OMG I JUST TODAY OK'd my mechanic replacing my whole thermostat housing on my 02 v70XC because the thermostat I bought wasn't the right one for an '02 because mine takes that one! And I couldn't find that thermostat anywhere!

It seems that in America, you can only get the entire assembly new. In ...

So I felt like I wasn't going to be able to get the housing cover off, and took it in to the shop I often use by my job.

Turns out when they got the housing cover off, there was a different thermostat inside (I got mine locally at an auto parts store). AND they can't even get the thermostat I need ...

Thank you! Ill try that today after work, hopefully that'll do it.

I couldn't get the thermostat housing open unforetunately, it has t-30 bolts but I was stripping the head without the bolt budging. I sprayed it with some PB blaster, and am going to try to get a different bit. I was using a driver bit in a socket, but I'm going to get a true socket bit instead ...

Ok well I'm going to get the thermostat today and change that out. Any tips on what to look for other than just feeling the coolant rush through as it opens up after the engine warms up?

So I started it up and held my hand on the hose, waiting for it something to happen, but it just slowly got hot over the course of several minutes. Definitely no sudden temp changes or rushing coolant feeling. Just a slow and steady increase in temperature.

I will definitely try the hand on the hose test very soon and report back.
I have not messed with the thermostat at all, it could be an issue.
The water pump was replaced when I had my rear main seal, timing belt, etc all done last summer about 25k miles ago.

This car burps itself. Is the radiator fan speeding up when the temp gauge goes past 12 o'clock ?

I haven't been able to check because I'm always driving (stopped at a red light or something of the like) but I'll try to check and see next time it happens.

Unless 02V70XC is radically different ...

Ok so it just happened again for the first time WITHOUT the AC on.

I replaced the fan myself, and I had to drain some coolant to do it since I had to remove hoses. I may not have bled the system properly. Any tips on bleeding out any leftover air bubbles that could be potentially causing this?

It reads way too high while the clutch is engaged and the compressor is running. It will run for the first 20-30 seconds when you turn it on during idle, then disengages and eventually causes overheating.

My radiator blew last month, and was replaced. Then we noticed the fan wasn't coming on, so I ...