do you have to drain the coolant to change a thermostat cuz i just changed my antifreeze and didnt feel like doing the thermostat but my needle never goes up and my fan never comes on, *note* i just changed radiator nice and new. so new fluid and new radiator but not a new thermostat. please help

 

It'll spill out of the thermostat housing. I can think of 2 ways for you to do this...

1) Drain some, but not all of it. You'll probably be OK if you drain about 1/2 gallon.

2) Take off the intake pipe so you have plenty of room to get your hands in there. Have the new T-stat ready, with the gasket on. Open the housing & quickly swap the new one in. It'll be really messy, but maybe you'll spill less than method #1.

 

i didn't even drain any, heres how...
>>>What u need- milk jug, wrench, sockets, RTV silicon gasket maker, and a lighter<<<
1) unscrew radiator reserve bottle cap lift the cap with return line inside bottle still
2) squeeze top main vein( upper radiator hose) and fluid should rush through radiator return line into bottle (or milk gallon works best and holds more), fill it to the brim and then let cap hang, next to bottle over ground
3)once all the air intake junk ahs been removed you cant go wrong the thermostat will just be chillin there
4) once the thermostat is out, hold it with a rag and hold a lighter to it on the area with the spring and right where it is surrounded by metal... this is how you can test just how bad the thermostat really is
5) dependant upon the mileage, i used a wire wheel to remove the gasket off the aluminum thermostat housing and polish it up a bit , followed this by running a small bead of RTV blue silicon gasket maker along the edge and each screw to ensure a better seal.


let it sit for about an hour or two just to be safe and you soon will be able to enjoy your shinny new thermostat
oh yeah and thermostats are never the most reliable pieces of equipment so keep your recipts and buy one with a warranty of some sort...