Okay so I recently had to change the thermostat on my Duratec 2.3l Pzev, so I figurered I'd share how to change one without costing you anything but the thermostat it's self, and without having to remove the intake manifold???
Okay so as you can guess you need to change it some time or another, and in the case of the Duratec 2.3l, it is not a fun task by any means.
So first you will want to un-hook the battery for safety, then you can start by taking the one bolt out the overflow tank and remove the whole tank, remember which hose goes where.
After that you will want to remove the front grill and head light, for the front grill there are four very easy bolts, as for the headlight there are three on the top, and one that you must get from under the car, close to the side fender.
After all that your going to want to get started on removing the P/S pump, there are four bolts, the top two are easy, and the bottom right one is fairly easy, but the bottom left one is a little bit of a pain in the ash,lol, You will have to put a open ended box wrench on there and push it towards the driver side, push it until it gets stuck on there, and then use the end of a hammer and put it on the wrench, and tap the other end with the palm of your hand to break it free, once free loosen it and pull the pump outward as you loosen it by finger if you can.
Then you will be able to see the thermostat once the pump is moved toward the passenger side fender, it has three bolts, two easy ones on the top, and one very hard one on the bottom right, Now for the one on the bottom right, you will just have to get the socket and extension and fish for it, when you get it, then attach the 3/4 inch driver and break it loose, and replace it with a new one, they only sell the thermostat as one with the housing, so you will need one that looks like this, and it is okay if the plate on the end is smaller it still does the job. One on left is new one.
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Now once you put the thermostat back on, the hard part is getting that bottom left screw started on the P/S pump, I had to put my thumb through one of the holes on the pulley, and swing my pointer finger around and tighten it by hand first.
But it does help to atleast put the top two back in, they work as a guide so the bottom left one is easier to start by finger.
And after you get the P/S pump back on, put the belt back on, fill the system with coolant through the radiator hose coming out the top right, detach it from the radiator side, and fill till it comes out the radiator from where is was detached, then fill the overflow tank to the cold line and start her up and hope you didn't have a leak.
Hope this helps some of you to change your D23 thermostat. This is easier then removing the intake manifold or P/S pressure line or pulley, but it is somewhat of a pain in the fingers.
Djzx3
Ford focus wagon
Ford Focus zx3
How-to: Duratec 2.3l thermostat.
Linear Mode
