If it has 2 rubber gaskets it is wrong.

What whopper meant is that this has been discussed as much as oil changes.

 

Sorry if I am being repetitive. I measured the thermostat that I got from https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and it is a little smaller than the original in every way. The gasket is the same as on the older one. As far as thermostats go, are these dimensions critical?

Here are a few pictures:

 

Looks wrong, how does it fit in the housing?

Why not just do as advised?

Look down at the bottom of the page to see if this is repetitive.

 

Over and out!! Our 11 years of experience and advise has no bearing on the cost!! So, drop it on in, and ask yourself "Do I feel lucky"

 

I looked through all of these threads before to gather information on the basic steps in the process. The questions that I am asking are just tiny details that are not mentioned in the threads above. Frankly, it is a bit of a task to do coolant drain/flush/fill along with thermostat change for a person who is doing it for the first time. Just want to make sure that everything was done right the fist time and then just forget about it for the next 5 years.

All the advice I got is truly valuable, but not all the questions can be answered. I will just drop it in and let you know how it goes from there. If, as RJ_RS_SS_350 mentioned, that part used to be an old version of the same thermostat, then it should work fine.

 

Or, the wrong part in the right box. Happened before.

 

Did you buy the car brand new? If not, that may not even be the original thermostat you're comparing to(could be an aftermarket).

I agree, we may get tired of seeing the same topics raised numerous times, but it's a good reminder for some. So thanks again, slonny, as a result, I too am flushing the coolant as we speak. Donbrew says we only lose +- 1 pint of coolant with a thermostat change, so I'm not going to mess with that right now.

You guys think the petkawk is hard to get to? Try it on an SS, it's buried behind a charge pipe! I thought about just pulling the lower radiator hose, but it's buried behind the other charge pipe! I'll make a thread in the SS section with pics of how I did it. At least the plug in the water pump is easy to get to!

 

Is there a way to drain engine block on HHR? Every time I drain/flush the system only about a gallon of fluid comes out.

I am very confused. How am I going to fill the system with 2 gallons of coolant IF about 50% of distilled water from previous flushes is still in the system? If it is a 50/50 mix, then it will be diluted even more.

 

If you flushed the system with clear, clean water, then that's all that should be left in the cooling system. No real need to drain the block if all that's left is clean water.
That is providing you did a thorough flush that got all the old coolant out. If the water left in the cooling is clear, then you probably did a good flush.

Just drain the radiator of the clear water, add a gallon of full strength Dexcool, top off with water.
A gallon of Dexcool + water will give you close to a 50/50 mix.

 

From underneath the car you can see a bolt (12 mm, I think) on the bottom of the water pump, that is a drain. That and pressurizing the system with Shop air gets most of it. The only "right" way is with an exchange machine.