New thermostat (Aisin brand), fresh oil, fresh coolant, replaced at that time. Coolant system bled well. No leaks. Heat worked flawlessly. AC worked after the swap. Overheated the drive home after that swap, turns out the radiator fan module got fried on the final drive (it was above 250 on coolant temps before replacing the engine, on a 30 minute, fast, highway drive). Ordered a new one. Everything working perfect now at the right temperature points. Engine times reading perfect too (watching live data). On a 30 minute highway drive tonight, returning home after the same drive 2 days ago with zero issues, it overheats again. Radiator fans are working. The one thing I changed during the drive was turning down the heat from HIGH to 75. No more than 10 minutes later I hear the bubbling in the heater core area. Take my exit from the highway, and the red temp light starts flashing, temps read 239, and the bubbling worsened. Temps stayed above 228 until I made it home from my exit. Worse at red lights. Turned off for 10 minutes, turned back on, temps went up to 232 at idle, holding steady. Lower radiator hose read 102 degrees, upper hose reads 190.
Reviews of AISIN thermostat
31 votes
Hard to say if it’s directly OE to Subaru, but I use Aisin thermostats and water pumps on every Subaru engine I do, they function the exact same and are equally as reliable as the original equipment, not to mention these thermostats are $15 on amazon compared to $40 from Subaru.
After doing some research I found that AISIN is likely the supplier for the Subaru OEM thermostats so I ordered them off of Amazon (sold and shipped by Amazon) and they appear to be just that. They were close to the same price and are made in Japan. AISIN THF-007/009 appear to be true OEM Subaru thermostats for FB20B
Pick up the AISIN OEM version of your thermostat. It's pretty cheap so no reason not to get the best one instead of some cheaper alternative. Also you can test the function of your thermostat before doing the change by putting it in hot water. You can check the specs of the one you use, but for the AISIN one for my 2012 civic (9th gen), the thermostat starts opening at 170 and is fully open at 190.
Aisin THF-003 thermostat was used (I believe this is what I'm regretting). It's like the thermostat isn't opening? Everything else seems fine - it's clearly getting hot. Little to no heat at idle. No circulation = overheating of the engine. Is the replacement thermostat stuck shut?
I still changed my thermostat to an Aisin unit for peace of mind, so far so good.
I just bought two thermostat related parts off rockauto that are both Aisin yesterday.
I have installed them in two rebuilt, and they are working perfectly fine
It's a very easy thermostat to replace, I just did it a couple days ago on a 2008 Hyundai Sante Fe with the big 3.3l V6. The gasket comes with the OE Aisin thermostat, too, making it even easier.
The OEM Aisin thermostat opens at 185, staying completely closed until 180 where it can open up partially allowing proper circulation and proper temperature control. The engineers at Nissan designed this cooling system to function in a certain way at very specific temps. ONLY USE THE AISIN 185 OEM thermostat in these trucks.
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What we know about AISIN thermostat
The brand is registered in Japan. Official website: https://www.be.aisin-europe.com.
In March 2026, PartReview users have a positive opinion of AISIN thermostat.
PR Score — 83 out of 100, based on 10 reviews and 31 vote. 8 positive reviews, 1 neutral review, 1 negative review. Average rating — 4.3 (out of 5). Vote balance: 26 up, 5 down.
In the ranking of the best thermostat this part is at position 5, behind MOPAR and Gates , but ahead of OEM Honda and OEM Audi.
Users also evaluated the qualities of AISIN thermostat:
- Slow warm-up - engine takes a long time to reach normal temperature - rated positively. 5 points out of 5.
- Overheating - temperature gauge rises quickly or fluctuates - rated positively. 4 points out of 5.
- Cabin heat - heater blows weakly or becomes too hot at the wrong time - rated negatively. 2 points out of 5.
Thermostat AISIN in car-specific ratings
See which car brands and models owners choose AISIN thermostat for. Below are car-specific ratings where this part is in the Top-3:
- AISIN ranked #2 for: Honda Civic .
Thermostat AISIN in comparisons
There are 14 comparisons of AISIN thermostat with other manufacturers on PartReview.
In particular, see which thermostat are better: AISIN or Motorcraft, OEM Honda or AISIN, OEM Audi or AISIN, MOPAR or AISIN, AISIN or Duralast .