One down, one to go. I worked on our LR3 yesterday. I got the thermostat housing, the drive belt, the serpentine belt, idler pulley and the coolant bottle replaced. Turns out the water pump was fine. I decided not to change it.

I ordered the fan wrench and pulley holder from AST Tools in Colorado. Made the fan removal a snap. Great, heavy duty tools. $60 for the set. The thermostat housing was interesting. I did not realize that it is a two piece part. I messed with it for a bit, not understanding why the bolt holes didn't line up. I finally clued in. The top part that bolts to the top of the block, under the throttle body, slips into the front part that bolts to the front of the block. I found it easiest to install the top part first and then slide the front part over and then bolt it up. I could not find the torque settings, I snugged the screws down, no leaks so far.

When I opened my amazon packages, I discovered that I had ordered to drive belts instead of one drive belt and one accessory belt. I quick trip to Oreilly's fixed that, I bought a Gates Accessory belt for $37. (Atlantic British has a deal for both the drive belt and accessory belt for about the same price).

Thermostat Housing $45 (amazon vendor from Arizona, looks like the same group sells under a number of different names and prices, arrived in one day from Arizona to San Diego)
Coolant $16/gallon (Prestone 50/50 premixed)
Fan Belt $18 (used a continental higher-end model)
Serpentine Belt $37 (gates brand)
Pulley $57
Coolant Tank $40 (amazon vendor)
Intake Manifold Seal - I should have ordered one, easy to change when you have the throttle body off. It is only a couple of dollars. I didn't know about it in advance. The one on our LR3 is bright green.

Hoses were in good shape, could have but didn't change them out.

I changed out the coolant tank at the same time. We have been getting a "low coolant" warning for sometime. It was pretty simple, especially with the fan out of the way. I pulled on the wire clip lock on the plug a bit too hard and dropped it in to the abyss. Took me 15 minutes to find the dang thing, put a towel under the coolant tank when you are removing the plug, it will make your job easier if the wire clip flips off.

The only question that I had and still have is the green o-ring on the front of the intake manifold. Is that something that I should have changed out? I was working on the truck on Memorial Day, so no real options for a replacement, so I didn't change it out. I thought about using some "make-a-gasket" type material but chose against it. Truck is running great, no code and no leaks. I did my best to fill all hoses with coolant as I reconnected them, start with the lower hoses first.......the bleeding process was pretty simple, one heat cycle, topped off the coolant level and it has remained steady since.

The old thermostat housing had two cracks, one on the passenger-side in a slot-type indent. The other was on the top of the piece that bolted to the top of the block. Had a crack the length of the piece with obvious signs of leaking. Glad I changed it when I did. I will add a photo. Took me a bit longer than I expected, probably 4 hours with a trip to Orielly's and a stop for gas and a Big Gulp! I also did a thorough cleaning of the throttle body and part of the intake manifold (have a can of throttle body cleaner on hand).

I considered buying one of the special european hose clamp tools. Ended up not needing it, channel locks worked fine. Various length ratchet extensions are a must. I used 2 inch, 3 inch, 4 inch and one that was about 10 inches. A swivel will come in hand as well. I have a toggle ended 3/8 inch 4 inch extension that came in handy a couple of times as well.

A good flashlight, reading glasses for us old guys, a magnetic pickup tool and a good 1/2 inch breaker bar with 1/2 to 3/8 adapter are all necessary. Have a couple of gallons of coolant just in case and double and triple check all connections and hoses before you start the truck........ be careful there are two metal gaskets on the throttle body and the egr valve, don't drop them. They can be tough to find, especially the metal egr valve gasket on the driver's side of the throttle body.

All in all, a pretty easy DYI, but do allocate some time. Now on to the Range Rover Sport, should go quicker the second time around. I do have to change the water pump on the Sport.