: The correct stack up should be cylinder, head, engine lift bracket, coolant extension housing


Properly position the engine lift bracket.
Install the coolant pipe into the thermostat housing.
Rotate the oil level tube into position.
Install the coolant pipe engine lift bracket bolt.

Tighten
Tighten the coolant pipe engine bracket bolt to 20 N·m (15 lb ft).

Connect the radiator hose to the coolant pipe.
Install the intake manifold. Refer to Intake Manifold Replacement .
Fill the cooling system. Refer to Draining and Filling Cooling System .

[EricThompson]

$407 for a thermostat replacement? They charged me $478.

The SM at my dealer said to replace the thermostat on the 3.0L V6 requires removal of the intake manifold (the genius that designed the engine put the thermostat under the manifold) so it's not your average Saturday afternoon job.

FWIW, I have the factory service manual set for sale in the classifieds currently.

[gunneroo7]

Thanks for the help. the car does have 74000 miles on it we just but it from a toyota dealer who has "gone through it", but the tempeture has never gone past a 1/4 since we bought it. but the light just went on about 2 weeks ago.

[wlhawk]

www.alldatadiy.com shows diagrams and instructions. They list it as 3.8 hours and $38 for part.

[KoolVue]

The thermostat on my 2002 vue was replace nearly a year ago at 100K miles. It cost a pretty penny to replace that part. It was replace at the same time I was having a PCV valve that I had failed and was blowing oil everywhere. If hindsite was 20/20, I would have had those two part replaced when I had the timming belt and water pump replaced two months prior.

[Puppetmaster]

Had to reply to this thread as I just had my thermostat done. Charged me $311.27 for the work. I'm still bothered by it thinking that the part was only $45.38 and the rest was labor. I would've done it myself except I don't have the time and this is our only car right now.:hothead: :cry: