thermostats

[allanm114]

ok you's are gonna get bored of me askin all these q's but where will i find my thermostat. dont think my heaters are wat they should be

 

[Andy_Mk3]

What engine do you have?

 

[allanm114]

1.4 8v jobber

 

[Andy_Mk3]

Unlucky, it's behind the cambelt.

In this pic, see the rubber hose on the left that goes from the radiator to the engine? The pipe that rubber hose goes on is the thermostat housing and you need the cambelt off to remove it. Yes it's a very poor design!

 

[allanm114]

ok thanks. is the fanbelt and cambelt the same thing?????

 

[Andy_Mk3]

Nope, the alternator belt is the one you can see going round the pulleys on the far left of the engine. The cam belt (aka timing belt) is behind the plastic covers, this is what connects the crankshaft and the camshaft together to turn at the right speed at the right time to open and close the valves.

 

[allanm114]

ok doky. tried to do t/belt wen i first got car. my m8 said he couldnt as some tensioner wouldnt move and he didnt wanna bust it till i got a replacement tensioner, t/belt hangin up in my shed at mo, can i get belt off and bak on with out bustin tensioner

 

[Andy_Mk3]

You can re-use your old tensioner, it's not a good idea though, if it fails, although not so bad on your engine, but on 16v engines it can get expensive.

 

[allanm114]

yeah but my m8 said it was seized on (tensioned up and wouldnt release) is it possible to take off without fcuking it totally.

 

[Andy_Mk3]

There's just one bolt through the middle of it and it.

 

[allanm114]

cheers m8. jus hope i can get it off, guess who gonna be upto there elbows in engine bay wen the misses wants to go shoppin lol,

 

[Andy_Mk3]

Lol! It shouldn't be a problem though, get a tensioner for it though.

 

[tabetha]

Don't know what year yours is, but have found a few with also a idler pulley, unless my old age is fooling me and that was the mk2 astra I had!!
If doing a stat I would do a water pump at same time, cheap enough around £15, and stops all the hassle if it goes and starts leaking 5 minutes after doing the belt.
I always do a nerw stat and pump at same time as timing belt, ie every 3 years.
tabetha