Thermostat (Page 1)
Home Up '93 968 Cabriolet '03 VW NBC Basic 968 Info 968 Quirks

Thermostat (Page 2)


I had the dreaded... "Oh no, why's my temp gauge heading above its normal stopping point!"  It turned out to be just a bad thermostat, however, swapping it out was involved enough to warrant a "procedure" - keep in mind, this was just my experience and some of the observations I made while doing the repair.

First Off... I removed the stuff in the way (from what I hear, this may only apply to '92 and '93 968's because some of the under-hood plastic was deleted on later models).

Remove the front "glove box" by rotating retaining clips at far left and right corners, then the unit should lift up in the back and slide back toward engine / air box, allowing it to come out.

Undo the (8) clips for the top of the air box and also undo the (2) clips that secure to the throttle body.


The air box is held by a couple of bolts through some L shaped tabs and there are rubber grommet type isolators in the back that can be carefully removed so as not to damage them (reach up from beneath the grommet and pinch the edges toward the center).  Another thing... remove the air intake snout that protrudes through a hole toward the front bumper (a short handled Philips screwdriver works well to remove the two screws that secure the snout to the air box).  This will allow the air box to come out much easier.

Once that stuff is out of the way, it's easy to see the thermostat housing.  The thermostat is located inside where the large inlet hose is connected.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures while I was doing the procedure, so you'll just have to figure some of this out by doing it (it's pretty self explanatory after you're in there).  


Changing the thermostat is an excellent chance to flush your radiator, so I'd recommend draining the radiator then doing a proper flush after installing the new thermostat.  I had just put in new fluid so I tried to get by without draining everything (which it would have been easier just to drain it in retrospect).  There's a plastic drain plug located in the lower left (driver's side) corner of the radiator.  If this isn't fast enough for you, go ahead and disconnect the main hose that's going to the thermostat housing (it's the center hose shown in the photo to the right - something that will just get in the way while you're trying to work anyways). 

(Page 1 of 2)

Thermostat Replacement Page 2

 


E-mail webmaster@ninesixtyeight.com with comments or questions.