I did it from the top only. Worked out just fine. A little bit is a strange angle with the thermostat bolts. But totally better than having coolant all over you

same here, have a 2003 Olds Alero with 160,000 miles but haven't had to replace the water pump or thermostat yet, not looking forward to the day I do, lol!

The air conditioner won't work if the thermostat isn't closing enough to bring the operating temperature to normal. That's why I changed mine.

Watching your videos will help me out transmendantly. Thank you.

My friends dad is in his 80s. He can't afford to go to professional mechanics. With me not being a professional, I am willing to learn and do the work. I am also working on my friends vehicle. Much thanks. Great video. Thumbs Up!

I got the O-rings from an O-ring set at a parts store. It cost about $5 or less. They can be ordered from a parts store but, you might pay $30 or more.

Thermostat. Housing.

You can drain the radiator. It's a hassle though. You have to remove the lower radiator mount on passenger side and pull the radiator out enough to access the drain plug. There's a plug that unscrews from the water pump too. If you're changing the antifreeze. If you're not changing antifreeze, just disconnect the lower radiator hose at the radiator and drain into a container.

I would ckeck with someone who just does transmissions on KZfaq.

Most auto parts stores have a selection of O rings. I just matched the old one. A dealer would want a fortune it.

@@JohnWRathwell the dealer was not that bad at 10$ for the one that go on the tube

​@@NovyDalywhich was it?? So hard to determine

Give it about 2 hours.

Thats not bad. Would you recommend draining the antifreeze out of the water pump first? There is a coolant drain on the bottom of the water pump. Do you think that would cut down on the amount of spillage?

Oh yes. Drain the water pump. To drain the rad you have to disconnect the lower rad mount to get at the drain tap. I was cutting corners by not draining the antifreeze.

Any issues with getting air bubbles out of the cooling system after you got thermostat replaced? How has the Saturn been running?

No.. the air comes out.

I didn't touch the transmission.

I put gasket sealer on the thermostat housing. You don't want to have to do this job over again.

I'm still trying to get the top bolt on. Would it be easier if I took the exhaust manifold off?

I didn't bother to take the exhaust manifold off. You have to make sure that the thermostat is sitting correctly in the housing with the plastic spacer. Turning the thermostat crossover pipe to line the bolt holes up in the housing is the hardest part. I put lots of gasket cement on the housing gasket surface because the housing wouldn't seal well enough. I put some silicone on the outside of the plastic thermostat guide to keep it from falling out of place when lining up the crossover pipe bolt holes. When the thermostats are installed in the factory, the engines are outside of the engine compartment.

I can't get any tool on the bolt at all. This is day 3 of messing with the top bolt.

I used a 10 mm box end wrench with a ratcheting head.

GM recommends orange Dexcool to it's engines but there have been problems with it. If the antifreeze levels get too low, oxygen entering the system can cause head gasket damage. GM has been sued because of damage caused by Dexcool in engines. Instead of the 150,000 mile antifreeze change with the Orange, GM recommends 25,000 mile change. Excessive corrosion has also been noted with Dexcool Orange. Google it to see what you think.

John W Rathwell Interesting , I think the Dex cool sucks anyways !

Changing the thermostat on the Ion is a big job.

@@JohnWRathwell not as big when you've got a pit to stand in!

It's simple if you follow step by step.well not simple but slot less work then most cars. I have 2007saturn n the hardest part about this job was finding a long enuff jack

I use 5 year prestone

Noooo.. Dexcool will clog up your coolant system. It is bad stuff

Dexcool sucks. Swap to regular universal coolant whenever you do this type of job. Flush it all out with water then refill with standard coolant. Dexcool is crap.