360 Motor with A/C
Is it hard to change the thermostat in 1998 Dodge Ram Pickup?
its not as easy as it seems because of the location of it its hard to get to ,its not like on the old 360 engines it was right on the top of the manifold ,on yours is down in the top part of it,and if you,l look at it you,ll see its not going to be easy to get to it, nor will it the neck part come strait out,its easier to loosen the front bracket and let the air conditioner and everything lean forwards,this way you can get better clearance to it,other wise it will probably leak on you once you replace it if you don't get mating surface cleaned off good enough,good luck on it.
Is it hard to change the thermostat in 1998 Dodge Ram Pickup?
nah it just has two #10 bolts back it out scrape off the old gasket put the new one and walla ur done OH! put back the bolts :)
not at all....just make sure you have some anti freeze on hand because you will probly lose a little bit... you will lose more if its been run recently...but my uncle and i did it on my 97 dakota....took about 20 minutes....just make sure u get a new gasket....good luck...God Bless---Nick
It shouldn't be at all very hard to do for you but I do recommend that when doing this job that you change the coolant on it too especially if it's not been done in past.Also be sure that you test the anti-freeze and either use premixed coolant or add distilled water and use a anti-freeze tester so you know that's mixed a good 50/50 and is good.
I like to remove any hoses first off that connect up to the thermostat that way it's easier access and it doe's allow me to clean the hose mounting area later too.Once the hose is off remove any bolts and then try to twist or gently pry so that the access can be gained to the thermostat and then pop a soft clean cloth into the area where the thermostat was to prevent anything from falling into the hole.
What I do then is to try and dry the areas and then use assorted paint scrapers to remove any of the old gasket from the two thermostat mounting surfaces, then again I wipe the area being careful nothing is wet before I sand the areas very lightly with fine grain sandpaper, then wipe it off again and be sure that the surfaces are clean of any old thermostat or silicone gasket maker particles.
I prefer using high temperature gasket make bec it helps to seal the area faster , stops or slow downs any possible leaks and by laying down a bead of it in the centre of the know gasket mounting areas surface and then simply placing the new thermostat into place then applying another bead to the other piece then aligning it up so I can bolt it back on.
Once I've done that I sand and clean and dry off the surfaces where the hose went over then I'd clean the inside of the hose and also double check it to be sure that the hose isn't worn or cracking or too soft, plus I use new hose clamps.
All then that is need to is to make sure that the coolant is good and at the proper quality and levels
and by starting up the engine and then watching and topping it off you should have it circulated enough that it's at the right coolant levels but you may want to bleed the air out of the system next.
If you have a cold engine and then you remove the cap for the rad or over flow container and allow it to idle awhile as you stand back and watch the temperature gauges , you will see cooling being pushed out and any air will come out too.
Hope that helps and best of luck.By the way it's best to check the factory coolant and thermostat recommended spec info before purchasing such items also note how the weather is in your area and the time of year it is bec if extreme cold temperatures you might want to mix it 60/40 at tops..
