I've been trying to get the bolts out without torquing the heads off. I've used WD-40 and they still won't budge. I hear the part it's bolted to is aluminum and I don't want to bust the threads. Please help!

 

PB Blaster and some heat usually do the trick for me. WD-40 is not very well suited for this job IMHO.

 

^^^^^^^^ What he says. WD40 is a great water dispersant but is not a penetrant, you need a good penetrating fluid on the bolts for about a day. And a bit of heat never fails.

 

Heat did the trick! Thank-you. One more thing. Which goes on first the gasket or The thermostat?

 

Clean the thermostat seat and the gasket face well and drop the thermostat in, then fit the gasket.

 

I'm going to add, that he is talking about the housing, not what it bolts to..
(I've seem people try n stick the thermostat on the intake, than gasket and than housing. not the way it works lol)

 

Thankyou both. It was a SOB to scrape the old gasket off. I used RTV to hold the thermostat to the housing then put the gasket on and held it on with the bolts. I then bolted the housing back to the intake. It leaks!!! I wanna meet the guy who put the housing in that position so I can stab him in the eye with a screw driver. Oil change and a new belt took me 20 mins. The thermostat has taken nearly 3hrs and I still haven't got it right.

 

I use a little wire wheel on a drill to clean up the gasket surface. And making sure the thermostat stays in its grove is a big deal. Easy as pie for some hard as hell for others.

 

The thermostat twist-locks into the housing. I cursed Ford engineers the first time I swapped out a thermostat on a 302, but then I heard about the twist-lock on this site, and haven't had a problem since. I still use a high-tack sealant to glue the gasket to the housing and let it sit for about an hour before I re-install it.

Jason

 

I've never seen a twist lock one............

 

It's not obvious--both the thermostat and housing are slightly out of round, so once you get the thermostat seated flat in the housing, you can give it just a little twist (maybe 1/8 turn or so?), and it will stay in place for assembly to the engine.

They're ALL twist-lock.

Jason

 

I'm going to have to disagree with you.


I've never seen a Ford thermostat work that way. The ones I have done, you could spin the thermostat in its housing to any orientation you wanted.

MOst parts stores sell t stat gaskets with one sticky side to help hold the tstat in place. I usually use the "rubber band" trick.

 

Here's my housing



T-stat in housing(notice the gap)



This shows the large amount of play

I've worn out the first gasket. Did I possibly get the wrong t-stat?

 

Does it have 54mm stamped on the other side of it?(I think that's the size anyways) Also, looks like you have a 180* a 195* would be best. By looking at your housing, I'd say double stack (use two) gaskets, or coat both sides od the gasket with silicone. If that does not work a new housing is in order.

 

It does indeed have a 54.Thanks hav24wheel.