dfinnegan

My thermostat has failed.

Temp rose to just above 9 o'clock on the way to the airport and held in the cold temps here in NY. It never dipped and the fender was cold.

Again on the way home a week later the temp rose to just over 9 o'clock and never dipped. Fender cold upon reaching home.

For once I'm glad for the winter temps around here!

Soooo, I'm looking for a replacement.

Sunset is quoting $332 and 4-6 weeks from Germany for the complete ***'y housing. And $92 for the insert alone (in stock).

My local dealer is quoting $410 for the ***'y and $115 for the insert with 4 day delivery and 20% restocking fee. Don't know about the 4dy vs 4wk; seems strange.

I've ordered the insert locally and hope to do the work Sat. However, if I can't get the cover off to replace the insert I'm stuck and this is my daily driver. I'd love to have an ***'y on hand just in case.

Any one know of a source of the housing in the $350 range that can be had in less than 4-6 wks? I'd love to have it on hand incase I can't get the cover off the insert.

Oh, and I'm in Warwick, NY. Happy to travel a couple of hours to cover my a..

dfinnegan

Question on the hoses:

The housing has been superseded to the 93 model. Does this mean that the hoses need to be those for the 93 model or do our older cars (91, in my case) still use the older hoses even though they now call for the 93 model ***'y?

I've seen posts where the hoses get received incorrectly. Just wanted to be sure.

Thanks.

CRG

fyi- for the insert replacement, I did mine a couple of months ago
After I took the circlip off I put a big C clamp on the insert/housing and tighten it up just a little and the plug came right off..real easy replacement
the insert has a spring inside it, so it will compress a bit...good luck

dfinnegan

CRG, I was thinking about doing exactly that! Thanks for the tip. It puts my mind at ease.

stevepaa

There is a rubber bumper item 20, that you may break doing this, so you might want to buy it also.


It is strange for Sunset to have a different delivery than local. They all get the part from the same places.

JasonAndreas

The local dealer might be paying for rush-delivery from Germany, that would explain the 20% restocking fee (regular is 15%)?

dfinnegan

The local said that rush delivery (overnight) would be 20% extra.

That restocking of the ***'y (which I wouldn't use unless I needed it) would be a 20% fee.

I think I'll call back tomorrow to confirm things.

drisin80

i had the same problem(high oil temp) last year and got all excited and bought a used thermostat housing. after removing the rocker panel, and looking at all of the disconnects, i thought better of that notion and replaced the insert. 20 minute simple job, and solved all of my problems. while i was in there i replaced all of the hoses behind the thermostat housing--- this took a while and required loosening a lot of parts including the oil reservoir. unless you know for sure that the housing is broken, i would definately try replacing the insert first. have read in other threads that trying to remove the hoses in front of the thermostat can be difficult. anyway-- i think i have the housing that i bought -- if i can find it. email me if that is the case.----------tom

ducnine

I had an issue with incorrect hoses and traded with someone to get the correct one.
garrett376 says he has a part so you may want to check with him. swap pictures forst so you know what you need.

dfinnegan

Changed my thermostat today.
I managed to replace the insert alone.
Works like a charm.

dfinnegan

A few pics of the process.

The access panel on the rear side of the front wheel well provides access to a nut that holds the top-front of the rocker panel.

The rocker panel has about six snap-clips with a bolt at each end. I broke three of the clips. They are cheap from your local porsche dealer and fairely easy to replace.

It appears that I have a leak!

Once the circlip was off I was able to remove the thermostat housing cover with a bit of fiddling. Then out popped the thermostat. It's got a spring on the back side.

The old thermostat (on the left) is a bit different from the new (on the right).

ducnine

That little piece (thermostat) is all you needed to replace? Did you put all the old parts back ie, spring, circlip or did you get those as new parts too? IS there a special tool to take th circlip off and how did you pop the cover off?

And yeah..it sure looks like you have a leak. That rear hose looks like it could use a replacement. Its kinda bulging. I am in the process of replacing all the hoses connected to the thermosat and the hose from the filter to the thermostat as well as two small hoses on the tank. Needless to say, I have a few leaks and figured I would replace these old hoses. I think they are the original and they were kinda dry and a bit brittle.

I don't rememeber what my temp gauge used to read. Maybe I should do this as well as preventative maintanence as long as I have the thing all apart.

dfinnegan

I replaced the thermostat insert (last picture), spring (not shown), and the o-ring. I reused the circlip.

I used a circlip tool (like a pair of pliers with pointed nose) to remove/replace the circlip. I used a small clamp (not a c-clamp, but very similar) to hold the cover when I pulled and replaced the circlip. I was very careful not to over tighten the clamp for fear of damaging the o-ring or inside components. I had to work the cover a bit to get to come out of the housing. It's a tight fit, but with a bit of cleaning and fiddling it came free.

I believe the leak is from the short upper hose that comes from the tank. I tightened it a bit and will order the replacement hoses.

Cupcar#12

those replacement hoses are $500-600 each
if you have a goo dshop they can make hoses for you

just a thought.

Is that what a "normal" C2 thermo looks like? with all the black stuff on there ( i am assuming it is some kind of under coatingor oil from the leak, yikes)

ducnine

The hoses going up to the oil tank from the thermostat are pretty cheap from Sunset (21 = $17 & 22 = $21) . The other hoses 30 = $12 & 26 = $9. I also bought 46 = the most expensive at $255.
Maybe the hoses that are $500 are the ones going to the oil cooler.

dfinnegan...this may be a stupid question but can you change the thermostat without having to dump the oil?