Thermostat help

[Craig]

I just replaced my thermostat. Cleaned the mating surfaces and put the new gasket on it. Ran the ran, got the thermostat to open and its leaking:angry:. I don't wanna re-do the proces for a $1 gasket. I replaced the 180* with a 160* cause my water temp would always stay at a steady 210* Any help would be awesome. I'm jsut not sure if RTV will work. Its a SMALL leak. Like 1 drop every 5-6 seconds.

[Wayne's 88 GT]

You can try the RTV, but I would just buy a Motorcraft Thermostat gasket and put another one on. Been there done that..............

[midnight stang]

if you did not glue the tstat in place it most likely shifted out of place and holds the neck out from the gasket.

[Craig]

That bottom bolt was not thought about by Ford for more than 2 seconds. Horrible location. I sure didn't wanna take out the distributor for this job. Sure sucks moving the bolt 1/16th turn at a time with an open-end wrench...

[Wayne's 88 GT]

That bottom bolt was not thought about by Ford for more than 2 seconds. Horrible location. I sure didn't wanna take out the distributor for this job. Sure sucks moving the bolt 1/16th turn at a time with an open-end wrench...

Yeah it is in a pretty bad spot.....just need to mark your dist. loosen up the dist hold down and turn it until the TFI module is out of the way.....I took a cheap wrench and cut the handle down about 2 inches to give it more movement and it is not as bad.

[Quinn]

wasn't too bad on my white lx, the gt i just got does the same thing but not leaking that bad. stays at 210 but i'm gonna fix it tomorrow

[Blacksheep]

i always run a small bead on both sides of gasket, smooth out with my finger, and make sure bolts are tight, never had a prob

[nitrostangracin]

Yes the bolt is a pain in the Ass. However, it just needs to be dealt with. You need to pull it apart and make sure that the T-Stat is held firmly in the recessed area of the T-Stat housing. If not, it will tighten down but leave a small gap thet the gasket cannot fill.

Patience is key when doing this.

[kdawgg11]

yeah I did mine before mustang week and patience is the key that is for sure

[88foxresto]

yeah i used lots wd-40 and got my long shinny fingers in there to hand tighten the bolts. then used a wrench. when my water pump went out i had that same leaking gasket problem. my dad set the housing on a level surface and it was curved on the mating surface. it was like 9 bucks for a new one at advance and looks good too.

[tc_white]

i always run a small bead on both sides of gasket, smooth out with my finger, and make sure bolts are tight, never had a prob

x2. that bottom bolt is aggrivating though. i just put a 180 in mine about 2 months ago.

[stangster50]

its one of the more aggravating things... the little inset piece the thermostat sits in gets corroded, and the thermostat dosent sit right, and leaks... of course after a few times of trying to tighten that, the whole housing is warped..:thumbsdown1: i just run mine with no stat... problem solved.

if i dont need heat, your southern folk dont. :taunt: lol

[INSTG8R]

Just a thought, but I have seen those cast iron water necks crack at the bottom due to over tightening before, might be worth checking when and if you take it all back apart...

[Craig]

I'll be taking it all apart tommorrow and re-doing it. Whatever. Not happy but I gotta make things right.