Thermostat + coolant drain/refill + AC belt

[LinkinEffect]

Has anyone done this before? Looks like a tight squeeze, looking for tips, tricks and advice.

What coolant do you recommend?

As for the ac belt, this vehicle has no tensioner for said belt, have to shim it on. Any advice? Where did you buy yours and what did it cost?

And before anyone recommends I change both belts at the same time, I just changed the other belt so I do not need to buy the set of two.

Thank you all in advance for your comments.

2004 Mazda 3 GS Hatch, 2.3L 5speed manual, 240,000kms.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[morganc]

I have done the thermostat and A/C belt on my car. Coolant recommendation: just buy mazda OEM, you use it so infrequently that the mild increase in price is worth the piece of mind.

The A/C belt is a stretch belt, you need a special tool to install it and the residual stretch in the belt takes up the slack. I buy all of my parts from Rockauto.com (they also have the stretch belt tool) and I believe I installed a Gates thermostat. The job should take you about 2-3 hours if you're going easy. The thermostat has a rubber gasket that should come with it (make sure).