Thermostat vs. thermostat and housing replacement

[kwlr3]

Just 200 miles short of the century mark, my '05 HSE failed to reach operating temperature on the short drive home from work. No "check engine light" but better to run cold than to overheat. In anticipation of this eventual repair, several months ago I bought a new "thermostat housing assembly" . This is the entire plastic blob that bolts to the top of the intake manifold and the faces of each head. I bought the entire unit because I thought that I had read that these units would sometimes crack. To replace the entire assembly, it appears that some portion of the intake manifold will have to be removed. Or, I could just remove the thermostat cover from the new assembly and just install that.

My question, "should I replace just the thermostat and cover or is it worth the extra effort to replace the entire assembly?" If the recommendation is to replace the entire assembly, does anyone have a link to instructions? Thanks.

 

[Team Jeff]

I replaced the assembly on mine. If I never took it offroad, I probably would have replaced the thermostat only - it would be an easier job. But since I frequently have out in the middle of the desert or woods I wanted as many new parts as possible.

The only "surprise" I had when changing the assembly was that the throttle body had to come off. Not a big deal, it's all O-rings & entire job pretty straight forward.

 

[kwlr3]

Thanks for the reply. It looks pretty straight forward, glad to hear that it's O rings rather than gaskets.