Crackership

I'm sure there's a post somewhere about this, but I'm too damn mad to look for it

WHAT THE $*%^#* DOES IT F-ING TAKE??!?

I've done this once before, on my previous 944NA, and the snap ring was clocked so that the holes were at the top of the housing... that was a PITA, but I got it out. Whoever put the thermostat in this car clocked the holes at about 2:30 - 3:00 on the housing, and I've spent almost two days on it. Can't get any of the 30+ snap ring pliers I have on it. Can't spin it in the groove to re-clock it. Can't bend it inward with an awl 'cause the thermostat is in the way.... There's got to be a better way! If it was this much of an impossible task, people would write off their cars when the thermostat went bad...

Any ideas??

TIA, and sorry for the ranting.

Rogue_Ant

Just need the "right" tool... 90° needle nose pliers with the tips filed-down:

Crackership

How long are those pliers? I had the same thought, and checked to make sure that I could actually reach the longest pair of angled pliers I have (about 9") and I couldn't so I didn't proceed.

Reimu

I too used a pair of 90 degree pliers and ground down the tips. If nothing else you can break the the clip out of there

Rogue_Ant

This length or the other side?

chrenan

Go to a good tool store and ask to see snap ring pliers, they come in various lengths. Generally, if a job is taking you too long and frustrating you it could mean you don't have the right tools. Look on the bright side, buying tools is the best part of working on a car.

Crackership

How did you break the clip out of there? I can barely even touch it

I meant length from handle (well, really the hinge) to the tip. Thanks Joshua.

Crackership

Here's another question... Am I being retarded in trying to do this with the fan shroud in the car?

numbskull

These work good as well. ~4-5"

hot-J

I use 45 degree snap on pliers. Patience.

Dougs951

I take the pump off.

Crackership

I got that bastard!!

Out of desperation, I grabbed an allen key that fit in the hole and started trying to pry the snap ring inward... I didn't think it would work, but I've been out of ideas for hours. After about the 150th time it did nothing, I put just about everything I had on it. My hand slipped, and I took a decent chunk out of my arm with the fan blade. After cussing a lot to dull the pain, I had another look at the snap ring, and lo-and-behold - about 1/8th of it was out of the groove! So, I grabbed it around the end with the long angled pliers I'd been trying to use as snap-ring pliers and pulled it out the rest of the way. And, in celebration of my accomplishment, my car barfed about 1/2 a gallon of coolant on my face the second I got the snap ring out. Yay!!

zerMATT951

I've done the snap ring "in the car" once early-on with my 924S like 12 years ago. Ever since when I've suspected a thermostat problem, I've just told myself that it's time for belts and a rebuilt water pump!

Glad you got it out... The engineers surely didn't expect that thing to be removed all that often, did they? Ugh.

V2Rocket

replace it with the pump, i used a cheap set of snapring pliers i got for $6 at Oreilly...

gruhsy

Glad to hear you got it out