"Replacement" Brand V70 Thermostat Assy for $20?

Post by **packetfire** » 20 May 2020, 16:25

I have a leak between the two halves of the thermostat assembly on a 2004 V70, and as the car is at 186K, I figured I'd replace the thermostat and the gasket both. But no one seems to sell the gasket that marries the top half to the bottom.

Amazingly, for $20, both Parts Geek and carparts.com have this assembly with the brand name "Replacement". The whole shebang - base gasket, thermo, body, sensor, the works. Is this thing junk, or not? Best price otherwise is $80+

Stop me before I make a choice I'd regret.

Post by **GlennG2759** » 20 May 2020, 16:53

I believe most people here would probably recommend genuine Volvo on this part because of the sensor, but I have had the Facet thermostat assembly (around $80) from FCP in my V70 for about 8 mos. now with no problem, don't think I'd trust this part for $20.Good Luck

Post by **- Pete -** » 20 May 2020, 18:26

Excellent advice. Don’t fool around with something so important. It is very tempting & I am guilty of succumbing to this sort of temptation!

Post by **oragex** » 21 May 2020, 06:46

The $20 one is very suspect, they also sell a water pump with $20. I imagine these are disposable parts meant to last a few months. You can make a gasket with Permatex, just scrap the old gasket and clean the surface, use only a thin coat and follow the exact instructions on the tube. As for the thermostat itself, it's not sold separately but you may manage to use one for the Volvo S60 D5 diesel engines

Post by **cn90** » 21 May 2020, 07:56

Buy Wahler for $90.
Remove the upper housing + gasket + thermostat itself and transfer them over w/o the need to remove the PS pump.

Info in XC90 forum (I wrote the tricks there).

Post by **oragex** » 21 May 2020, 10:41

Also keep the old coolant temp sensor for spare

Post by **cn90** » 22 May 2020, 06:33

Forgot to mention to swap CTS too.