Nov 12 - is it fixed ?

I knew why I didn't like changing the car's thermostat -- it's plumbing !

Well, I couldn't get the fan clutch off. I was reluctant to hit the wrench hard enough, always nervous about breaking something. I did the next-best thing -- I used my 5mm Allen wrench (actually my 5mm hex 3/8 socket wrench) and removed the fan from the clutch, then lifting the fan and cowling out together. It was very difficult to get back into place, but I managed.

Once the fan and cowling were out, I opened a couple of the coolant drains and let them drip into a bucket and then removed the thermostat itself. There is an electrical connection to the housing and four bolts that attach it to the engine block. The thermostat part of the housing inserts into the block and there's a gasket that mates with the block to seal the entire thing.

Two hoses also have to be removed from the thermostat housing and I fiddled a bit with those, again not wanting to break anything.

I read the cautionary notes about the bleed and drain screws so many times that I was hesitant to tighten them too much -- plastic/nylon construction. Of course that means that I had leaks and a couple of times I got "check coolant level" later in the day. As a result I'm still not sure that I have everything sealed. Time will tell. With the drains tight, there are basically three points where there could be leaks -- each of the two hoses and where the thermostat housing mates with the block. I can't really see in there without removing the fan and cowling again, so I'm just going to give it some time and see if the coolant level stays up.

With all of the cowling and underside parts to modern engines, a) you can't see down or up to check things and b) a small leak or the result of a former leak has a lot of places for liquid to collect and drip over time. I don't have any drips now but that's no guarantee.

The other possibility, although unlikely, is that by draining/refilling the coolant I've sprung a tiny leak in the rad itself. That kind of leak usually sprays coolant and drips. The underside of the entire area was wet from the earlier leaks, especially from the not-tight-enough bleed screw at the top of the rad, so it's hard to tell at this point.

IF the job is finished, I saved myself a chunk of change. I'm keeping my fingers crossed ! ps -- the engine now comes up to proper operating temperature, so the thermostat works anyway.

The thermostat was my morning project. My afternoon project was trimming mangroves at Saxon. That took two trips, because it was too wet the first time to get as far back into the mangroves as I wanted.

We had our "typical" Saturday dinner -- shrimp from the market, rice and peas. Shrimp is the typical part, the accompaniments are variable :).

That's about it. I may go for a bike ride today; the forecast looks good.

Oh -- and there is big news -- Sara is pregnant. We've known for a few days but I held back saying anything here until she went public on her Facebook page.

This happened without drugs, i.e. no fertility treatments to encourage follicles to drop eggs. That's good, because I worry about multiple births with those treatments. We are nervous though, with the pre-eclampsia of the last time increasing her risk of being in that boat again.

Onward !