P0128 Thermostat malfunction

I've never seen/heard of that code before. But the themostat is relatively cheap so there is no reason not to replace it. When you take out the thermostat, you will necessarily drain out all the coolant. It's easy to do this yourself. There are good DIY's on it.

 

But by looking and in repair manual it says I need to remove front exhaust since it's right below it is this true?

 

Edit: misread the first time. No, you dont need to remove the exhaust to remove the thermostat. Its easier to access from underneath once you remove the splash guard

 

I just replaced mine as part of a timing belt/water pump job. (why not-with coolant system already opened up) no need to drop the exhaust. move the plastic splash guard underneath the car to access the thermostat. very simple job

 

I would think it would be a quick job as well but it just as strange the exhaust is actually covering the thermostat it doesn't look like there's very much room that's why I was asking if it needed to be removed on a 2011