VW Sharan Mk1 2.0L Petrol - Cannot access thermostat!

[gregclaridge]

Hi all.

I'm new here, so please bear with me!
I've been trawling around trying to find the location of my thermostat, as I need to change it. I managed to find a couple of exploded diagrams of the engine I seem to have through the links on here, and I've managed to remove the bottom hose and adapter. However, There seems to be something else in the way, which I believe to be something to do with the A/C system. It's preventing me from unbolting the housing, as I can't access the bolts. I can see them, but I don't have a tool which will get in there, and even if I did, there's no hope of getting the thing out, let alone back in. I'm sure it's possible to remove the offending suspected A/C item, but I don't want to end up in a heap of trouble and I can't find any drawings showing how it mounts on the engine. All the ones I've found either show the engine with no A/C or just the A/C system itself, not how the two join together.

Also, I have a temperature sensor and temperature gauge sender to fit, and I'm not sure where they go either!
Can anyone help?

Cheers,
Greg.

[johnnyroper]

Done a stat on a 2.0 Passat previously and it was pas pump in way if memory serves correct. Had to remove drive belt and then undo pas pump to lower it out of the way to access the stat.

[gregclaridge]

Yes, after much Googling it seems to be the PAS pump. The only way to access it seems to be from above as well as below, so will need to move a lot of pipes out of the way first! Guess it's a bigger job than I first thought...   

[johnnyroper]

It's crazy the amount of work required on some engines.... GM v6 engines requires top and bottom inlet manifolds removing to change a Ã,£5 thermostat!