replacing thermostat, was it in backwards???

I have worked on the foxbody for a long time but have never had to replace a thermostat. When I took the old one out the pointy end was facing into the intake (towards the rear of the car) and the larger round end was facing out to the hose side toward the front of the car. is this correct? does anyone have a picture??

ok, I put the new one (180 degree) in the correct way but the temp got really hot and the bypass hose that goes from the t-stat housing to the water pump swelled up and looked like it was going to burst. there was also water coming out of it. the temp got up to 240-245 degrees. maybe higher. when the old one was in it never got pass 170. anyone have any ideas???

Michael Yount said:

Geez, what a thread so far.

The side of the t'stat that has the spring on it goes into the manifold (towards the engine). The side without the spring goes into the t'stat housing (towards the hose). "Pointy" end could be interpreted to mean just about anything.

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The pointy end refers to the end with the tip that looks like a pyramid. I have never had the t-stat off on this car. so imagine the look on my face when I pulled the housing off to find that it was in backwards and yet the car never got over 160ish. I have worked on fox bodies before and have owned a few chevy's in my day. So I knew that it wasnt right no matter if it worked or not. The spring end has always gone into the manifold on any car I ave ever worked on. So, like I said, I was shocked that it was actually in backwards. I found the problem though. I simply forgot to tighten a house (bypass hose from the t-stat housing to water pump) which leak out my coolant and caused it to get hot. I didnt see it leaking because the leak was right on top of the engine (which was hot) and instantly burned/dried up when it hit the block. This morning I fired it up and could see the leak pretty good so I tightened the hose clamp and filled up the rad. and took it for spin.. all is well. It didnt overheat. I went and bought new hoses (the two from the water pump) and am going to replace them. Sorry if I confused anyone and thanks for all the help. Turns out it was just a rookie mistake. I felt like an a$$ after I figured out what caused the problem. just goes to show you, no matter how much you know and how much you double check everything, it is always the little 53 cent part that gets you in the end. thanks again

it is a duralast. I have never used the peel and stick gaskets. I noticed that the stock one had it so it would only go in one way. (prolly why the moron who had the car before put it in backwards) It works great now and I will be replacing the hoses tonite.