So I have this mystery thermostat sitting inside the water elbow that connects to the head (you know the elbow with the coolant bleed screw) . I simply cannot find mention of it in the parts catalog or even factory manual, and it doesn't have a part number on it, only "To Rad ->" and "Patented". "Patented" to me usually means "mystery aftermarket part".

Is anyone familiar with what this little doo-dad is and if it's at all necessary?

The car is an '83 2.5. I hope this part is a) exciting and b) a mystery.





How it sits in the coolant elbow w/ bleed.

 

It does NOT belong there and should not be there.
The only thermostat is at the end of the water pump leading to the hose to the lower radiator opening.

Chuck

 

Looks like the P/O put in a turbo t-stat on a non-turbo car. Remove t-stat re-install housing. Should be good to go after that. You have to love P/O!!!

 

Hahaha oh jeez. Thanks for the help guys I appreciate it. This goes lengths to explain why it was such a chore to fill and burp the coolant system.

 

Be careful, my bet is that the actual thermostat (in the water pump outlet) is either
a. stuck open
b. missing
c. backwards
d. wrong part
e. all of the above

Maybe the PO put it there for a reason. I mean, you can take it out, but watch the coolant temp and see how it behaves. You might need to futz with the actual thermostat.

To help with bleeding air, the thermostat should have a little hole in it. If not, just drill a 1/16 hole on that dinky thermostat.

 

I would order a new Wahler thermostat and remove the lower radiator hose and check to see if a thermostat is in place there. If so, replace it. There's a reason that this aftermarket crap was installed. Perhaps the previous owner thought the thermostat was missing and nothing is actually wrong with the actual thermostat. But, just to be safe, I'd just order a new thermostat from Pelican.

 

Good suggestion, I'll replace the tstat at the pump just to make sure.

 

That's not even a turbo thermostat - that's some hillbilly modification of a domestic thermostat...

If that's the quality of the work done on this car, I'd go over *everything* with a fine-toothed comb!

 

Funny you mention that, because in the process of pulling the oil cooler I discovered my oil pressure relief valve has an 8mm allen head! Everything else looks standard and oil pressure was always fine but what a weird thing to mismatch!

Anyway, this isn't the first hodge-podged fix I've seen in this car so I'm not surprised. Some POs are definitely better than others but this is just a 944 spec car so concours quality is not what I'm looking for.

 

On the early cars 3pc oprv some had allen heads # 35

 

Ha... my first reaction was ...Huh?, a Max oil Pressure mod?