Holden Apollo 92

[admin]

My wifes shopping trolley ( and soon to be my daughters ) started over heating due to a split in the radiator top tank. After much agony and cursing due to a stuffed back , I removed the old radiator and put a new one in. I then went and took a lot of pain killers and went to bed

Today my wife says it is still over heating......would I be correct in presuming that the thermostat is stuck ? It does have a very small drip from the water pump area but thats been there for a long time.

I did put some sort of dodgy stop leak shit in it a few months ago to try and get me a bit more time while I sussed out a new radiator , I am wondering if this stuff is likely to jam the thermostat. If so , does anyone know exactly where the thermostat is on these cars ?

TIA

[Godzilla]

Dodgy leak stuff = blockages.

What you do is warm it up from cold and watch the temp gauge, it should go half way and after a while the fans should kick in and cool it.

For $20, drop a new thermostat in it if the fans are turning on and working and it continues to overheat.

You need to turn on the heater when taking the air out of the system after changing it.
Keep the radiator cap off, heater on and engine running while filling it.
Let the engine get hot so the thermo opens and closes a few times to make sure all the air is out, just keep topping it up and keep the revs up to push the water around the engine.

Keep an eye on the overflow bottle after a drive, if a lot of hot water is being pushed into the bottle, change the radiator cap too.

Hope its not signs of a head gasket appearing......

[ssrattus]

The thermostat is on the end of the top hose bolted to the engine.

[Godzilla]

If so , does anyone know exactly where the thermostat is on these cars ?

TIA

Sorry missed that question.

As ssratus pointed out.

Follow the top hose to the engine, the hose is clamped to a small aluminum cover held to the engine by 2 nuts or bolts.

Remove this cover to expose the thermostat.

When replacing it, the end with the spring (or longer end if if does not have a spring) faces into the engine.

If you do not have a new thermostat gasket use some silastic to avoid unwanted leaks.

[admin]

Thanks for the replies. The thermostat isnt at the end of the top radiator hose , which I thought was a bit strange hence the question.

It appears to be at the end of the bottom radiator hose ( its a 4 cyl east/west engine ) I didnt originally look there as I have never seen one there. But that is the only place there is anything that looks remotely like a thermostat housing.

I will get my neighbour to pull it off later for me , I will drop dead if I have to bend that far down.

[Godzilla]

I could have sworn it was the top one i have a 2001 camry with me at work, but google proved how wrong i am.







Godzilla fails. (again)

Edit, V6 is on top.....

[Keith]

Thanks for the replies. The thermostat isnt at the end of the top radiator hose , which I thought was a bit strange hence the question.

It appears to be at the end of the bottom radiator hose ( its a 4 cyl east/west engine ) I didnt originally look there as I have never seen one there. But that is the only place there is anything that looks remotely like a thermostat housing.

I will get my neighbour to pull it off later for me , I will drop dead if I have to bend that far down.

Replaced one of these pricks in my daughters car a few months back. Not exactly easy,but not hard. LOL. You are right, it is situated on the end of the hose that enters the engine closest the belts. Drivers side if you want. I used a non genuine thermostat. It wasn't a tight fit in the housing, so when I attempted to replace the housing on the block (housing goes on sideways) the thermostat would slip down. Not much room to work there also. Suggestion would be to go genuine for a tighter fit in the housing..

[Jaz808]

You can check the themo by boiling a pot of water and dropping it in.

[admin]

After breaking my back replacing the radiator , removing the thermostat housing was just as much fun for me I pulled the thermostat out , chucked it and reinstalled without one. And it still overheats. I was lucky enough to snap the thread on one side when doing it up which involved a long and painfull removal to boot

So it looks like the water pump is kaput , I dont know whether I am imagining it or not but it sounds noisier than it was......I might have to take it somewhere as I dont think I can go through much more bending. I'll be known as Heath Ledger if I keep taking pain killers at this rate.

I cant really complain , I bought this car to drive to work as a shitter for $1200 about 5 years ago. It has near 400,000 kms on it and the motor still runs well. I am going to give it to my daughter when she gets her licence.

[admin]

One more question.......is the water pump on these powered by the timing belt ?

If so I presume this would have to be done as well.

[James Squire]

Sure is.

Yes it is a good idea to do the timing belt and cam, crank seals as well.

400 000? Might want to think about doing oil pump and tensioner too, depending on your budget.

[Godzilla]

Last major service i had done on my Camry involving the timing belt, i had the front oil seal and water pump changed while it was being done.

Thank God it was a company car and the boss insisted we get a mechanic to do it because i was too busy at the time.

Pain in the arse of a job on a FWD even the mechanic was happy to see me out the door.

My advice is pay someone to do it, if you dont have someone, pm me, ill give you the details of my mechanic in Brunswick, good and cheap too.

Even a person with a good back suffers while doing a job like that.