thermostat nightmare

[boober]

Car's been overheating so after reading some of the threads here I decided to try changing the thermostat...I changed it to the 180F temp thinking it would help with the hot weather around the corner. got it done and it overheated really bad and sprung a really bad leak. So I got it towed back to my house and tried tightening the bolt and the nut on the thermostat housing and broke the thread that the nut goes on... anybody know how much that costs to fix or do i need a new block?

[almighty4wd]

They make reverse drill bits designed to pull things like that out. Not sure on cost, but I'll bet a shop would charge 1hr labor to remove it at the very least. They might even just drill it out and retap it, but then you'd have metal shavings..and that might be ugly. Call a couple local shops, ask about removing a bolt.

[blueprotege]

well for starters, if you want to do this yourself you will need to pull the t-stat housing back off. if you have enough of the stud left you might with a little time be able to get it out. but you will need some vise-grip pliers. and i recommend the name brand pliers cause they grip better than the cheap ones. it also looks like to have enough room for this job you need to remove the distibutor. with that stuff out of the way you can then try to use the vise-grips on the stud and try to get it to break loose. if it does just replace it with a new one. and for install of the new stud you can use 2 nuts that fit the stud and tighten them together and use the outside one to tighten the stud into the head. if there isn't enough stud to work with it will have to be drilled out and it might have to have a heilcoil put in if it decides to be a pain and can't be removed with a easy-out.

[blueprotege]

and on your overheat make sure the fan is coming on and if it isn't check the fan switch which is the sensor on the t-stat housing.

[FestivaWES]

If you live in a warm enough state why don't you remove you t-stat all together, and put onback in there in the winter so you have a heater that bows hot air?? And unplug the sensor o nt he t-stat housing it robably did fail on you.

[boober]

The bolt That I'm talking about is on the back side of the t-stat housing...it's just a threaded piece that comes out from the block that you put a nut on...it's not the 'regular' type of bolt. It\s the on that is just the thread coming out of the block

[ftjandra]

The bolt That I'm talking about is on the back side of the t-stat housing...it's just a threaded piece that comes out from the block that you put a nut on...it's not the 'regular' type of bolt. It\s the on that is just the thread coming out of the block

Yeah, it's a stud. If there is enough of it left, get some vice-grips and thread it out of the head. You can buy a replacement stud or just use a regular bolt. I think the thread is M8x1.25.

--Ferdi

[boober]

Great, thank a lot... so does anybody know how to test the fan switch? I replaced it yesterday as well but I don't know if they gave me the wrong one or something, what should happen if I unplug it...will the temp gauge not work?

[therieldeal]

if you unplug it the fan will either never run or it will run all the time (i cant remember which). the dash gauge uses a totally different sensor.

-jon

[boober]

so to test it just unplug it and see if the fan comes on or stays off?

[boober]

alright, got the stud out and got the right fan switch... got everything in and turned car on and found leaks... The hose that goes from the thermostat housing to the radiator is leaking from the thermostat, I think the hose might be worn out or the clamp isn't holding tight. also I found a leak from a metal pipe that comes from under the heat shield and runs under the t-stat housing to a rubber hose a little behind the distributer cap. does anybody know what that metal pipe is called?

[rsxtypes]

bypass pipe

[boober]

know how much it costs? is it hard to replace, or is there a way to mend it at the leak?

[ftjandra]

Where is the leak? My guess is under the exhaust manifold by the water inlet pipe? The bypass pipe goes into the water pump inlet pipe with a little o-ring. My guess is that you just need to replace the o-ring.

--Ferdi

[rsxtypes]

Just to be sure ...we are talking about the same pipe ...this is the pipe that goes from just under the dist. across the front of the engine to the water pump ? yes?