volvo thermostats

tbennett

Recruit
Joined
Sep 25, 2004
Messages
2
Hi, I have a 4.3 liter, 190 hp volvo new in 2000 and I have trouble with the thermostat staying open. The dealer has charged me $150 to repair it and it lasted one day till I happened again. They say that it keeps getting plugged with dirt and it would cost $1500 to have it changed over to a sealed system. Does any one else have this problem or am I the only one. Thanks for any help.
 

Don S

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
62,321
Re: volvo thermostats

It depends on what kind of dirt is clogging the thermostat. If it's rust, and you put on a closed cooling system like your "Dealer" suggest, you will be plugging up a heat exchanger you can't clean out instead of thermostat. If it's mud or sand, you need to boat in the water and not on land. If it's weeds you could put in a sea water strainer.<br />You may also have more "Dirt" in the engine that has to be flushed out before the problem will go away.
 

butlp

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Feb 26, 2002
Messages
298
Re: volvo thermostats

For $150 learn to remove the thermostat yourself! There are only 4 hose clamps and two bolts, but it's best to disconnect the ground on your battery as the connections on the back of the alternator can make contact with a socket extension.<br />I had problems with mine and found that the thermostat had actually broken. I replaced it with a new VP part which turned out to non-functioning. Bottom line, once you have done it once and have the correct socket & screw driver handy, it's a 5 min. process.
 
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