Replacing thermostat on Mazda Protege 1997

[konstantin]

Hi all,

I am thinking of replacing the thermostat of my Mazda. The thing is that I recently changed my coolant and I do not really want to do this again. So the question - is it possible to change the thermostat without draining the coolant?

Thanks,
Konstantin

 

[buttthrax]

Yes. There's two bolts on the front of the motor. Its down on the drivers side where the main hose goes in. A little coolant will spill out but nothing serious, just dont do it when its hot if you don't have to. Its very easy, no gaskets or sealant needed.

I've noticed that before your thermostat is about to crap out it will start going further toward the H than normal before coming back down.

If you think your thermostat is causing overheating just take it out and see if it solves your problem. Only drawbacks are it will take longer to heat up your heating in the winter and it may throw a meaningless CEL code for not heating up fast enough.

 

[konstantin]

Yes. There's two bolts on the front of the motor. Its down on the drivers side where the main hose goes in. A little coolant will spill out but nothing serious, just dont do it when its hot if you don't have to. Its very easy, no gaskets or sealant needed.

I've noticed that before your thermostat is about to crap out it will start going further toward the H than normal before coming back down.

If you think your thermostat is causing overheating just take it out and see if it solves your problem. Only drawbacks are it will take longer to heat up your heating in the winter and it may throw a meaningless CEL code for not heating up fast enough.

Thanks buttthrax for the answer. Actually in my case the thermostat is open all of the time and my engine is cooling constantly. You said two bolts - meaning on the right side of the engine below the distributor? By the way did you ever had to do the same thing?

Thanks,
Konstantin