How do you change a thermostat in a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix?

I haven't looked under the hood of my step daughters car but her boyfriend couldn't get to it. Her boss tried and couldn't get to it. Anyone have any suggestions for when I take a look? Apparently it's in a location that you can't get to which I find hard to believe. It has to be a way to get to it to change it. What are they doing wrong and what do I do right?How do you change a thermostat in a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix?
I feel your pain.



Follow the upper hose. you should see the wires from the temp sensor protruding from the thermostat housing.

The housing is usually mounted with two bolts.

It is a tight squeeze. remove the mass air hoses if needed for maneuvering. Mine I had to remove a heat deflector of the exhaust manifold for better access.

Drain coolant

Remove the upper hose at the thermostat housing.

The bolt size should be a metric 13mm.

I bought a set of box wrenches with an elbow and ratchet on the end. Expensive but worth it. They are cheap at Lowe's. remember the elbow is important.



I had only 2 degrees movement and took maybe 10min for removal but it was worth not having to remove more compo nets for maneuvering.



Remove old thermostat and gasket. install new one. use appropriate RTV sealant on the housing matting surfaces. tighten

Put everything back in place. pour in coolant. and your done.How do you change a thermostat in a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix?
I figured out the best way. I told her to take it to the repair shop, have them change it and I'd pay for it. lol

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well their is only 2 spots it could be all you can do is follow the hoses and you will find it and yes their is a way to do it you should be able to get to it from the top
i own a repair shop,and all you need to do is follow the top radiator hose down to the engine,,some of these though,, are in under the air plenum,,i believe that's why there a little hard to get off,you might have to remove that before you can get it out,,good luck with it,i hope this help,s..,,have a nice x-mas.
Remove top radiator hose Take off the goose neck. Theres the thermoustate, pull it out, slip in new one, bolt gasket and gooseneck back on.Then replace top radiator hose.
You need a slimline 13mm racheting box end wrench, its a pain and takes a bit of skill but thats all you need. its under the throttle body, you don't have to take anything off except the air duct. make sure the cars cold and just dig down in there with the wrench usually its easiest to reach around the back of the motor, by the brake booster, get the top bolt all the way out and loosen the bottom one, the hole is slotted but you have to get it out almost all the way out to clear the thermostat itself, good luck
You must have the 3.1 Liter engine in this vehicle, upper radiator hose connects to this aluminum neck the goes to LR corner of engine. You are going to have to take off the throttle body, where the throttle cables are connected and after you remove this you can see 1 of the bolts from the top, just loosen the top bolt a couple of turns with a open ended wrench it notched out and doesn't have to be taken out all the way. the bottom one is kind of hard but you can just fit a socket with a extention under the exhause pipe to remove this bolt, this one has to come all the way out. then this aluminum radiator neck should slide out of there. Should be 2-- 13mm bolts holding this on.