Slow Warm Up, Low Heat

I have a 2001 Montana 3.4L with 66K miles. I believe my thermostat is stuck open. It takes about 20 minutes to break 170 on the temp gauge. I am not sure where the thermostat is located. I followed the upper radiator hose to an area behind the exhaust manifold outlet just below the throttle body. Is this the correct location. What has to be removed in order to access it. What kind of job am I looking at

it is the correct location.the easy way is to remove the throttle body,2 13mm bolts,disconnect the by-pass tube that is above the water pump.after you remove you will see the t-stat housing.remove the upper bolt.also 13mm.the lower bolt is a little trickey.use 13mm wrench and loosin the bolt,but do not take it out.you will have just enought room to get the housing out.I do alot of the t-stats on these at the dealer.its better than removing the rear exh pipe.

What kind of job am I looking at
MIchel when you do it, it would be interesting you can take a few photos to complement these very precise Brian's instructions because it could help several others in the future as this subject comes quite often on several AFforums in the same family of cars. ALso make sure you report the conclusion as to whether it solved your problem or not.

Thank you Brian for the excellent instructions. The whole job took me 3 hours. It was a piece of cake after removing the throttle body. I read the request for pictures after the job was done. I will take a pic of how to remove the heater bypass tube, polution control tube and then the throttle body. After removing the three components, thermostat removal and replacement was easy. Thanks again for your help! :)

Thank you Brian for the excellent instructions. The whole job took me 3 hours. It was a piece of cake ...
You still owe us a "Did it fix your problem?" answer. :)

same problem here, in Ontario, Canada. The OEM intake gasket is a lot to blame. Plus changing the thermostat. NOW it heats up great but the gas mileage is very poor. Time to go back to mechanic to find out why.
OEM intake gasket, check the phil edmonston website.

To All: Changing the therostat did fix my problem. It warms up to the proper temp in a short period of time. The dash gauge reads about 190. I have a comment for the person that mentioned they are getting poor gas milage after changing the therostat. When I was putting the throttle body back on I nicked the gasket pretty good. I continued with job without cleaning up the gasket. When I fired the engine up it wasn't running right. I took the throttle body back off and cleaned up the gasket. Its running correctly now.

I took some pictures. Next project is figuring out how to post them.

Mike G.

...I took some pictures. Next project is figuring out how to post them....Mike G.

If the pics are .jpegs you can post them on PhotoBucket.com (set up a userID, upload the pics) and then reference the link PhotoBucket.com creates.

I am going to approach the mechanics who did the job. At $1.00 a quart here in Ontario, Canada, plus with our cold weather (yes, we have winter here now), I hope to get this problem resolved soon.

I was about to ask what kind of temps people where running at in ontario, mine is running about 60-65, me thinks this is a little low.

As for milage, well the computer says we average about 17-20mpg. Is this normal or bad? Ya its like $1.04 a litre here.

I am going to approach the mechanics who did the job. At $1.00 a quart here in Ontario, Canada, plus with our cold weather (yes, we have winter here now), I hope to get this problem resolved soon.

...I took some pictures. Next project is figuring out how to post them. Mike G.
Hi Mike,

I would also be interested in the exact "step-by-step" procedure you used. If you could post that, I would be grateful, because I have the same issue on my van.

P.S. I sent you a private message.

Take Care,

I took some pictures. Next project is figuring out how to post them.
IF you have any problem doing this in a short time, just e-mail them to
[email protected]
and I'll host them and make them available immediately ..which does not stop you from posting them at photobucket when you have time to.

OK... I figured out how to post on Photo Bucket.
Here are the pictures.
brian 1 posted the procedure.
Note: remember to follow the upper radiator hose, it will lead you to the thermostat housing.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii306/michaelg777/2001Montana34L.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii306/michaelg777/Throttlebody34L.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii306/michaelg777/CoolentBypass34L.jpg

Where in there is the thermostat?

Thanks


OK... I figured out how to post on Photo Bucket.
Here are the pictures.
brian 1 posted the procedure.
Note: remember to follow the upper radiator hose, it will lead you to the thermostat housing.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii306/michaelg777/2001Montana34L.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii306/michaelg777/Throttlebody34L.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii306/michaelg777/CoolentBypass34L.jpg

its was the thermostat plus the OEM gasket that needed to be change. The vacuum hose needed to be re-installed, very poor gas mileage. Plus the cold weather also seems to be sucking the hell out of the gas mileage. There is plenty of get up and go in the old van.
I have a Air Hog Filter (FRAM) installed, but I really do not feel there is much difference in performance as opposed to having the OEM air filter. Costmetically pretty, and great marketing, but actual use..nothing.

so what is the normal temperature or these vans.. I noticed while wife was driving and hit a bump we got a dtc stating temperature was low. Hooked up obd and cleared it and monitoring temp see it never goes above 170 is that normal?
Oddly our van has about 66k miles too.

if the engine temp on the dashboard is registering low..like it did for mine, suggestion is check either the coolant level or the thermostat is running open.
I had the intake manifold gasket fixed (on going problem with these vans, its a GM problem), the engine is running a proper temp..just a little above the first indicator on your dash, but I am still getting poor heat. The winter here in Ontario has not been that cold.
It currently being repaired by the mechanic who supposedly fixed the problem, so I will keep you posted.

one thing and i have found out is stay away from the thermastats made in mexico as they willnot open at the temp that they are rated . in fact they will not open in boiling hot water. put one that is made in usa , have not seen one made in canada .

good call..made in Mexico. I will ask my mechanic for origin of thermostat.
the new one he installed is registering good heat on the gauge, but cold as a witches tooth in the van. Better heat, when recirculated air is on.

Gotta get some dexcool seems to me it should not be disappearing. Hoping it is just the level not wanting to remove a lot of stuff yet...

if coolant leve is down...leaking somewhere.
gasket or rad.
I have placed a coated piece of card board on the right side, lower. Appears this is an area of a lot of bends and torture of the rad.

2000 Montana - Slow Warm Up, No Heat - Comments see
posting at http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0fa8b1/31 by kennie. If the warm up occurs slow could be thermostat or other things... if no heat from vents even when engine is at operating temperature could be the aux heat pump. Good luck !