thermostat housing leak again

[xentris02]

ok about 3 weeks ago my thermostat housing leak started i went to the store the gave me a little bitty toothpaste bottle with silicone in it i guess and told me that that was my gasket. so when i pulled it off it looked the same so i aplied it and let it sit for 24 hours like it said and its leaking again. did i do something wrong or is there another gasket i could get?

 

[Big Jim M]

Hah!

ok about 3 weeks ago my thermostat housing leak started i went to the store the gave me a little bitty toothpaste bottle with silicone in it i guess and told me that that was my gasket. so when i pulled it off it looked the same so i aplied it and let it sit for 24 hours like it said and its leaking again. did i do something wrong or is there another gasket i could get?

I keep sheets of gasket material for just such occasions. I make my own gaskets whenever there isn't one with whatever I have to install.
Big JIm

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

did you clean the mating surfaces first? and make sure nothing is bent?

 

[xentris02]

where did you get the gasket at cause i asked and the guy looked it up and said it was a silocone one and gave me that. and yes i cleaned the surface. is the gasket like a rubber or cork that you 2 bought/ used?

 

[pcollins]

there should be a sticky side on side of the gasket w/ fords....

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

i've always ended up with paper type gaskets..

sometimes there is a sticky side that you have to peel the plastic off or it won't seal.... been there

 

[hondaxr650]

Ford doesn't use a traditional gasket on a 4.0 t/stat. It should have an o-ring that slips over the outer edge of the 'stat that seals it. Aftermarket ones may not have it but the ford ones do and they very rarely leak.

 

[sholzy]

The last t-stat I bought at AutoZone 2 years ago came with the o-ring seal. Don't remember what brand it was.

 

[ufgators68]

ok about 3 weeks ago my thermostat housing leak started i went to the store the gave me a little bitty toothpaste bottle with silicone in it i guess and told me that that was my gasket. so when i pulled it off it looked the same so i aplied it and let it sit for 24 hours like it said and its leaking again. did i do something wrong or is there another gasket i could get?

I had to replace the housing on mine. It was warped or something... gaskets could not fix it for very long.

 

[xentris02]

yeah i have just been looking around and that guy lied to me there is an o -ring gasket. and every store sells it even the one i went to. so would i still need the silicone if i use the o ring? im tearing into this in a couple of hours

 

[Big Jim M]

Nope!

yeah i have just been looking around and that guy lied to me there is an o -ring gasket. and every store sells it even the one i went to. so would i still need the silicone if i use the o ring? im tearing into this in a couple of hours

Just clean and dry every part of the surface and install the thing nicely, and slowly tighten the nuts one side and then the other so the o-ring is evenly pressed to the manifold.
Big JIm

 

[xentris02]

so correct me if im wrong there is an o ring for the gasket between the water outlet and the housing? cause i just got sold the gasket to the actual thermostat 3 times and every store pulled out the water outlet gasket and the thermostat one and they were the same thing, exact size and had the groove on the inside to go around the thermostat.

 

[sholzy]

so correct me if im wrong there is an o ring for the gasket between the water outlet and the housing? cause i just got sold the gasket to the actual thermostat 3 times and every store pulled out the water outlet gasket and the thermostat one and they were the same thing, exact size and had the groove on the inside to go around the thermostat.

I couldn't remember if there is also a housing gasket so I looked it up in my Haynes. It shows a housing gasket on the 4-bangers but not on the 4.0, which makes sense since the o-ring on the t-stat does the sealing and a housing gasket in the mix probably would not allow enough compression on the o-ring to make a proper seal.

Did you remember to position the air release valve to the top?

 

[red85]

The ones I always get are from Stant.

 

[xentris02]

yes i remembered to put that on to so i went out side to day to tackle it again and it quit leaking. so idk what to say.