That's it for my post. Replaced mine last night, I'd rather replace the turbo again.

You have my deepest sympathy.

When I had to replace the thermostat in my (previous) vRS, I gave up and paid a local indie to do it for me.

 

They do it because most modern cars, (not just VAG models) are not expected to be DIY serviced.

The engines are designed for speed and therefore cheapness of assembly on production lines, accessible from all sides, and then inserted as a completed unit.

a mate of mine imported an Audi A2 recently for his wife.

its a cracking little car, but the bonnet wont release unless you have a VAGCOM plugged in...

 

all that pops open is the front grill to let you dip the oil, coolant, and washer bottle...

cant even replace the battery without it being plugged in!

a mate of mine imported an Audi A2 recently for his wife.

its a cracking little car, but the bonnet wont release unless you have a VAGCOM plugged in...

 

all that pops open is the front grill to let you dip the oil, coolant, and washer bottle...

cant even replace the battery without it being plugged in!

You can take the bonnet off, pop the front down and undo two twist locks then the whole bonnet slides off.

VCDS has nothing to do with it.

Stat ain't that hard if you have a wobble bar and uni joint.

 

I did mine years ago, and I was no mechanic in those days, a bit better now but still not great lol 

It's not the bolts I had a problem with, I've got the wobble set, it was getting the thermostat to balance in the hole while I lined the coolant neck against it. But then it was 30 degrees and I had been working on the car all day by this point!

I think I was just still a little annoyed when I made this post

I've seen much worse positions than that. Small block 8v vauxhalls need the timing belt removed to get at the stat.

i did mine friday i dropped the alternator as it alot easier to get at the stat but putting the belt back on did my head in as it kept falling off lol

is not that hard to replace it.First you must remove the alternator and then is easy

I've seen much worse positions than that. Small block 8v vauxhalls need the timing belt removed to get at the stat.

 

Same as my V8 Audi, timing belt off job. Also means the entire front of the car has to come apart for me, which is why whenever you have a cambelt change on the 40V V8 you also replace the thermostat as a matter of course.

is not that hard to replace it.First you must remove the alternator and then is easy

 

Not needed.

 

And I trust you fitted a genuine thermostat?

Edited 21 July, 201312 yr by Liverpool-Lad

CHanged the stat on mates vrs the other week, had no issues and i have plates for hands. hence why i directed him. lol

when i changed mine i greased up the rubber with general purpose castrol grease then when i lined up the thermosat it stayed in place Winner ! 

 

 just be very careful when you put it all back together dont do what i did and snap the dipstick tube :( 

 

it caused a world of pain i had just changed the oil and i had to bin the lot and pull the sump off to check for bits however i did clean my pick up pipe

 

while i was there even though it didnt really need doing 

You have my deepest sympathy.

When I had to replace the thermostat in my (previous) vRS, I gave up and paid a local indie to do it for me.

They do it because most modern cars, (not just VAG models) are not expected to be DIY serviced.

The engines are designed for speed and therefore cheapness of assembly on production lines, accessible from all sides, and then inserted as a completed unit.

Not entirely true. The engine components on vag cars are generally easy to get to. The parts that are not easy to get to are parts less likely to fail. Most folks on this forum will typically do their servicing themselves. The t stat is a little tricky if doing it for first time but not too bad if you know parts to move out the way.

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It's a fiddly job, but not impossible. Decent socket set with a knuckle will get the job done.

Done it a couple of times in the past, & with the alternator out of the way it took about an hour in total so was no big deal.