On saturday I spent 6 hours replacing the thermostat on the Avant. Why so long ? Well it's because the bleeding thing is hidden behind a whole host of stuff and needed the following removing before I could get to it;

In this order,

Remove Bumper (which was a pain to get off as the clips wouldn't budge)

Remove air intake ducts

Remove engine cover

Drain coolant

Disconnect all sensors around radiator

Remove radiator

Remove cooling fans

Remove ribbed belt tensioner (another pain in the behind job)

Remove ribbed belt

Remove timing belt covers

Loosen tension on timing belt

Remove thermostat housing

Replace thermostat

Do the above in reverse to put back together

To top it all off it snowed/sleeted/hail on and off all day. I was blue when I got back inside.

All that for this

On testing the thing open at 46 degrees C so it was well and truely knacked. The best thing is my fuel economy has gone up (and it wasn't bad to start with for a V6) And the car is running smoother than ever.

I had lined up the ISV and throttle body to be cleaned as well, but that went out the window. So did the valet session. That can all wait till it's a bit warmer.

Well least it done now and no doubt you have saved yourself a small fortune by doing it yourself so there is a bright side to it

Interesting that this has improved the MPG, ran good when we had it so it must be a lot better now then?

I am just eager to see this new interior.............

Tell you what, I'll take a few pre detail snaps with the camera phone on the way out of work tonight

Tell you what, I'll take a few pre detail snaps with the camera phone on the way out of work tonight