Stilo 2.4 & JTD Thermostat Replacement

OK so time to start pulling the pipes then. Sounds simple but these things have been on there since factory and never moved, so count on them being well stuck on.

Make sure you've got your drip trays in place now. I dont have an engine tray fitted, so didn't need to mess with that. You could get away with letting it run out the back of the tray if you're being lazy, otherwise drop the front edge of it.

Remove the top radiator hose first - that's the biggest one closest to you. That has the benefit of pouring out largely straight down through the gap between the radiator and gearbox and into your drip trays.

To remove the hose you need to aim to insert your pick tool or screwdriver down the pipe and run it round the entire circumference of the pipe as best you can, so that it unsticks from the pipe. Insert your tool down at least as far as where the old hose clamp used to be, as this is where it'll be stuck.

Once it's unstuck with a good squeeze and a tug it should slide right off.

You can see in this pic where the old clamp used to be as a shiny compressed bit of pipe now the clamp is removed.




Here we go then, first pipe removed. At this point undo the coolant tank filler cap to release the vacuum in the tank. It'll drain a bunch more coolant when you do this.




Don't worry if you can't get the large rear hose off with the stat in place, access on the Abarth is difficult for this one. Still follow the technique above to try and unstick the pipe if you can, as you don't want to heave on the pipe and put any unnecessary stress or tension on it pulling at the stat later. This risks damaging the pipe at the other end or puncturing it somewhere.