thermostat diy or price idea wanted

[nezquick]

looking for a diy to change the mk5 gti thermostat but havnt had any luck whatsoever anyone with a guide guide preferably with pictures oooorr can someone roughly tell me how much it would cost for a local garagw to change it (just labour) thanks!

[percy]

THis no easy job mate, i believe most garages will charge between 4 and 6 hours labour.

[apples12]

4-6 hours?!

my understanding was that you had to remove the alternator to get to it along with the associated housings and that would be it...1.5-2.5 hours tops...

[pandahouse68]

yeah,it took me 4-hours to get it done

[callis]

My vag indy garage charged £130 to change and suppy the parts. The main problem being you have to remove the alternator to get access to the thermostat.

I think the thermostat is sub £20 from steelers and then coolent is around £5, so rest would be labour.

[nezquick]

cheera guys, good job i have a very friendly mechanic  although im tempted to give it a go myself if it only means removing the alternator 

[pandahouse68]

I removed the radiator fan as well  to get more room and couples of water pipes

[apples12]

quite different to the TDI's then! you're 'supposed' to remove the alternator to do it properly but with some creativity with wobbly extensions and perseverance its doable without - didnt realise it was such a massive job on the TSI/TFSI engines!

whats your engine code?

(armed with the workshop manual for the engine and a half decent set of tools, changing out the thermostat should be easy enough for someone reasonably competent with a toolset!)