I tried PMing, but I've not posted enough. Damn my terseness. Could you possibly send me your hints?

Thanks in advance,
Rich

 

Please post the instructions on here. Thanks.

 

Ok - we all seem to be running into this 15 posts rule -

This is how I did it - you may find a better/quicker way - the first thing you need is the patience of a saint and the hands of a gynecologist and buy a magnet on a stick!

As I could not find a drain point on the coolant system I put a large shallow (1" deep) catch tray under the car - you may want to remove the undertray (I didn't)
As you look at the engine undo the electrical connector under and to the left of the throttle body.
undo the two the two (6mm wrench size) bolts that hold the black plastic cylindrical oil separator from the alloy bracket pull upwards about an 1" or so to release and twist on the pipes until out of the way.
Remove the two (8mm wrench size) nuts holding the bracket onto the thermostat housing - this is where you need the aforementioned dexterous hands or a magnet on a stick - you will drop them - I did!
Remove the (10mm wrench size) bolt at the font of the engine holding the bracket to the engine.
Now for the tricky bit - on my car the stud (nearest the head) was about a 1/16" too long to allow removal of the bracket (it would not clear the head) - I overcame this by using a die-grinder and a small ball-tip - I had to grind about half way down the plain shaft try not to go as far as the thread - pull the bracket clear.
Once you have overcome that, remove the two studs (13mm wrench size) and then the (8mm wrench size) bolt (this is a bit of a b*st*r*d) - pull thermostat housing off and hope you put the catch tray in the right place - about 1 to 2 quarts of anti-freeze will come out.
Swing the housing/pipe clear so you can easily (relatively) access the thermostat
You then remove the thermostat by pressing down with your Arnie Shwarzenegger fingers, twisting at the same time - it's fairly obvious and not that bad really, resist the use of screwdrivers etc. the pin may be stuck into the housing at the pipe end pull it out and don't drop it down the pipe.
Make sure the rubber seal in the housing is ok (this is not a Jag part as far as I am aware) and not twisted.
Re-assembly is just the reverse of the above procedure but getting the nut back onto the stud holding the bracket (the one you may have to grind) was a real bind - jam a rag underneath so if you drop it, it doesn't trap itself in an awkward or dangerous place. Use a dab of thread-lok on any bolts/nuts.
I reused the anti-freeze I caught, if you have to top up make sure you have the correct stuff - O.A.T. spec. Check for leaks, start her up - again check for leaks.
If you have all the tools to hand and armed with this info you should do it in about an hour.
I am doing this from memory and I have slept since last night so my wrench sizes may be mixed up (I used flat rings for most of them).

Disclaimer - remember I am not an AM mechanic - this is for reference only - if you lose your fingers, sanity etc - don't blame me.

 

Just back from the dealer today; thermostat replaced under warranty...first photo shows the damaged "seal" which prevents proper operation of the thermostat; second photo shows the component parts of the AM thermostat-sure looks a lot like the Jaguar pieces.

 

Looks identical to me ... and the fact that it has same stampings on it ... I think I'm going to go ahead and order the Jag one for $22 and call it a day. I wonder what other parts are interchangeable from Jag to Aston (I'm quite sure there are many more).

Btw, I just checked AZautohaus website again and it appears they have the gaskets & seals as well for about $2-9 each. The biggest advantage of using the Jag unit is not the price (which is certainly quite a bit), but its the convenience of being able to order the part and ship it to your residence at your own convenience and not having to deal with aston parts department at dealership (which can be a pain).

I will be ordering mine later tonight with all 3 type of gaskets (just to be on the safe side).
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Vaporite Solo Digital Vaporizer Review

 

You do not need the Jag gaskets - read my fitting procedure - there is only one seal (no gaskets) unless you are very unlucky or ham-fisted the only rubber seal in the housing will be ok and re-usable - this is not the same as the one that fails, that is part of the thermostat mechanism.
On the diagrams I have seen of the Jag thermostat housing (plastic) it is completely different and therefore the gaskets are unlikely to be of any use in the AM application.

 

good to know ... ok, well I will find a suitable replacement for the gaskets. I never want to reuse an old gasket so it will be replaced with a new one.
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Water bongs

 

Ok yesterday's snow went and the temp reached a positively tropical 8'c! so I decided to take the Aston out for a test run this morning -

It took approx 10 minutes to reach the half way point on the temp gauge - went for a spirited drive - mix of twisty up and down country lanes, tail out/wheelspin and some motorway (freeway) driving - at no point did the temp gauge move from the 9 o'clock (mid) position, no leaks and the heater worked perfectly at all times.
Jag thermostat = AM part - I don't know but it worked for me

JLD

ps - The alloy DBS/V12 gear **** is cold at these temps but a small price to pay for style IMO

 

At most outside temperatures, PCM monitors Thermostat function and determines how long it takes coolant to get to 77.2 deg celsius. You need speed of 25-30mph or higher and load of 30% or more. Time to get to this temp is monitored in this table:

 

Since the same basic engine is used in the Lincoln LS and Ford TBird, US owner maybe able to get the thermostat at thier local ford dealer also.

 

From your experience "Ok yesterday's snow went and the temp reached a positively tropical 8'c! so I decided to take the Aston out for a test run this morning -
It took approx 10 minutes to reach the half way point on the temp gauge" That looks perfect, from the table that rmrmd1956 attached, at 10'C it should take about 670 seconds.

 

Not to dig up an old thread, but I'm digging up an old thread.

Just changed my thermostat this morning (noticed the car wouldn't get all the way up to middle temperature).

I bought the Jaguar thermostat mentioned above for all of $31. I followed UKRacer's instructions; much thanks for that! A few notes:

1. My oil separator bolts were 8mm, not 6.
2. I was worried my stud nearest the head would be too long (as it ran into said head before I got it out), but I just kept going with a little torque on it, and it came out fine.
3. The 8mm bolt on the bottom of the housing can pretty easily be accessed by using a nut driver, coming at it from just behind the curved pipe at the bottom of the housing (it'll make more sense if you're looking at it). Of course I figured that out when putting it back together, so I had the joy of taking it out 1/6 of a turn at a time attacking from the front with a wrench.
4. Not reconnecting the electrical connection under the throttle body causes failsafe mode to kick in when you next start the car.
5. I also didn't remove the undertray, but if you have the time and inclination, you probably should: half the 1.5-2 hours it took me were spent putting a mirror on one side of the engine bay while fishing around from the other with a magnet trying to find the parts I dropped and could not see at all from up top. No undertray and they'd all have been on the ground.

All in all, not bad, though the oil separator parts that stay connected are a pain to work around. And my Arnie fingers did not enjoy getting the old thermostat out (or the new one in, for that matter).

As you can see in the attached picture, the rubber seal had delaminated from the metal.

Now, to figure out where to spend the $469 I just saved...

 

Here's how my termostat seal failed, in a slightly different mode. Torque (android OBD2 reader app) was showing coolant temp of 75C, and the temp gauge had just started to vary slightly with vehicle speed. '07 model year, and an August 2006 build. 15,000 miles.

Reading the above instructions I decided to remove the front under tray and drain the radiator using the drain on the passenger side (LHD US car).

I recycled the coolant using a coffee filter and lots of patience, as the coolant was only a year old. The only change I'd recommend would be removing the thermostat housing, making the actual replacement of the thermostat much easier. That thing is TOUGH to get out of the housing.

The hardest part for me was step #1, removing the electrical connector to the throttle. Took about 15 minutes. I was not off to a good start.

 

The thermostat gasket Jaguar part # is AJ83525.

 

This is a great thread but in these cases above it seems most issues is trying to get the temp to reach operating temp versus my case is my temp always is at mid point and or it just overheats. Since my issue is that the car overheats occasionally would this also mean my thermostat is also bad? Should I just replace the thermostat since mine is an 2007 V8 4.3 and seems to fall in range with all these others above? I'm in SoCal so our weather normally is at the 80s or 90s...