Thermostat replacement in Jimny VVT (DOHC) - pain in the A$$

Hi,
I heard that access to the thermostat in the DOHC is bad - till yesterday - I now know its very bad
I bought an original Suzuki thermostat a few months ago and now its time to install it. yesterday I began to do it (not finished yest, luckily the Jimny is not my DD)

steps:
1. cold engine - as the coolant might be hot and other pipes can cause burns.
2. Drain coolant from the radiator - open the plastic tap in the radiator and let the coolant drip to a container (its not something your dog / cat should leak as its toxic)
3. remove air filter (4 latches of the air box)
4. remove air box and hose from intake manifold (2 stainless bands that can be loosen with 10 mm wrench in both ends, disconnect MAF sensor, 1 10mm bolt holds the air hose to the engine chassis)
5. remove all sensors from throlttle (3 sensors), remove 2 coolant hoses going connected to the intake manifold
6. remove throttle cable from throttle body
7. release 4 10mm bolts of the throttle body
8. lift throttle body and remove it (note the gasket will probably will need replacement, in my case it was torn to pieces...
I will clean the throttle body with some carburetor cleaner as its full of soot deposits, also the inlet manifold could use some cleaning
its important to cover the inlet manifold with some plastic bag or cloth. you DO NOT want any bits / Bolts / dirt going into there.
9. in order to have better access to the thermostat housing with a wrench (3 10mm bolts, we'll get to that..) I also removed the hose from the PCV valve.
10. unbolt the 2 visible bolts from the thermostat housing (10mm)

Now to the issue that causes me a major delay - the 3rd housing bolt of the thermostat housing, the lower one which can't be seen from the engine front. - I was not able to access it with a 3/8 or 1/4 wrench. with extenders or without. the access is so bad that it too me 2 hours to release the bugger. I still do not know how I'm going to get back it back to its place.. maybe a flexible extension. royal pain!

anyways, I will keep updating this thread with pictures and other thoughts - I'll get back to that this evening.
any tips ?? how do I remove the old thermostat from its housing ? flat screwdriver?

thanks!!
Assaf

Sounds like you're enjoying yourself!

Is the stat faulty?

I'm not sure it's faulty, summer is coming and last summer my jimny almost overheated. I have a feeling the thermostat might be faulty. Its also a good opportunity to give the cooling system a proper wash..

asypeer wrote: Now to the issue that causes me a major delay - the 3rd housing bolt of the thermostat housing, the lower one which can't be seen from the engine front. - I was not able to access it with a 3/8 or 1/4 wrench. with extenders or without. the access is so bad that it too me 2 hours to release the bugger. I still do not know how I'm going to get back it back to its place.. maybe a flexible extension. royal pain!

anyways, I will keep updating this thread with pictures and other thoughts - I'll get back to that this evening.
any tips ?? how do I remove the old thermostat from its housing ? flat screwdriver?

thanks!!
Assaf

That sounds like a right game.