How do you change the thermostat in a 2002 Jeep Liberty and where is it located?

Answer 1

Follow the bottom hose from the radiator to engine and it will lead you to the thermostat housing. The engine will have to be cold to work on it as it is very hard to access from the bottom. Remember that the spring side of the Thermostat will face into the engine, not into the thermostat housing. This is the only vehicle that will let you install the thermostat backwards that I've seen. I have a 2002 4x4 3.7L motor the 4 cylinder engine might be different, but if u have the 3.7 it should be the same. My radiator cracked on the plastic top rh side. It seems that due to design, if the thermostat gets stuck closed, the radiator gets over pressurized with coolant and will fail when pressure passes design spec (as most things do). originally i thought it just failed due to wormanship, but i fixed the crack and tried to refill the system, but after 1 gallon it would not take more coolant, all these people online put up this nonesence,,,ohh it might be a weak water pump.....no, if a water pump is no good it won't pump and you will hear the bearings screaming when the motor is running. Because my coolant tank was overflowing I revved up the motor to see what kind of suction i would get ,coolant level dropped with every rev, but returned when the motor was idle (pump was probably just cavitating). if you live in south Florida as i do you probably don't need a thermostat, but i installed a low temp tstat anyway. my Jeep has 99,000 miles on it, and the only other problems i have had with it (other than recalls) is the brakes and the crank sensor, symptoms (crank sensor)were motor stalled. After the motor cooled off the motor ran...barely and the tranny was bucking, engine and tranny both look at this sensor and when it goes bad it affects both. I recommend having a qualified mechanic replace the sensor. brakes.....lol from what I understand jeep is notorious for undersizing their brakes (conspiracy?), I have tried aftermarket pads and disks (3 different companies) and I still have problems way earlier than I should. I like the freakin car so I'll deal with it.

Also, the tanks on the Radiator are made of plastic. Yes, I said plastic. Another stewpid design yet again from Chrystler. The tanks can be replaced. Most cities have a radiator shop that can fix them for around $100 bucks. They do it everyday. Once one has cracked, your doomed. There is no fixing the crack. No stop leak will work. Don't use stop leak. I found this out the hard way going down the highway and found myself 50 miles south of Montgomery Alabama when I finally figured out the crack. If your Jeep starts loosing antifreeze, REPLACE THE TANK ON YOUR RADIATOR IMMEDIATELY. This one lasted about 110,000 miles. Good Luck