S13 thermostat housing gasket refuses to seal

mav

mav

Active Member
Can anyone help please?

Ive never known such a simple task be such a pain in the arse,

Went to Halfords and purchased a new thermostat, got home took the old stat out new on in no problem, then we find out that none of the gaskets that came with it fitted, so back to halfords, got the right gasket, back home fitted gasket with no sealant, it leaked, so we took it off again and added some sealant after making sure everything was dry.

It didnt leak.

About 15 miles later I come to the traffic lights after a fairly hard run, steam everywhere, I lifted the bonnet to find a waterfall coming from the bottom of the thermostat housing.

What have I done wrong? It doesnt seem to want to seal for some reason, the faces are clean the bolts are tight and im out of ideas.
 
Maybe the housing has a small crack which allows coolant to escape when it heats up/becomes pressurised?
 
I can't rememember how the S13 thermotwat goes but they usually sit in a cut out with a rubber seal. make sure the thermotwat is fully home (and in correct way) as if it sits proud/or is not in right the outermost ring on the thermotwat can get between the mating faces for the housing. Also check the hose is in good condition no splits where the clip goes. Quite often overtightening of jubilee type clips causes the hose to split. Also see if the seal on the hose to housing is good over time aluminum corrosion can build up and when you remove the hose and refit it or even disturb it it can cause a leak. Take the hose off clean the bit where the hose goes on with sandpaper wipe clean the inside of the hose smear on a bit of Vaseline (easy tiger :dermal: ) just to make a good seal (makes hose go on nice too)

Lol hope this helps I have covered everything I can think of at 10:19 am when I havn't been to bed yet....
 
Thanks mate, much appreciated.

Im about to pop out now to get the neccesary parts to try and sort this.

I will let ya know how I get on.

Dont you just hate it when a simple job turns into a complete nitemare? Ive Changed loads of thermostats and ive never had problems like this before.
 
Ah your no stranger to this then. I just fire info at people and i know 90% of it will be patronising but even senior techs. overlook the most simple things.
(see the thread about the missfire i forgot that the S13 had dropping resistor :o )
Hope you get it sorted quik and e-z!
 
:confused:

Went out, bought new gasket and sealant, got home lifts bonnet and.....


What water leak? :confused: :confused: :confused:

Bloody thing has sealed itself.

Oh well I have the replacement parts if it does decide to let go again.


Blinking cars, who would have them eh? :smokin:
 
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