Gasket and o-ring are separate (gasket for sure, o-ring may come with it at some places, not sure). Make sure you get both though. Very cheap parts.

Make note of how the thermostat is sitting in there before you take it out, so you put the new one in the right way.

Then
Fill the coolant tank back up to the right level
Turn the car on
Let it heat up
Un-screw (don't remove) the bleeder screw on the thermostat housing
Once coolant starts comming out tighten it back up
And finally fill up the coolant tank to correct level agian.

Put a pan of something under the car. A good amount of coolant will get on the ground.

Thanks for those

when takin it all apart about how much coolant should come out?

In reality, not that much in relation to how much is in the entire system. Maybe 1 cup worth...a bit more or less? It'* not horrible.

When everything is reinstalled, rinse the coolant off the engine just to avoid the nasty smell later on. Check for leaks when you start the car. Then refill as posted.

If you buy 1 gal of 50/50 (coolant/water) mix, you should have plenty.

in doing this how bad can i mess this up?

Why not drain a little bit before removing the t-stat? I seem to remember someone mentioning syphoning about a gallon worth out of the radiator fill cap and then adding it back when they're done.

It would be hard if following our instructions.

- Make sure you clean off the old gasket material so the new gasket keeps things sealed properly.
- The o-ring has a groove in it, make sure the t-stat is in the groove all the way around
- Check for leaks

Not much to screw up.

Where are you located?

EDIT: Draining some beforehand can help too. I never have though.

kirksville missouri its about two hours north of jeff city (the capital) truman state universaty is here toooo