Chevy Sonic 1.8 thermostat replacement(2012-2016) 

Glad it could help you out. Sounds like a bad repair job as well.

Hope it can help

Bro exact same issue here, mechanic wants 400$ no time like an economic depression to start learning stuff 😅😂

Thank you that's why I try to make these videos none of this stuff is hard and it saves a lot of money

Your very welcome

I've got a chevy sonic 2015 and my light is on and go out sometime will it hurt it to run it like that and I like your vido you explain it good think you

Thank you I try most times it tells me right away somtimes tho it doesn't tell me.

Glad I could help!

No problem and yes it's super easy. It's easy enough to not over pay at a dealership that's for sure.

Thank you I'm glad it helped you out

Glad it could help honestly. Hope the AC blows ice cold for you 👌

@@RspecNick Quick question. Everything was good until I noticed it is leaking coolant from the bottom part of the thermostat. I am thinking on undoing the part and try to adjust it. I purchased gasket maker in case it leaks again. Any recommendation? I noticed the piece (thermostat) is exactly the same as yours. I noticed it is slightly smaller than the original one so any unfitting will most likely leak. Any advice?

Glad it could help 👌

Wouldn't there be air inside the hose? No ned to bleed the system?

Glad it could help 👌

Yep I had the same issue

TheAnimeist thank you I'm glad it helped you 👌

No problem at all hopefully it helps alittle

Thank you and I tried the stand but you couldn't really see what was going on I tried a head mount too that wasn't too bad but it feels slightly off having a camera attached to your head lol

Rspec Nick lol i feel you man. Great videos , if you don’t mind me asking, how many miles do you have? And what engine code reader do you use, if you use one? Asking because i gassed up at the pump one time and then started the car and it was idling rough all of a sudden. That never happened. So my homie gave me a small 2 button scanner.. some time ago.. so I plugged the scanner in (1st time ever using a scanner) and it read “P0496” which is the purge valve, I’m going to change soon and see if that’s the problem. My other car is obd1 .. I use a paper clip to pull codes and count the check engine light flash’s..like an ass lmfao

@@buhhwee2166 I was at 99,500 miles and I just had a centech scanner there alright but there's way better scanners out there and yea stuff like that could be simple I had that happen with mine and another emissions code popped up later on they both disappeared on there own tho so I just left it be lol

Rspec Nick thanks man , I really appreciate the feed back .. i got the purge valve, Trans fluid change and front brakes to do. Cars at 47k so 2k over on the trans change

Hopefully it could help

Super easy man the sonic is setup pretty nice theres enough room to do alot on the car compared to alot of cars.

Hope it could help alittle

Glad it could help 👌

Thanks and I'm glad it helped. Honestly I'm just trying to save some people money it's really not that difficult and if you plan to have the car awhile it will probably happen again in the future. Sonics have alot of cooling related issues.

No problem man

so i now have the parts and i am working on it right now but i wonder was it hard for you to remove the thermostat cause after i got those bolts off off( was a pain in the fucking ass btw) now the thermostat isnt budging dont wanna break anything took the wires off already any input thanks!@@RspecNick

update got the thermostat off still showing check engine maybe it was the housing?

Yea they are super cheap online man

Hopefully it helped 👌. Mine cleared itself but I heard other people it didnt go away on its own. so worse case scenario you would have to clear the code.

Can you clear the code by just taking the negative terminal off the battery ? ​@@RspecNick

Hope it could help

Hopefully it helped

Quincy Diaz thank you

There is always easier ways to do it vs the shop manual. What other cars do you have?

@@RspecNick 07 Versa, 19 ranger, escape.......all my bikes I have manual, but I still watch a video if available

@@rugershooter5268 I almost made a few videos with that year range versa. One of them was going to be the main battery fuse on the battery terminal dying/ corroding causing a no start condition.

@@RspecNick son has versa, why I got sonic, fixing it up for him. First changed water pump, then couldn't control a/c temp.... couldn't get heat.....must be thermostat stuck open 2wks later thermostat comes in, heat control now works without changing thermostat I've got thermostat and know how to change it when it's needed.......I believe the reason everyone changes the whole box instead of just the thermostat is because store only carries the whole box but can order just thermostat and can take up to 2wks.......one store charged only $3 less to get just thermostat and had to wait O'Reilly's was $60 wait or $130 and get whole box........$60 for thermostat and that's cheapest

Yes so that tube can pop out relatively easy if you can try to guide it back in place it's hard to see where it goes if you take it to a dealer they will try to tell you that they need to rip a bunch of stuff apart to get to it ps-i ripped mine out too and it sucked getting it back in place try to use a small mirror and flash light to see it makes it way easier.

Yep pretty much if you can keep most of the anti freeze in there your fine just replace what you loose

Usually it will clear itself but you can clear it by unplugging the battery for a couple hours or if you have a code reader just delete the code out

Maybe from the dealer but not sure if a parts store would have that honestly.

It gives wiggle room to pop the thermostat on. On mine I could not install the thermostat without giving it some wiggle room to slide into place. But I do hope the video was able to help I know Chevy wanted a decent chunk of change to do mine.

@@RspecNick yeah I think it’s different. Just depends on how much room you have to fit the thermostat in there …with mine I didn’t have to unscrew the housing but I see why you did it now and yes, thank you so much for this video. It was a big help and a money saver. Thank you bro

I would call the dealer on that one I found a few of the connectors for the temp sensor itself. But none for the thermostat. Chevy should have a part diagram that will list that connector with a part number. Then you can just take that part number and run a Google search and find it. Sometimes it's cheaper doing it that way as well.

Here is a list of the possible causes for it Low coolant Stuck thermostat Defective ECT sensor Faulty radiator coolant temperature sensor Shorted or open circuits or connectors Bad PCM or PCM programming

Yea that sounds like it got backed up and started running into the reservoir. Did your antifreeze partially freeze ?

@@RspecNick Hey Nick thanks for getting back to me. Yes I think that is what happened with my anti freeze partially freezing up.Im wondering WHAT is the freezing temp of anti freeze? Ill have to google that one.When It got down to -35 here in edmonton recently with wind chill Im sure it felt like -40 something. Anyway, I do not have any code lights on in the car but I think the thermostat sensor is shot or not performing as it should be so no harm in replacing it. I have ordered online a thermostat and housing for $65 dollars Canadian (through amazon) which is like 2 bucks american ha ha! Dealersip wanted almost $200 bucks??? Im gonna install it and see if there is a difference.Just waiting for weather to get a little better here to dab in the garage!To coldddd! Thanks again for your hard work in producing this great video much appreciated Mike from Edmonton Alberta

@@MS-rs8le your very welcome and hopefully you can get it installed easy. As for the freezing temp it usually varies based on age of it along with how diluted it was but depending which type you used plays a role too

Mine cleared itself out on it's own after like 50 miles or so but I've heard some people have it stuck on afterwords and have to have it cleared

I did not drain it but you can if your going to flush it anyways. I just popped the hose away from the housing and tried to save as much of the coolant that was still in the system.

Anna Hensley yes it could be I'd check the smaller parts first the Chevy sonic runs on a 3 stage fan based off temps low,med,and high there's fuses under the hood that have the fuses for them each fan relay will control a certain speed plus the thermostats in these cars seem to be a common issue it's a really easy fix tho in all honesty I got my thermostat with thermostat housing for less then 40 dollars off 1aauto.com

If you have low coolant fluid level it could assist in overheating the engine but mine itself did not mine was happening in the late fall/winter

It should be on the driver side if I remember correctly

@@RspecNick thanks you for letting me know. I wanted to flush the cooling system and put some of the Amsoil antifreeze in there. Is flushing the cooling system easy to do?

On the engine itself there was a lip I believe that wouldn't let it slide off so if you pull the housing away from the engine alittle it lets the thermostat have enough room to slide past it.

You might have too it could be a fan relay too cause the code is like 3 or 4 different things coolant sensor,thermostat,fan relay can cause it too most common is thermostat and coolant temp sensor from what I've been seeing

Thank you and overall honestly it's super easy but from what I've seen these cars go threw these alot so don't expect it to be the last one you replace

Yea that's a bit excessive honestly

The only time I could see it affecting the AC would be if it burnt up or leaked to much coolant and ran hot which would cause the ECU to limit anything from added extra heat. You would notice your fan always being on most likely

Mine affected my AC. Fan always on; AC almost always off. Something I read suggested it is automatically disabled when the thermostat believes the engine is overheating.

Metal one on the thermostat ?

If it is that's a thermostat clip Dorman makes some for like 7 or 8 dollars I believe

The gray plastic clip that you removed with the flathead is what I was referring to.

@@cjheppard6342 I'm not even sure if they would sell that connector separate or not I would take a screenshot of mine and maybe ask a auto parts store or Chevy worse case scenario just find a totaled one and have the guy cut that wire off and splice that new connector end in place

I don't but it should be in the video I think

If its leaking on the bottom of the thermostat it's either not sealed or bad gasket.

It could be the air blend door that controls heat/AC

@@RspecNick humm, ok, i did try turning it like 10 times really fast thinkin this also, tthnks, will look into more

You have to try to either snug up the screws alittle to see if that fixes it of not you need to reseal it

For the auto transmission it's about 5 quarts of oil

Around 2.5 quarts for the manual trans

Rspec Nick thanks so much i appreciated

@@sancheztorres35 your very welcome

It was at Aauto.com

It's not bad but It did end up going through another one about 30k miles later.

The 2nd one didn't last long it had the plastic housing that went out the 3rd one I got had a metal housing and it lasted from 80k until I traded the car in at 110k

Keep the battery unplugged for 30 mins it should reset fault codes

When the lights goes off does the fan go off as well??

Thank you for all your help and quick replies

@@CostaAzulFishingDanielGarza yes the fan will go back to normal operations then. No problem at all

The code will automatically reset. Once the part is replaced of not immediately then give it about 50 miles of drive time and the computer should self adjust by then.

@@RspecNick reseting ecu works to unplug the battery for a few plug it again it should go away work for my car it wasnt a chevy sonic so idk

@@dontcryboutit yeah that would work too. Alot of newer cars should be able to detect the problem is fixed and clear the code on it's own especially sensor related issues

@@RspecNick mine was 2017 it didn't i tried it my self too i unplug my air sensor turned car on and light came up but then turned car off and then plug it back in turn car kn still kn so i just unplugged the battery

What's happening with it?

The hose from the radiator is cold and the out tube from the heater core and the thermostat housing is also cold. seems like it's not want to to flow through the motor.

It might have thrown 2 codes. The thermostat is a big problem with the Sonics

Rspec Nick thanks for the advice, man. Your videos have been a huge help!

@@brannonfowler688 thank you I'm just hoping you can get that code squared away

Yes it can the sensor and housing are 2 separate parts

4 hours is pretty extreme but I mean it is the dealer. They have set hours they go by but honestly if you had the right tools and coolant maybe 1.5 hours

(Obviously you posted this three years ago. I'm replying for future readers.) I did this today. It took me around half an hour, including cleanup.

You could always run a separate temp gauge showing actual temp. Or you can buy obd2 readers that can give live data to most androids and iPhones

You don't need too. but if you don't you will loose some. So I'd keep a container of dexos 50/50 antifreeze on hand when you do it

@@RspecNick thanks bro

Mine was like that for awhile too it's a good 90 percent chance it's the thermostat if there's anti freeze in there then I'd look into the thermostat

Yea it sounds like maybe you temp sensor is messed up cause if your too low on antifreeze or oil and the engine starts to run hotter then normal the car will kick a.c. off and trip a check engine light almost like a safe mode

@@RspecNick so what should I do you think, just replace the thermostat. Or is it something else.

@@GEARStallion267 double check to make sure there's no leaks around the thermostat and by your intake tube cause there's a little coolant line there too mine was leaking above my alternator but check those 2 areas if it's not leaking then go ahead and try to replace the thermostat if it keeps doing it after that check your coolant temp sensor then water pump and worse case scenario it's a head gasket how many miles do you have on the car

@@RspecNick About 73,000.

@@RspecNick there are no leaks at all, everything checks out just fine now. The air works great the heat works great. The fan isn't constantly on anymore, only when it needs to be. I just really don't get it

@@AcidxAnarchy sounds like air was still trapped in the cooling system causing it to blow excess pressure into the overflow tank. That's based off knowing you just swapped a hose. If it happened before the hose replacement I would say possibly thermostat but with the hose just being replaced high chance air was still trapped in the system causing excess pressure.

@RspecNick do you think air in the system would cause the heat not to work, tho? Maybe it blew all of the coolant out before it could get hot enough to get to the heater core? I would hate to change thermostat if it's just air in the system ya know?

@@AcidxAnarchy yes air in the system can cause all sorts of issues. Especially if that's happening right after you changed the hose it's more then likely air trapped in the lines. You did bleed it after the hose install right?

@RspecNick no I did not, I wasn't aware I needed to when I did it. I haven't run it since then, and I've been researching more into the matter.

Yea it's really not that difficult to do honestly

@@RspecNick my car fan run fast The engine light is on is that the thermostat

@@dennymoats7480 it could be the thermostat or it could a fan relay theres 3 of them low,med and high speed or it could be a bad temp sensor keeping the fan on too

@@RspecNick it come on and off it don't constantly

It doesn't run all the time it cuts on and off

Captain Blacklung lol yes there's enough room you mean replace firewall lines,thermostat,thermostat housing and upper and lower rad hoses ?

Rspec Nick so we’re just swapping out the thermostat assembly. We’re going to keep the OE lines, we’re just swapping the entire plastic assembly for a forged metal one. My Sonic is a track car and we continue to break the plastic assembly, so we’re just putting in a full steel OE replacement.

Rspec Nick also thanks for your quick reply!

Captain Blacklung okay yea you have enough room for sure I wanted to get a metal one but mine is just a daily so I just went with more of an oem replacement but hopefully that metal one solves your issues for sure

Rspec Nick I daily drive mine as well, but we have a track less than a mile from our house and we do track days with it every weekend. It’s not crazy modified. We stripped the interior, put some tuner seats in it, put some more weight in the back, Megan racing coilovers, we put banshee ICW wheels and some grippy tires on it, cool air intake and a full retune. We kept it quiet as far as exhaust. I want to do a custom manifold and put a GT25 turbo on it but we’ll see. We would need to do a custom intercooler pipe routing. We would only be pushing like, 9 pounds of boost. It would still be okay with the 10:1 fuel/air ratio. You could go higher but I can’t promise your engine would have the same lifespan. And then of course retune again to push more fuel from the injectors. We calculated you could probably get about 210BHp which would give you like 180 at the wheel. And then of course if worse comes to worse we planned on getting a thicker head gasket milled to drop the fuel/air ratio to 9:1 and crank the turbo a bit higher. But that’s some sketchy bootleg racing shit there lol

Was the housing leaking or just the thermostat?

@@RspecNick The housing was leaking so I tightened it a little bit more and the thing broke.

@@RspecNick I was trying to avoid taking it to a mechanic but I'm probably going to have to now.

@@kyle2978 the housing cracked? They sell a aftermarket housing that's metal

Yea dealer prices are crazy. They wanted like 400 or something to replace my serpentine belt which takes maybe 15 minutes I'm just glad I know how to do alot of my own work to my car or it would drain me of alot of money

@@RspecNick well i have a 2013 sonic LT so its more complicated it seems. The thermostat is not in the same spot but seems just require disconnecting a couple more hoses and a different thermostat model

Maybe bumped the coil pack to hard. Disconnect the battery for about 30mins and see if it still does it

Fucking worked! You’re the man. Thank you so much haha I was stressing out about this she has work in the morning and I would have never heard the end of that😂

1aauto.com

Thank you bro👍👍

@@samuelocampo9896 no problem man ✌

I would take that into the dealer cause that sounds funky cause the only thing loosing power would do is reset the ECU temporarily until it finds a fault again and kicks it off

did you figure out what the issue was?

Was just wondering if you figured out what the problem was? thanks :)

and if so, what was the issue?

Yes doing it this way you have to loosen the bolts

@@RspecNick but if only need to replace the thermostat where the hose going to the radiator? Do i have to do ?

@@RspecNick got it . Now i know why u have to loose them

@@RspecNick becausr is not easy to take it off for the obstruction of the engine block

One more thing , i replace the thermostat and the fan don’t stop

A couple places aauto.com and rockauto.com

@@RspecNick thank you

Black smoke or white ? And has it been smoking before

Rspec Nick white & no but I always smell this hair burning smell

@@Life_WithLex_ that would be more towards a blown head gasket then anything. How many miles do you have on your car

Rspec Nick 135000 and I was thinking a gasket too

@@Life_WithLex_ yea it might be the gasket. If you knew the rest of the coolant system was for sure sealed you could watch the antifreeze if it disappears but there's no leaks visually then more then likely it's the gasket a shop can do the test for it as well

Check engine light kept coming on for the faulty thermostat occasionally it would go away but finally it stayed on

Also keeps the rad fan on high even when you first start it

@@RspecNick what code u got. For this issue i have a sonic 2012 the reason the fan dont run i replaced the relays the jcase fuse. It runs only when u turn on the ac

@@sancheztorres35 p0599 was the code I had and it was the thermostat

@@RspecNick man i was looking for this issue in my car but no fix. I got p0480 p0481 but already replaced many parts and not solutions thanks for the info

Is it tightened down to where it faster to the engine and is it fastened down going from the sensor to the housing

@@RspecNick Yes, it is fastened and I even tightened it a little more today to see if it helped and it did nothing. It's odd that it appears to not be where the sensor connect but below it. It's still the housing that appears to be leaking, it's just below the sensor and where it connects to the metal tube thing (idk what it's called) I couldn't see it well enough so I took a video with my phone because I could get in better with it. I've had someone tell me it could have something to do with the sensor being metal and the housing being plastic. You think that might have something to do with it? I'm just trying to avoid spending $300-400 at a shop

@@cbenstine25 no that's not it I've had the metal sensor and plastic housing and mine didn't do that it might be the seal for that metal pipe tho cause that would be the only other possible leaking spot

@@RspecNick can I buy just the seal? If so, where can I find it?

@@cbenstine25 honestly of you loose that it's probably gonna be a dealer part I can try to find the tear down list on what it actually is

nelson cruz lol I know I didn't let to much out tho so a bucket of hot water washed it off.

Rspec Nick hey no prob just said it as a joke not worried about it 👍

nelson cruz I thought about that too after I said it I was like crap 😂

Mine was code p0599

@@RspecNick thanks for the update I wonder what that code means

@@luisvilla799 it's for a fault with the Heater control circuit so most likely the thermostat

@@RspecNick yes something like that I actually changed just the tstat today, no housing and unpluged negative battery cable so far so good check engine light is off unfortunately when my ac is on the fan doesnt cycle on and off, which it was doing before the change in tstat, like you mentioned in the video fuck is going fast still

If the fan is still runs with the defrost on did you check all 3 fan speed relays ? And I know the thermostat can cause it to act goofy too

@@RspecNick I check the fan fuses and I don't know how to check the relays since my vault meter is now broken so i cant om them out..is there a different way? How do I check them ?

@@MMAsFather well usually I'm pretty defrost kicks on speed 1 of the fan so you could just pull the relay while it's running that would shut it off no matter if the cars demanding it or not but if you say it won't even kick on with engine at operating temp I wanna say lean more towards the coolant temp sensor then anything

@@RspecNick which is connected to the thermostat from what I've read I can't just replace that piece . Or I should just replace the thromsta at the same time since it's already at 91000 miles anyways am I right

The website you posted says it's for sale for some reason do you have a direct link to the cheap thermostat?