1995 Buick Century 3.1 Coolant Flush and Thermosta

[boostedtsiawd]

I went to my mechanic because my coolant reservoir had brown in it with the coolant so the mechanic cleaned the reservoir out and told me to come back if u see brown in it again so i went back cause the brown stuff came back and the mechanic said well it could be your coolant was never changed which i think is true considering the car runs perfect and doesn't over heat so he said flush it and see if the reservoir comes back dirty again if it does u have a big issue head gasket but anyway the mechanic said we recommend changing the thermostat as well when doing the flush thing is its hard as [censored] to remove it on my 1995 Buick century 3.1 v6 and im sure there gonna charge me alot of labor what do you guys think should i just get the flush and skip the thermostat?

1995 Buick Century 3.1 v6 91k miles and i have no idea when the thermostat or coolant was last replaced.

 

[901Memphis]

If the thermostat is working and its more than the cars worth to repair, leave it.

 

[demarpaint]

I could have sworn I had it bookmarked but I don't and I can't find it for the life of me.

There was a TSB GM issued about the brown coolant, and it had nothing to do with head gaskets, intake manifold gaskets, or any gaskets for that matter IIRC. Maybe you'll have better luck finding it, but there is a TSB that explains it. If you do find it post a link. Good luck.

 

[Barkleymut]

Flush the coolant yourself, watch your heat needle. Done.

 

[eljefino]

If it's not freezing overnights yet just dump the rad every night and fill with water. On the 7th day put in pure antifreeze. It's good!

 

[armos]

It doesn't sound like there's any indication of a problem with the thermostat. It's not something I'd proactively replace, because honestly I doubt an aftermarket replacement will be any more reliable than the factory original already is.
I don't believe thermostats fail as often as people like to think. The reason it's such a popular replacement item is because it's a cheap part. In your case the job apparently won't be cheap, so that reasoning doesn't apply.

However, a coolant flush works more easily if the thermostat is removed during the process. Otherwise it will keep closing as cool coolant is introduced. I don't know how big a deal it is to reach on your car, so maybe that's not practical. It's very easy on my 86 2.8, but I'm not surprised if your layout is different.

I'd just flush it yourself, honestly. If you can't easily get the thermostat out then you may need to fill and drain a few times between heating cycles. You can use straight water for that if you do all the flushing within a few days, and you know the weather isn't going to freeze.

 

[babyivan]

Chevy's 60 degree V6

I will give it to them though, water pumps are d@mn easy to do on that engine.

You will definitely want to remove the t-stat to flush. T-stats do go bad believe it or not, the wax has only but so many cycles in it.

I know it sucks to do, but it's good maintenance and it will make the flush much easier.

I'm a member of an A-body forum a-body.net, there's a wealth of info on there that's very specific to our cars. I find it very helpful.

 

[artificialist]

If you have that much sludge in your coolant, the T-stat may open properly, but the buildup means it would never open fully.

Flush coolant, then replace a t-stat with one from the dealer. Many aftermarket ones are made too cheaply.