Help with coolant leak from my Thermostat housing

deadly97snake

Founding Member

Mar 21, 2001

592

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0

Manchester, NH

Aug 23, 2004

#1

• Aug 23, 2004

• #1

I just did my intake install and I have a small coolant leak right on the bottom part of my thermostat housing. I used the black high temp RTV sealent and a new gasket. I also torqued the bolts down to the reccomended specs given to me by the Haynes manual. I don't know why it is leaking but drips really slow. Does this happen to alot of 94-95 stangs?

 

WhiteDevil

New Member

Feb 4, 2003

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San Diego

Aug 23, 2004

#2

• Aug 23, 2004

• #2

Your thermostat probably isnt in there right. I was tearing my hair out with the same problem like 6 months ago. use the RTV to sort of "glue" the T-stat into the grooves of the water neck. That way it wont slip down when you put it into the lower intake, and thats probably why its not sealing. Its hard to notice but it slips down out of the groove very slightly and causes a leak.

 

mystang94gt

New Member

Jun 14, 2004

951

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Bay Area, CA

Aug 23, 2004

#3

• Aug 23, 2004

• #3

Yeah that is your problem for sure. It slips out of place really easily. I did mine this weekend too and I decided to install the thermostat and the housing while the intake was off the car to insure it was in there right. Too late for that now but take it apart again and make sure its in there correctly and the leaking with stop.

 

95Vert

New Member

Aug 19, 2004

1,785

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North Mexico (deep south Texas)

Aug 23, 2004

#4

• Aug 23, 2004

• #4

thank god i read this thread right now, i'm buying an 180 tstat today. phew. once again, stangnet has saved the day,(kindda corny but true)

 

Car Nut

Founding Member

Jul 6, 2000

1,176

1

37

Snellville, Georgia (Atlanta area)

Aug 23, 2004

#5

• Aug 23, 2004

• #5

Also check the condition of the upper hose. I had a slight wear spot on the non-visible side that slowly leaked coolant. It took a little while to figure out because it was hard to see and the imperfection was small.

 

RIO5.0

15 Year Member

Feb 16, 2001

6,892

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128

N.H.

Aug 23, 2004

#6

• Aug 23, 2004

• #6

deadly97snake...Did you make it to FFW??? looked around for your car and no dice...
My thermo has the drips to....

 

deadly97snake

Founding Member

Mar 21, 2001

592

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0

Manchester, NH

Aug 23, 2004

#7

• Aug 23, 2004

• #7

RIO5.0 said:

deadly97snake...Did you make it to FFW??? looked around for your car and no dice...
My thermo has the drips to....

Click to expand...

No I did a cobra intake install with 24# injectors, a C&L 76mm MAF, and a BBK 70mm TB and I have been having some bad problems since. I started the install on Monday and finished Friday night. My car hasn't been driving right since. I havn't figured out the problem yet.
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=494724

I had to actually had to add coolant today cause the leak is bad. My low coolant light came on while I was trying to adjust the timing.

 

95Vert

New Member

Aug 19, 2004

1,785

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0

North Mexico (deep south Texas)

Aug 24, 2004

#8

• Aug 24, 2004

• #8

hey snake, i did the tstat install yesterday with no problems. just put rtv on the housing and stick the tstat on there and you should be good to go. no leaks here. make sure it's not leaking from anywhere else

 

squall9393

New Member

Feb 7, 2004

534

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0

Oceanside, CA

Aug 24, 2004

#9

• Aug 24, 2004

• #9

1) Use thermostat housing RTV. You can get it from Autozone. It can withstand both heat and exposure to water and coolant better.

2) Put the RTV around the thermostat and place the gasket on the thermostat and let it dry so when you go to place it on the thermostat housing it won't move. It's important you do this so the sucker don't move and you don't have to keep going back in there fixing it.

3) Once it's dry make sure you put RTV around the lip of the thermostat housing and around the screw holes and then close it up.

4) Run your finger around the entirety of the exterior of the thermostat housing to wipe away any excess that was squeezed out of the housing. This will not only keep it looking clean but press some of it back into the crack to seal it better.

5) Allow to sit a minimum of 15 minutes or so to allow it to dry and then crank er up. Remember it takes 24 hours for silicone to fully cure though.

Hope it helps

JJ

 

E

Evilone76

New Member

Jul 24, 2016

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1

Jul 24, 2016

#10

• Jul 24, 2016

• #10

Hey for all you guys out there suffering from leaking t stat housing put thread sealer around your bottom bolt. Ran into this many times and always does the trick