How do you change a vw bug thermostat?

Answer 1

Remove The Oil Pan. Its Right Next To The Muffler Bearings.

^ Funny but incorrect answer. There is a thermostat located on the passenger side of the engine next to the lowercase areaunder the cylinders and pushrod tubes. It is a brass bellows looking thing that controls the air deflectors in the stock fan shroud, closing them off when the engine is cold and opening them up when the engine warmed up. There is a simple bolt threaded into the bottom of the case holding the bracket on and it needs to be unthreaded from the control rod at the top of the brass bellows. Alot of people have abandoned the thermostat and wired the control flaps open, or removed the flaps from inside the fan shroud altogether.Most aftermarket fan shrouds have no air deflectors inside them at all. Problems arise when the thermostat mechanism sticks shut and overheats the engine so common practice was to remove it. A good thermostat system can be beneficial in colder climates, just need to maintain it to keep it working good.