Was wondering if anyone has changed a thermostat in a 2002 chevy venture with 3.4l engine. I was going to change it out however, it looks like a pain in the *** . Looking at the manual you have to remove some ductwork, exhaust manifold heat shields and the exhaust manifold pipes to get at this thing. I was going to try to do it myself however, this sounds tricky. I am assuming if I take it to a garage the $10 part is probably going to take at least a couple hours labor yikes! Any thoughts. Up until this vehicle I never had a thermostat buried so deeply. Thanks

 

Yeah, you gotta remove the intake tubing and the crossover manifold. Shouldn't take to terribly long though. The only issue you may have is busting the bolts on the exhaust manifold.

 

i have mastered this job with out removing the cross over pipe. It is very possible, and will save you time when your not drilling out cross over bolts. The top bolt is easy just use a extension and a wobble socket, most of them are 15mm and for the bottom bolt use a stubby box wrench and go from the bottom, u can only turn the bolt a half turn at a time but it can be done in a half hour easy