Got bad news today at the dealer. Thermostat is bad, and housing damaged. They want $900 to repair. Does this sound reasonable? I see thermostats online for ~$40, but unsure of what kind of effort is required to change out...thanks.

 

I had the housing replaced at 48k and it was covered under warranty but I remember the part was approx. 500 and total was around 700.

 

the whole housing (includes thermostat/temp sensor) from JagBits is $178 and should only take a few hours to swap.

Part # AJ811793

 

I have the leaking thermostat housing problem on my 2005 XJ8L. It only has 50K miles... Leaking from the top of the left side pipe.

Is there an option for a metal replacement part?

Is there a procedure for this repair? / Any recommendations on the steps.

Looks like it can be a bit of a problem to get the it (if you haven't do it before).

Thanks in advance,
VB

 

I am trying to do it now, and taking the black hose at the top if the air intake is not working for me. Any suggestions or tricks?


I replaced the thermostat alone a year ago, about 65.00 at dealer for the part and now what is bad Is the claps that hold it town. Terrible design. I went back to the dealer and the parts guys Frank (cool guy) told me they recommend the full housing replacement, about 165 for the part.


If you replace the thermostat once you open it up you may notice that the whole insides looks chewed up, again terrible design and quality. I only noticed how bad it was once I opened up the full new unit and compared. So all that crap is now floating around in there and hopefully gets stuck on my radiator.


Still I am stuck now taking off the hard plastic hose from the top of the manifold. I have had a lot of different cars and enjoy basic repair, but this thermostat in all the pieces and plastic melting away is the worst design and quality combo I have ever seen.