hello,

im new to this forum and a new owner of a 98 malibu ls 3.1L

This car has been neglected and im trying to get everyting fixed. I have noticed that after it warms up that the tempature hardly ever gets over 1/4, sometimes it might if its lucky get almost half way but its very rare. Could the thermostat be sticking open? the thermostat housing is also leaking somewhat but not bad. i notice the very few times it has got almost half way it seems to idle a little smoother and slower... around 800 rpm, where when the guage is at 1/4th it idles at about 1k.

Any suggestions on changing the termstat if i have to? it looks like its very tight quarters and really dont want to have to take the uppper intake off to get to it.

thanks!

By the sounds of it the little leak you have is what's not helping, in fact it's allowing air into the cooling system that can also degrade the coolant. Are you sure the thremostat housing is what's leaking? 97 to 01 Malibu 3100 V6's are prone to having Lower Intake Manifold gasket leaks. Changing a thermostat involves removing the throttle body to gain better access but you will be using a wrench to loosen the bolts for the housing unless you are in need of replacing the LIM then you you get the thermostat when you remove the upper intake manifold.