I have no experience with MB thermostats. American and some foreign cars seem to fail in 3 to 5 years except for a coupla Hondas we had that went 8 years and abut 75K miles. I have a recently acquired 96 C280 wtih 44K miles and am wondering if it would be good preventive maintenance to replace the theromstat. I just had the head gasket replaced and am kicking myself for not having it replaced then. Should I replace it now? Thank you for your consideration of this question.

Hilton Smith

There is no replacement interval for thermostats, but they're cheap and easy to install.

I can't believe that the dealer or your mechanic didn't replace the thermostat when the head gasket was changed.

Yours is probably still working fine, but it would give me piece of mind knowing that the thermostat was changed at about the same time as the head gasket.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

A good rule of thumb is to replace t-stat when you replace coolant.

MB coolant calls for change out every 3 years. I personally believe that's pushing it. I change mine at least every 2 years.

Thanks, Paul and Mike, I will change it now. I plan to get the Behr based on what I have read here, and according to Fast Lane, it is a 87 degree C thermostat.

Hilton Smith