Thermostat confusion. Need help identifying this

[VinnysS4]

Ok quick question. i ordered a thermostat for my 2005.5 S4 Automatic from Rockauto.com : https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/mor...707&cc=1430752
and i didn't look at it until after i had the cooling system drained and the thermostat housing apart. From what i have read and what is in my car...it looks like this: https://www.ecstuning.com/ES284815/?...PgsaApbH8P8HAQ
Where did i go wrong? is the one i got a 2nd thermostat hidden somewhere else or was i sold the wrong part? i just filled the cooling system back up with fresh coolant as i was only doing it as a maintenance item.

[Cinna696]

Did you receive what was in the first photo? Because you are correct, you should have what is shown in the second photo. It's possible they just used a stock photo that wasn't representative.


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[VinnysS4]

I received the first one. For some reason I didn't actually inspect it when I got it in the mail. It wasn't until I was under the car that I noticed. Grr

[Cinna696]

Lame, order the right part this time! Also, the removal and installation of the thermostat in the housing can be a pain depending on your tool collection. Look up the procedure and consider replacing the assembly as a pre assembled unit.


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[Tugboatguy]

Our engines do have two thermostats, the primary which controls flow to the main radiator and a secondary that sends flow to the secondary radiator ( small rad on drivers side ).
Don't think the two thermostats are interchangeable, possible you got the secondary instead?

[Cinna696]

The secondary is a black piece of plastic that's inline on a hose, and ridiculously expensive.

What he received is not related.


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[VinnysS4]

Yeah I got a plane jane chevy truck looking thermostat. I entered my car on their Web site and ordered a bunch of parts at the same time. I have ordered from them probably 20 times and have received wrong parts in the past like 3 times. I didn't know exactly what it was suppose to look like beforehand, but if you go to their Web site, ALL of the thermostats for the 05 s4 look like what I got so how was I suppose to know? (Other than the black plastic housing one) the job of removing it and replacing it is easy, I just don't want to have to drain my cooling system again to install it

[VinnysS4]

ok i got a return label and am sending the thermostat back. Its interesting that they list it as the right part. I also did a search on another web site about this exact thermostat and it says it fits as well. wtf am i missing? It wont physically fit haha

[badger.]

I literally just changed mine this past weekend. I had ordered the one you linked at ECS which is definitely the correct one. Whatever you got is definitely not right. What is the other website that is showing the wrong one?

[VinnysS4]

Rockauto.com, Amazon.com, partsgeek.com(also sells the right one), carparts.com, just to name a few. I ordered it from rockauto and then cross referenced it to amazon.com which said it was an exact fit for my car...."OE EXACT THERMOSTAT"... hence the confusion about a 2nd thermostat that i might have missed. i knew it had a 2nd one but from what i remembered it was in the black plastic housing. i got a return label from rockauto. I should have known better when the genuine audi one found on other sites are like 60-70 bucks VS. the 14 dollars the one i bought cost. One other time i ordered a fuel filter for my 2005 mercedes c230. what they sent to me was this humongous looking thing that was nowhere close to the right part. It was like a diesel water seperator haha

[Toronto5.5]

The first one looks like a 1.8T thermostat from a Passat.