Setting limits - Replacing the thermostats on a 2.4L 2014 Chrysler 200
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2024
- Less than 20 miles after driving off the used car lot, my new (to me) 2014 Chrysler 200 LX gave me an engine code of P0128, “Coolant Thermostat (Coolant Temperature Below Thermostat Regulating Temperature).” The most common causes for this are a bad coolant temperature sensor or a bad thermostat. After replacing the coolant temperature sensor didn’t fix my problem ( • Don’t lose your cool -... ), I knew I needed to replace a bad thermostat.
In the 2.4L Dual VVT Chrysler 200, there are actually two thermostats and a thermostat housing. This video shows how to replace the entire housing since I didn’t want to guess at which thermostat was broken and replace the wrong one (and end up having to drain the coolant twice).
Since I had to drain the coolant to replace the thermostat, I also replaced the radiator petcock/drain valve since it’s also been leaking slowly.
This will apply to many other years, makes, and models that have this 2.4L engine.
Parts (link is Amazon Affiliate Link):
• Dorman 61134 Radiator Drain Cock amzn.to/3Iqe8ME
• Thermostat Housing Kit amzn.to/3Irtj89
• Zerex DEX-COOL Organic Acid Technology 50/50 Prediluted Ready-to-Use Antifreeze amzn.to/3u9EHld
• Mopar 10 Year/150,000 Mile Coolant 50/50 Premixed amzn.to/34kOtGm
I hope you enjoy! Subscribe to the channel and if you’re interested, you can support me on BuyMeACoffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/edvancise
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Intro (0:00)
Draining the Coolant (2:30)
Removing the thermostat housing (5:33)
Prepping the engine block (10:58)
Found the Problem (13:54)
Installing the new thermostat housing (15:23)
Replacing the petcock/drain valve (22:05)
Refilling the coolant and testing (22:38)
Disclaimers:
This video is NOT sponsored by any of the brands mentioned throughout this video or video description. All thoughts mentioned are my own. Some links provided are affiliate links. They do not cost you anything, but I make a small percentage from the sale. Honesty is key on my channel, thank you for supporting me!
I am a Do It Yourself, also known as DIY, mechanic. I am NOT a professional mechanic. I do not have any formal training in the automotive field. I assume no liability for anything you choose to do to your car/vehicle or equipment before or after watching one of my videos. All DIY repairs or modifications you perform are made at your own risk. Sometimes, even if you've done everything the right way, you can destroy or damage one or more things on your car or equipment. You must understand this, but by leveraging knowledge and patience, the probability of encountering one or more problems can be reduced.
Also, if for some unfortunate reason, I do give incorrect instructions and something breaks because you followed my instructions, I will NOT reimburse or pay in any way for whatever cost that may be incurred due to following my wrong instructions.
Lastly, please don't do anything to your vehicle or equipment unless you yourself feel comfortable and confident in doing so. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
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Check out the video description for extra info, parts, tools, torques, and any updates.
I had a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus LXi V6 3.?always ran at 1/4 temperature gauge. Now I have the 2012 200 LX 2.4 always ran at 1/4, until the neck radiator housing cracked and broke. I redid that and all the hoses attached to it, put in new coolant, now it runs at 1/2 fine in the winters in Phoenix, AZ (2020 thru 2023), but it starting to overheat now that we are reaching 90+ degree temps I think its the water pump from looking at the driveway stains. Thanks for your videos. They have helped. I watched the water pump video first. I will check the codes tomorrow and probably keep looking for a mechanic. I have hand tremors, carpel tunnel and arthritis, and can't really do the work anymore, last repair i did was the June 2020, but at least I can make sure I get a good mechanic, that knows what they are doing. My 2000 Chrysler Cirrus water pump is what took it out.
Best of luck with it, Peter, and thanks for watching. The water pump sure needs some contortion skills, especially if you’re on the ground just using jack stands. I hope that resolves the issue for you.
Great video! Very detailed.
Hard to believe someone would just cut off the internals of the second thermostat rather than simply replace it. Glad you took the time to open it up, even though you didn't need to.
Thanks, Brian, and thanks for watching.
I'm glad I let curiosity take me into taking it apart. It didn't just help me understand the cause of my problem but also gave me insight that I could probably expect other "interesting" work by previous owner(s).
@@CarbonsDIYGarageYa know, i did see some guy on Reddit talking about how he was having over-heating issues, so he removed the actual internal components of the thermostat that coincidentally is gone… Do you believe in coincidences?🤣
@@Zach-lz1zh Dang, that’s crazy. For all the work involved in doing that, why not just fix it right? Should drop this video into that Reddit with a “is this you?” 😂
Very detailed repair. Awesome video my friend!
Thanks for the feedback and for watching, Tony. You made my day!
Good diagnostics and video. I have come to 2 conclusions from watching your videos on this vehicle. First, the previous owner or owners, must have done lots of maintenance on the vehicle because they got tired of replacing plastic under the vehicle. Second, I'll stick to GM. Seems to be easier to work on.
All of them are plastic junk these days. Take your pick. It doesn't matter what brand.
Phenomenal!! Great job!!! Thank you for the informative video.
Thanks! and thanks for watching.
Great video, I have to do this job in 2 days but I will try just to replace the front thermostat as this is the one that seems to be stuck closed, the inside bolt will be a pain but will save a few bucks and hopefully solve the issue.
Thanks, Bill. Feel free to drop a comment after you do it just replacing that one thermostat and let folks know how it goes. Thanks for watching.
@@CarbonsDIYGarage It's pretty obvious the last person who worked on your car just did a quick fix to get it to stop over heating, hence not replacing the bottom splash pans and just ripping the thermostat apart to get flow back, that did not break apart by itself, lol. I hope this worked out for you and they did not do this to cover up a warped head, a good highway drive will tell the tale, best of luck. Will update in a few days, the full price of the assembly here in canada is $155.00. ( for a piece of abs and 2 thermoststs, lol )
@@billbr3484 You're very astute. Unfortunately, it appears that the bad day scenario you're thinking of might be where this is headed. Not to spoil some future videos, but getting good thermostats in the system pointed me to the hurriedly replaced coolant pump, when then points to a likely overheated head.
thank you for this video. very detailed and informative
Thanks for watching, Ted.
where did you buy the kit?
autozone is the housing only for 79.99
@@teddavis942 Links to all the parts I used are in the video description. I got the housing kit off Amazon for $55.
Really enjoyed your video
Thanks, and thanks for watching.
Awesome video thank you! Just a question. I put vehicle back together after replacing the housing and when I was adding coolant the coolant was leaking immediately while I was putting it in from the bottom it looks like it’s near the housing I just put on :( anything I could’ve missed I checked all hoses it doesn’t seem like it’s the house maybe didn’t put housing assembly on right? Any tips helps!
One of the tricky things with this, I found, was getting the thermostat to stay seated in the engine block while I was installing the housing. If that isn't seated right, it could cause the whole thing to be off just enough resulting in a leak.
Also check to make sure the housing is fully over the pipe at the back of the block. You could take the housing back off and make sure the o-ring didn't roll off or check that o-ring for cuts. Also make sure the sealing surface of the block is nice and smooth and clean. I know that kinda sounds like "take it off and try again" but that is really the only option that comes to mind - aside from the total frustration of this result. I totally feel your pain. Good luck and thanks for watching; glad the video helped at least with the replacement process.
Thank You!!!!! I've been searching forever for someone to show how many turns to turn the petcock. Mine turns a quarter turn easily and stops... now i know this is normal. Only problem is nothing is coming out so I assume its blocked. Now to figure out what to do to unblock it.... or i guess just keep turning it out to remove it like you did and replace it?
If nothing comes out, I’d indeed remove it to drain the radiator. Just expect a big gush. Leave the radiator cap on to help slow the flow a little. If the petcock isn’t leaking, I doubt you need to replace it. Try some coat hanger or wire up the drain hole, after you’ve drained it, and see if you can loosen anything in the drain. I hope that helps a little. Thanks for watching and the feedback. Good luck!
Thanks man gonna look at mine in a few weeks pretty sure someone used silicone to seal the housing to the block might be scratched up or something but I’m wondering do I need to bleed the cooling system when I go to refill?
Yeah, you'll have lost a lot of coolant in this process and will need to bleed/burp the system and ensure that it's full. I go over it at 22:40 in the video.
Good luck, especially if someone did silicone it on you, and thanks for watching.
great job man 🙂
Thanks, and thanks for watching!
Hi thank you for the knowledge and video question what drive torque wrench are you using?
For the thermostat housing (159 in-lbs) at 20:00, I’m using my 20-200 in-lbs, 1/4” drive torque wrench.
amzn.to/48UBNmh
Thanks for watching, Ray.
Muchas gracias, tengo una duda en las manguera que salen del auto, mencionas que la de arriba va arriba y la de abajo va abajo, pero en mi auto estaban al reves segun recuerdo, que problema puede causar eso? Muchas gracias por tu video
Thanks for watching! Another commenter pointed out that theirs is also opposite of mine. I assumed that mine was correct but it seems like the previous owner of my car might have done it backwards. The top hose should be the return from the heater so that any air bubbles get pushed towards the highest point. If the hoses are reversed, it could allow air bubbles to be trapped in the heater core, degrading the heating capability. But I don’t think it’s the end of the world.
¡Gracias por ver! Otro comentarista señaló que el suyo también es opuesto al mío. Supuse que el mío era correcto, pero parece que el anterior propietario de mi coche podría haberlo hecho al revés. La manguera superior debe ser el retorno del calentador para que las burbujas de aire sean empujadas hacia el punto más alto. Si las mangueras están al revés, podría permitir que queden burbujas de aire atrapadas en el núcleo del calentador, degradando la capacidad de calentamiento. Pero no creo que sea el fin del mundo.
(Google Translate)
Thank you great video
Thanks for watching.
Why drain coolant and not just add more to the coolant reservoir? Also do I HAVE to fill radiator hose, wouldnt the coolant resonate just push coolant through it?
You don't *have* to drain the radiator first. But when you take the hoses off, all the fluid that's in the radiator (or most of it) and the engine (or most of it) will drain through those hoses. It's less mess if you drain the radiator. However you do it, most of the system's coolant will end up coming out.
When you refill the system, you want to get as much coolant as possible into the radiator, engine, and hoses before you start the car. Really, your goal is to get as much air OUT as possible so that your water pump is circulating coolant and not bubbles. Since, on this car, you can't easily directly fill the radiator, you do it through the 'radiator cap' on the hose - thus you're filling that hose as well.
I hope that helps; thanks for watching.
Do the bolts go into the cooling jacket? Do I need to put RTV on the threads so coolant doesn't leak out the bolts?
I did not put RTV on the threads and it’s been leak free. Thanks for watching, Kenny.
Coolant sits at just below halfway mark, mine did for 9 years just changing it soon as its just acting up, this car had been a trouble free vehicle since i bought it brand new in 2013.
Good job,thank you
Thanks, and thanks for watching.
How are you running traditional green coolant when Dex-cool is required.
Great question, Jim! The video and thumbnail sure make it look like traditional green. Here are a couple of answers.
1. This was my first time draining the coolant from this vehicle after I bought it so I'm actually not really sure what Previous Owner (or their shop) put into it. But that's what was drained - not something I'd previously used.
2. I'm pretty sure It wasn't traditional green, or at least pure traditional green, that got drained, though the color seems similar. I've got traditional green in my '97 Jeep TJ and I've drained/filled that enough (sadly) to be able to say that the Chrysler's coolant was different - "thinner" maybe, and the colors weren't really that similar.
3. I didn't find any corrosion, gel, or "goop" in the Chrysler's coolant, in either this drain or the drain I'll do in the future (6 months after I made this video) when I replaced the water pump. No gel/particles in the thermostats or housing that I removed either. I'm glad I did have to replace the coolant, though (twice!) just in case they did mix traditional green in there at some point.
4. I promise I did use Dex-Cool when I filled it back up (link in video description).
Thanks for asking and for watching.
Excellent
Thanks for watching!
My wife has this same exact car/motor. Its running hot. From a cold start, drive it a mile and a half and temp gauge is pegged out. Would this be a thermostat issue???
Here are my thoughts - I'll let you decide how useful they might be. With my car, it took a good while to get it up to operating temperature, when sitting in the driveway and when driving it. Assuming you have a radiator full of coolant and some in the overflow tank, I can't imagine that it would really be overtemping in 1.5 miles. One thing you can do - if the thermostats are working properly (opening) when it's that hot, and it's really that hot, both the upper and lower radiator hoses should be hot (very hot - touch with care to confirm). If they're not both hot, your thermostat to the radiator is closed. So either the thermostat is bad or the engine's not really that hot.
I'd suspect the coolant temp sensor at this point. It's a cheap part and easy to replace - I'd swap that out first and see if you have the same problem. If you have the same problem, then it must be one of the thermostats being stuck closed (and I'd just go ahead and replace them both).
If that doesn't fix it, it could be some type of weird water pump failure where the impeller shaft is broken such that the engine belt spins the pulley but the impeller isn't actually spinning/moving water (but I've never heard of that before).
I hope some of those thoughts are a little helpful. Good luck!
I have a 2012 chrysler 200 no heat, ,i didn't have the money to replace housing, replace both thermostats and still no heat, any idea's
Assuming there’s coolant and it’s not overheating, I’d check the temperature of the hoses going to the heater core. Both should be hot. If not, you might have a blockage in your heater core. You could try flushing the core in that case. The other thought is air trapped in the core so try burping the system more. Sorry I can’t be of more help. Good luck and thanks for watching!
Great video! Did you flush the system eventually?
Since I had previously recently replaced the water pump (drained/replaced coolant) and then drained the radiator to start with for this project, plus the engine drains most of its coolant when you pull the thermostat, I considered all of that coolant replacement as my “mini flush” instead.
Hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
Hey man I just replaced my water pump and thermostat in my Chrysler 200 2013 and it’s still overheating and the heater isn’t wrking as well any help??
Gosh, with those symptoms I'd think water pump and thermostats would do the trick. Years ago, I had a similar problem on a different vehicle after doing some maintenance and it was because there was still air in the coolant system. So maybe try burping the system again to make sure all the air is out and it's full of coolant?
My car doesn’t even have the light come on. I went to replace the thermostat and it doesn’t fit because the seal is alittle thicker. Doing everything the same as your video. Would you happen to know which is the primary thermostat? Reading other people’s things points to the primary not opening up causing my radiator hose to blow back.
I did a Google search because my memory isn’t reliable. The primary (170 deg) thermostat is the one inside the plastic housing. The secondary (203 deg) thermostat goes into the block. Good luck with the project!
My source: www.allpar.com/threads/thermostat-temp.167196/post-1084843228
@@CarbonsDIYGarage Thanks for your response. I’m going to change both of them so I don’t have to come back for it later lol. Thanks again!
@@fsanchez6160 I feel ya - I hate working with coolant; doing it all at once and hopefully not going back into it for a long, long time sounds like a great plan. Good luck!
Am I looking at the correct one where it's the manifold on the towards the fans intake manifold towards the fans and the exhaust manifold sits to the rear oh I see that's the easy one 2.4 I'm talking about that other one that's not so easy
You’re right, Lee, this video is for the 2.4L 4-cylinder. The 3.6L V6 is a different beast. I haven’t researched it but it seems like most of the videos out there are for that 3.6L. It looks a lot more challenging to work on than the 2.4L in a variety of projects.
Great video
Very helpful
However I have a question I believe you could help me with or answer.
No promises but we can try…
Thanks for watching, Sashya.
Hi,do you think we need to seal the housing before the install or it don’t need to,thanks.
I didn't add any additional sealant and I never had any leaks. Each of the thermostats has a seal, then there's the seal on the engine and the pipe at the back. As long as those are in good shape or new, you shouldn't need anything else, based on my experience.
Thanks for watching.
@@CarbonsDIYGarage
Thanks for your response,appreciate what you doing
@@muhanedalkaabi3921 Thanks, Muhaned!
Yes mine does not get to half just a little under
Hey man just a quick ? - how would you know that the thermostats are shot aside the code reading?
Couple of quick tests. If your engine temperature gauge (the coolant temp) never gets to the ~halfway point, your thermostat is probably stuck full open. You can (carefully) check the temperature of the two radiator hoses. If the gauge shows a low temp after the engine’s been running a while but both hoses are the same temp, then coolant is flowing through the radiator and the thermostat is open even though it shouldn’t be.
If the temperature is hot, the temp showing past ~half way on the gauge, check the hose temps. If the hose temps are not both super hot (be careful when touching!) then the thermostat is probably stuck partially or fully closed. (If sensor says hot, thermostat should be open, hoses should be hot, and fans should be running to try to cool it).
This assumes there’s coolant in the system, of course. If there are no codes to help you, there’s coolant in the system, and the hose temperatures don’t help, then it might be just trying the thermostat replacement or sensor and see if it fixes it. Throwing parts at it sucks though. Sensor is probably easier to do and less mess.
In a hot coolant condition, also check on your fans to make sure they’re working.
Hope that helps a little. Thanks for watching.
@@CarbonsDIYGarage definitely does help, thanks a lot.
Got a 200c that I had sitting for a while, had to go get a smog but the battery died.
Replaced the battery and smog tech said I needed to drive around a bit to cycle, in the process of driving it, she developed a rod knock (I suspect even tho she had a fresh oil change before I had her sitting) and the coolant filler neck cracked on me, replaced it recently but after letting it run for 10 minutes, I check the radiator hoses and the bottom one still felt cold to the touch while the top one was already hot, my temp gauge didn't go above the halfway mark so I'm suspecting it may be a thermostat that needs replacing next lol,
sucks that after just a few months of it sitting, so many problems arise..especially considering she was running A-ok when I was driving her consistently.
@@thedesignmercenary Sorry to hear about the troubles. If you’ve got the Chrysler 200, which has 2 thermostats (or any other vehicle with 2 thermostats), my experience as seen in this video is that it’s probably worth the expense to replace both thermostats at the same time and the easiest way for me to do it was to just replace the housing as well.
Check out some of the other comments in this video - I forget which comment but somewhere we wrote down which thermostat is which temperature rating if you’re just going to replace the thermostat(s). I hope you can get it sorted and resolved soon and easily. Good luck!
Where did you purchase the thermostat kit?
All of the parts info is in the video description. Thanks for watching.
Your suppose to leave the temperature sensor out of the vehicle because that is the highest point when filling it up, it will remove the air. The air is what’s causing the vehicles temperature not to be at normal level
That's a good tip, Robert. Thanks for it and thanks for watching.
I only need the thermostat can u tell me the part number?
Thanks for watching, Clarisa. Since there are two thermostats and they have different part numbers/operating temperatures, and since I didn't buy thermostats on their own when I did this video, I'd rather point you to rockauto.com and you can see the available parts options.
I hope this helps.
www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/chrysler,2014,200,2.4l+l4,3300344,cooling+system,thermostat,2200
Why would the previous owner have removed the thermostat?
I could more easily understand simply removing it all together instead of snipping away the spring and poppet and reinstalling it, though I guess the t-stat seal is what seals those two plastic pieces together. Why not just install a new thermostat? If nothing else, use a thermostat with the same temperature rating as the other one. I dunno, there's probably some other troubles/story going on because yeah, it just makes no sense.
Thanks for watching, Billy.
I just did mine today- same thing just below half way. Seems normal
Thanks, Michael. That did seem to be its happy place, I agree. Thanks for watching!
Muy bien especificado
Gracias por ver. Me alegro de que haya sido útil.
Do you need to burp the system
In the end, I was just overly cautious. I’ve worked on the coolant system a few times since I made this video. Now I know that “normal” for the temp gauge on this car is below middle on the gauge. Now I just check, and squeeze, the lower radiator hose. When that hose is hot, I know the thermostats are open.
Thanks for watching, Dan.
Great video but theres an issue with ether your heater core hoses or mine, my heater core hoses is opposite of yours, same car 2013 chrysler 200 2.4L, i installed the new house the same way i took it off so my heater core hoses are swapped compared to yours an half of my thermostat wasn't missing. Everthing is working great, no leak now, so my assumption on your car is a crackhead done had gotten inside of your housing an put the heatercore hoses on backwards when reinstalling
I don't own the vehicle anymore but it totally wouldn't surprise me if that's exactly what happened. The heat always worked great so I never thought to look at the hose routing. Previous Owner definitely did a number on that car's cooling system.
Thanks for watching, Ronnie.
Np man thanks for the info,torch specs tools required, i also did it without removing the airbox
Never buying a Chrysler again 😅
LOL. Amen.
Thanks for watching.
My petcock just spins won't leak any fluid out
The drain in the radiator might be plugged. Try a hangar wire or something up into the drain hole to clear it out. You can also try twisting the petcock to the “right “orientation and pull it fully out of the radiator (and fluid will come out of that larger hole so be ready).
Hope that helps. Thanks for watching, Juan.
@@CarbonsDIYGarage thanks for the advice I'll give that a shot. I replaced my thermostat housing last year but I'm noticing coolant puddling on top of my transmission. I couldn't remember if I had put a gasket between the block and the thermostat I wanted to watch a video and see how it should go, but gonna pull it all off regardless to check. Was it a paper gasket that went there? Thanks in advance. Awesome to get a response so quickly definitely keep doing what your doing I know others are thinking the same thing 👍
@@Presence_of_Mind_ First, thanks for the feedback and kind words on the channel and content. Really means a lot!
There’s no paper gasket. There’s the o-ring on the “tube” at the back of the engine, a rubber gasket for the center of the housing, and an o-ring/gasket on the new thermostat. Take a look at 11:30 and 13:00 in the video. It’s possible for the o-ring to have rolled out of place when you installed it, for the center gasket to have shifted, or the thermostat to have moved. When I did my install, I know the thermostat was a bit of a pain to keep in place. The center gasket is held in place into the housing pretty well and the o-ring I lubricated and worked at slowly to hope/help it not roll (which I guess it didn’t since I didn’t have any leaks). So I guess I’d say the thermostat might be the most likely leak location?
Good luck with yours, I hope it’s a simple fix!
@@CarbonsDIYGarage thanks again gonna give that a shot I'll get back to you when it's done 👍
@@CarbonsDIYGarageSo I wanted to see it leaking so I got the car to operating temp left it like that for 15 mins or so and not much was happening so I asked my wife (her daily driver btw) to get in and revv it while I watched and it turns out that little nozzle that the coolant temperature sensor plug goes plugged into was bad. I remember now that I re used the old one from my previous thermostat housing. It was shooting coolant out from there but only when engine was revved up a bit. Thanks again for you help even though it wasn't any of the thermostat outlets or anything. Hopefully someone find this useful as well. 👍
😮😮😢 la