Rpmayne 0 Posted March 20, 2005 I noticed a small leak round the thermostat housing area. Took the housing off and found pitting to the head which I thought might be causing it not to seal properly. Used some of that liquid metal to fill the pitting, then used a new o-ring with universal blue sealant. Bolted it up and the thing is still leaking. :mad: At this point I thought fcuk it and took the front of the car off to get a proper look. Still coming out round the o-ring. Don't understand how this is still happening. Thermostat housing is less than a year old. Don't think it helps it only being held on by 3 bolts, plus the o-ring (genuine) looks barely thick enough to seal. Tried a thicker o-ring with no joy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corradovr6sc 0 Posted March 20, 2005 Did you torque the bolts up to spec? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rpmayne 0 Posted March 20, 2005 Tried that first time round and stripped one of the head threads. Helicoiled that and then just tightened them until the thermostat housing was fully home (abit paranoid second time round). Don't think its the tightness doing it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Storm 0 Posted March 20, 2005 Probably need a new housing as I believe over time they crack. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 20, 2005 These are notoriuos for leaking and must be treated with care. The torque specs are 7 lb-ft and there should be no way you could strip a fastener using such a low setting. If you over tighten then bolts then it will warp and you will have to replace it. If you add sealant this also causes the pastic to distort and it will leak. You should put the housing together using new o-rings and carefully torque it 7 lb-ft without using any sealant. These are easy to warp so you must take care of them. I have not found a way to get them to seal once they start leaking short of replacing the entire housing. Cheers, Dennis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rpmayne 0 Posted March 20, 2005 Cheers, looks like a new housing it is, another £40.00. All I did was use an allen key to tighten the bolts up, didn't feel I was overtightening but it just kept spinning. Now I've taken the front of the car off it'll be easier to get a torque wrench in so will do that. Thanks for the help. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 20, 2005 A torque wrench is really an important tool, it is so easy to over-tighten these bolts. Trust me, when you use a torque wrench on you will think that it is not tight enough. Thing is, this is made out of plastic and it expands and contracts differently than aluminium and easily warps. It is a bad design in retrospect but probably sounded good at the time. Cheers, Dennis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
