Sounds to me like the son-in-law just removed the thermostat and it doesn't have one at all. BUT, I'm not a mechanic, like Andy. That's just an old shade tree's opinion.

 

Oh man, I thought I replied to this but I guess I didnt do it correctly. Ugh, me and technology. I appreciate all of the responses.

anyway, my mechanic looked at it for me and said it was the thermostat so I decided to take that on today. I think I should have left it to the mechanic because the thermostat looked original and while I was trying to get the tube free from the thermostat housing the piece that bolts to the block and holds in the dipstick broke and put a hole in the tube.

Has anyone ever replaced the tube that goes into the housing?

I am not sure if i could jack up the motor enough to slide it out and a new one in? Or, my second thought was to remove the radiator.

Thoughts?

I can't believe this design passed through to production. weird.

Thanks!

 

So, I had to replace the tube and the best way I found was to take out the fans and disconnect the trans cooler. Then pulled the radiator out enough to lower the end in front of the tube and was able to slide it out. I felt this was the best option as opposed to jacking up the motor. Now I have to wait for the coolant tube to get delivered tomorrow. What a complete pain in the rear end, but it should outlast the car so I won't have to do it again.

 

Good to hear that you seem to have figured it out. Hopefully this will cure the problem and you can get it back on the road. Congratulations!

 

Did you ever get heat going in the car?