I could only find the thermostat from VW for roughly $45.
By the way, that Gates thermostat (good brand - OEM quality, includes gasket) is $24, delivered, while AutoZone in my area wants $32
Bruce and I and my Dad replaced the thermostat, timing belt, water pump, and thermostat on the P. All went well, except that VW doesn't know how to do their job very well and got the wrong pulleys. But they did get everything else correct, and for a good price too.
today I replaced the thermostat on my GLI too. What a pain in the ass!!! my back hurts so bad!. Anyways it took me almost 6 hours to complete the job. Now the car feels a lot more powerful, the old thermostat was opening at 80oC so it was overcooled all the time, heater just blew mild hot not hotter as it should and it was burning gas like a v8, It was doing 16-18mpg at most in city driving. I just checked with VCDS and the engine temp is at a solid 93oC constant temp, I took it for a ride for about 10 miles and it did 28mpg so I am pretty confident that the old thermostat just plain sucked. 6 hours well spent!
I've had that occur - it was a bad thermostat. It would stick very slightly open. At idle, or in city driving, it was not noticeable. However, on the highway, the gauge would start to drop and the interior of the vehicle would get colder.
The thermostat I pulled out was probably original, but wasn't stuck. After replacing the timing belt and thermostat, I filled the car back up with coolant and started it up. It did come up to operating temperature quicker
I replaced mine with a low temp thermostat and low temp fan sensor aswell as the infamous blue coolant temp sensor a week ago and everything ran so much cooler and smoother now. My coolant temp sensor failed for weeks and wouldn't run the low speed fan and the water temp was 30-40 degree hotter than usual. Now it's all good with AC blasting in bumper to bumper traffic for 1 hour and it water temp reads 205-215, but my oil are in the 240's.
The thermostat and temp switch are cheap. To clear up a misconception, your vehicle will come to operating temp if you use a 'low temp' unit.
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