How to replace Thermostat

I have noticed over the past couple of days that I am leaking coolant somewhere, I don’t get any sort of smell or drips so I’m thinking water pump???

ALSO main priority right now because as of yesterday my tundra keeps fluctuating in high to normal coolant temps so I am replacing the thermostat today.

I cannot find any videos or how tos on doing so.

I’m hoping someone can elaborate which hoses I need to remove, etc to get to the thermostat!!!!

I have a 2008 Tundra SR5 5.7 v8 Crewmax

 

There are some wires and air hoses that are kind of in the way and the third, bottom nut is tricky to get to. But just the hose that fits to the inlet of the T-stat is the only one that you'll need to deal with. Drain the radiator (mostly empty). I'm trying to remember if there'll be some coolant spilled when you disconnect the t-stat from the hose, but anticipate it, it isn't much though.

You can see in this guy's video where it's located and the hoses and wires that you'll have to contend with.

 

Do not let the drained coolant just sit in a pan if you have a pet. Put it out of reach or pour it down the drain if your going to put in new. VI screwed up and turned my back on it and saw the dog sniffing around it. Not sure if he drank it or not but cost $1000 to treat him. FYI.

 

I think if it was me I would bite the bullet and do the pump as well. Does your coolant look like red water or is it milky? Milky could mean you are leaking fluid into the transmission. A head gasket could also be the source of your leak. If you remove the skid plate you can barely see the weep hole in the water pump. It'll leak a tiny bit under normal use. So you'll most likely see some crusty red buildup. If you can see something has leaked down the block from the pump then I would replace it now.

 

I actually took it to my boyfriends friends shop today and had the pressurizing test done, everything looks good, no leaks anywhere and no leaks with the water pump. So changing the thermostat currently.

 

I wouldn't do the water pump unless i absolutely had to. It's a major PITA. Tons of crap you have to remove to get to it. The only reason I did mine was because I had to replace the radiator and I was already pretty deep into the front of the motor. Now looking back on the whole project, I think I could swap out the radiator without pulling out half the stuff I did last time.