Ask10
New member
Well, this was an eye opening for me and wanted to pass the info along.
So I am doing the thermostat/water pump on my 3rd gen in a few weeks and bought a thermostat ahead of time. However I also ordered a timing belt kit which happened to come with an OEM thermostat, so I had two of course.
What I wasn't expecting the immediate difference in the way it's made.
The metal on the Motorad thermostat is paper thin compared to the OEM version, as is pretty much everything.
If you can notice, look how much thicker the metal is on the big "ring" of the Toyota thermostat vs. the aftermarket one. Also notice that the aftermarket one is flared at the edge and not solid metal.
So honestly from now out, I'm going to forget aftermarket t-stats and stick with OEM. It's not like it's much more expensive either, the OEM one was $30 and the Motocrap one is $18. My truck has 274k on the original, so I'm using originals from now on out!
Just FYI
So I am doing the thermostat/water pump on my 3rd gen in a few weeks and bought a thermostat ahead of time. However I also ordered a timing belt kit which happened to come with an OEM thermostat, so I had two of course.
What I wasn't expecting the immediate difference in the way it's made.
The metal on the Motorad thermostat is paper thin compared to the OEM version, as is pretty much everything.
If you can notice, look how much thicker the metal is on the big "ring" of the Toyota thermostat vs. the aftermarket one. Also notice that the aftermarket one is flared at the edge and not solid metal.
So honestly from now out, I'm going to forget aftermarket t-stats and stick with OEM. It's not like it's much more expensive either, the OEM one was $30 and the Motocrap one is $18. My truck has 274k on the original, so I'm using originals from now on out!
Just FYI
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