B4 Thermostat replacement - What the h&ll??

[riofrio]

B4 Thermostat replacement

So, I tried to follow this thread:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=201131&highlight=thermostat

and it's all pretty clear. I'm having trouble with the brackets holding the hard PS lines along the front. They seem to be 10-mm bolts (unreachable) against what seem like 11-mm nuts , which are accessible with an open wrench (11mm is the only size I don't have!) but are so old and corroded that at this point I'm unsure whether they are one with the bracket, or are in fact removable nuts.

Can anybody confirm that removing these 11-mm nuts is the easiest way to go about this?

I just can't believe that getting to the t-stat is becoming way more frustrating than replacing the IP was.

 

[ninedee_golf_tdi]

10mm bolts, and I think maybe the nuts are welded to the brackets.

 

[riofrio]

Okay thanks, that makes a lot more sense. Any advise on how to access these 10mm bolts?

 

[rdkern]

Is this the job you need to move the ps pump out of the way? It's been a while since I've been down there....

 

[riofrio]

Is this the job you need to move the ps pump out of the way? It's been a while since I've been down there....

Yeah... loosen v-belt, remove 3 bolts on the PS pump body, and free the hard PS lines to move pump. The bolts holding the hard line along the front are tricky to get to. I must be missing something painfully simple??

 

[schultp]

I did this replacement just a few months ago and don't recall loosening the PS line. I think I just removed the PS pump and bracket bolts and the pump "drooped" down out of the way.

But, my memory already could be foggy on the details.

 

[TDIDaveNH]

I did this repair just three weeks ago: Yes, 10mm bolts and the nuts are pinch welded onto the tiny brackets which are welded to the tube, To get to the bolts, you'll have to remove the plastic cover blocking your access. You may be able to gingerly push this up but that did not work for me, I had to pull it down and it was unavoidable to break it on the driver's side because there is another whole section that is part of this that looks like only a radiator pull can free it, So it was just faster for me to break it and gain access. I never bothered putting it back because once broken, it will not stay in place.

Also, I removed the stanchion anchoring this tube to the transmission and the whole pump hung on a bungee way out of the way ( I had the car on a lift)

Good Luck

 

[slam]

The nuts are welded, yes. I'm down in the middle of that right now. I went in to the bolt through the lower part of the front plastic grill. There was a little ridge of plastic in the way that I had to nibble a bit out of to get the right access. My plastic grill is pretty beat up anyway so I didn't mind the little bit of damage.

Good luck! There's some tricky bits. The "hinging" style connectors with through-bolts are hella hard to get loose. I mean the bolts come off, but the part still doesn't want to. Threading the bolt back in ALMOST all the way, then tapping the bolt head with a hammer, worked pretty good for me. Tap them more when they are out.

Hey maybe you can answer a question for me. There's three medium-sized shoulder bolts, two are the same and one is a tiny bit shorter. They came from the PS bracket into the block (driver side hole), bracket-to-bracket above the PS pump through-bolt, and bracket to PS pump from the rear. Do you mind telling me which is the slightly shorter one? I mixed mine up.

 

[riofrio]

Thanks for the responses. So, unless I'm willing to remove the bumper and radiator, I'll have to break the plastic piece to gain access to these bolts? Awesome!

Slam, if I correctly understand which bolts you are referring to, I do distinctly remember that bolt "I" is slightly shorter than bolt "F" (see picture in link below).
http://celebrationoflight.com/non-site_images/B4_Power_Steering.jpg

Would someone advise against re-using the coolant here? How much should I expect to come out?

 

[TDIDaveNH]

Thanks for the responses. So, unless I'm willing to remove the bumper and radiator, I'll have to break the plastic piece to gain access to these bolts? Awesome!

Not sure, but I wouldnt go that far. Let's get this back to a molehill: At the time I did mine, I didn't car about the plastic and last I checked, I still don't care.

The obvious is to remove the banjo bolt on the pressure side of the PS pump. I only had to do it the way I did ONLY because I did not have a tool ON HAND to remove the PS banjo. That would have been my first choice and certainly the easiest.

 

[Abacus]

I have done my thermostat twice and my PS pump once. I just undo the banjo bolt and rotate/remove the PS pump. My line bolts are very rusty and I didn't want to deal with them. It also gave me the oppostunity to change the PS fluid. It's not cheap, but very easy this way.

 

[slam]

I didn't want to mess the the PS fluid. It's not really much of a break to the plastics; there's a little ridge that gives the plastic pieces some rigidity. That ridge crosses the path of my socket wrench at a 90° angle. I only needed to nibble a half-cirlce the diameter of a socket extender out of the ridge. I used wire cutters, snipped two 45° angle cuts, and bent the resulting tab till it snapped out. Makes for a pretty clean cut.

Thanks for the bolt advice. Bolt-I though is a monster bolt, it can't be confused with another one. What I am looking at is Bolt J and bolt F compared to the rear bolt from the PS bracket-to-block. Two are the same and one was 1/4" shorter. I put them back where I *thought* they should go...

 

[schultp]

Granted my experience is with a 98 Jetta and the AHU engine but I have to believe the Passat/1Z set up is essentially identical for this repair....

You do not need to disconnect the lines from the power steering pump to replace the thermostat . Unless I missed something, all you have to do is remove the bolts that mount the pump and pump-bracket. The pump hangs down due to its weight. Make sure it doesn't over stress the hard power steering line that runs along the bottom of the engine. Use string or a bungee if you feel this line is being over stressed. I just allowed my pump to hang with support from this PS line (probably shouldn't have but I did and it was fine for me). After the pump is lowered you can easily and quickly remove the PS pump bracket. This gives you the room to work on the thermostat housing.

Do a search. There are multiple threads on doing a thermostat replacement.

Talk of removing the PS lines, the front bumper, etc. is taking this job to a whole new level of complexity. While the t-stat is in an unfortunate area the job can be done in a couple hours if you have all the proper replacement parts on hand.

 

[paramedick]

Granted my experience is with a 98 Jetta and the AHU engine but I have to believe the Passat/1Z set up is essentially identical for this repair....

You do not need to disconnect the lines from the power steering pump to replace the thermostat . Unless I missed something, all you have to do is remove the bolts that mount the pump and pump-bracket. The pump hangs down due to its weight. Make sure it doesn't over stress the hard power steering line that runs along the bottom of the engine. Use string or a bungee if you feel this line is being over stressed. I just allowed my pump to hang with support from this PS line (probably shouldn't have but I did and it was fine for me). After the pump is lowered you can easily and quickly remove the PS pump bracket. This gives you the room to work on the thermostat housing..

I've done a few Passats. Unbolt the PS pump and let it set on something or support it with a coat hanger hook. Remove the bracket. Remove the thermostat housing. Change the thermostat. Reverse order reinstall everything.

It ain't that hard, just time consuming.

One caveat. Oftentimes, the plastic thermostat housing breaks. Nice to have one ready for reinstall.

 

[slam]

Letting the PS pump hang with the PS hoses still bolted might work better if the car is on a rack and you have room to move around under it. For us home mechanics working on the ground I don't know if there's enough room to get in there unless you unbolt the PS hoses. Even as it was I have to shave the hairs off my arm to get into a couple of those bolts.

 

[OilBurnerDE]

I did it recently (middle of winter) working on the ground. I did it the way Bruce recommends above. Pull the bracket, drop the pump, new flange. Although I did have some trouble getting the pump back in the upper bracket\bottom of the IP IIRC. Gave me a bear of a time.
But I had just finished a heater core R&R as part one of that weekends entertainment so I was fatigued and just overly tired of working on my car at that point.

Water pump is next, at least it is warmer out now....

 

[schultp]

Letting the PS pump hang with the PS hoses still bolted might work better if the car is on a rack and you have room to move around under it. For us home mechanics working on the ground I don't know if there's enough room to get in there unless you unbolt the PS hoses. Even as it was I have to shave the hairs off my arm to get into a couple of those bolts.

I did the repair with my car on ramps in my garage. Plenty of room. If you are talking about the bolts that hold the PS hose/line I didn't have to touch those. It seems we have two methods being reviewed.

One requires removal of the PS line. This leads to some bolts with limited access.

The other method is the way I (and paramedick..and many others) did this repair. I didn't touch the PS line at all. Just remove the pump bolts, it will drop down enough. Then, remove the bracket. The thermostat is right there and easy to access after doing this.

 

[bigtom111]

I remember the good old days when the thermostat was in a housing on top of the motor and all you had to do was take 2 bolts out. You could change one in the auto parts store parking lot in less than 5 minutes with a cresent wrench.

 

[Abacus]

I remember the good old days when the thermostat was in a housing on top of the motor and all you had to do was take 2 bolts out. You could change one in the auto parts store parking lot in less than 5 minutes with a cresent wrench.

My Izusu Trooper any my girlfriends Kia are this way, a pure pleasure to work on.