Thermostat housing

[Christopher]

1992 G-limited n/a

So my temperature gauge is sitting at about 1/3 way mark when fully warmed up and I don't think the heaters are as hot as they should be.

My first thought was a shot thermostat, which is normally a quick fix on most cars, but 4 hours and several layers of skin later, I can't for the life of me remove the thermostat housing from the engine.

The lower housing bolt is right between the dip stick and oil filter, and it's under the heat shield. All this makes getting a rachet and socket on to the bolt impossible. So I thought id make some room by removing the heat shield but sure enough the 3 bolts hold the heat shield on, crumbled as soon as I applied any torque .

So I'm stuck in this situation, sheared bolts in my heat shield and a thermostat housing that's impossible to access.

Please has anyone replaced a thermostat in an n/a that has some life changing tips on how to get the housing off?

Cheers

[GDII]

Small tools help and/or taking off the oil filter worked for me.

Also while you are at it get a new O ring for the radiator bleeder so when you bleed it, it seal when done up. It will leak if it's the old one, trust me.
Then bleed the system properly using the service manual method.

[Christopher]

Guess I'll need to get some smaller tools!

I've been pre warned about the O ring before, do you know where the beat place to get them would be?

Thanks for the help

[GDII]

I got mine from Toyota a long time ago and always suggest to to others to order from Toyota as I don't actually have data on the actual size it is. Finding one in a pack from auto stores like Repco and SCA don't seem, to have the right size. If someone has data on what size it is and where to get it from that would be great. Auto stores don't carry singles anymore, just packs.

[tw2]

They are pretty cheap from Toyota, I got a couple. Rounded bolt extractors got my destroyed heat shield bolts out. I picked up a set from super cheap which were pretty good. And of course wd-40 for a couple of days and a few sharp hits with a hammer before attempting it.