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Not sure if you're aware, but allow me to extrapolate a bit on Bmoran's statement.
There is no super easy way to hold the t-stats in the housing and bolt them up at the same time, and this can allow the t-stat to move out of place and come between the surfaces and allow the housing to sit cattywampus and when torqued it might crack.
My advice is to install the t-stat in the housing using a very small amount of RTV or gasgacinch and let the t-stat sit in the housing while flat on a table for a few minutes for the sealer to set a bit. Once it feels like the t-stat won't move, install assembly.that's my trick.
These were called "high performance high flow", but I'm not sure how true that is. It was old school and I tested it to work, so I threw it in and 3 years and 20k miles later it's doing fine.
Every time I post a question I learn something new. I was noodling how to keep the thermostat from sliding around and was going to post a follow up tomorrow on it but you of course had the answers already. I will use some permatex right stuff to hold it in place.
I was not aware of the risk of cracking the housing so thank you all for ensuring I didn't mess it up!
I have 1 housing in use and about 3-4 more on other family vehicles to use if absolutely necessary--they are all pitted on the neck where the hose goes, so I figured I'd just mosey on down to eBay and find me a NOS unit with no imperfections.
WRONG.
Unobtanium. If you break a truck style 223 housing, you'd better have a spare on hand or you're gonna have a little easter egg hunt.
I have 1 housing in use and about 3-4 more on other family vehicles to use if absolutely necessary--they are all pitted on the neck where the hose goes, so I figured I'd just mosey on down to eBay and find me a NOS unit with no imperfections.
WRONG.
Unobtanium. If you break a truck style 223 housing, you'd better have a spare on hand or you're gonna have a little easter egg hunt.
yes they are tough to find. I was buying whole engines to get them a few years back. Still have 4-5 housings left but people get butt hurt when I need $200 fir a housing
Should I drill a 1/8" hole at 12 0'clock on the thermostat or don't bother?
Thanks!
Myself I usually do that unless the thermostat comes with a jiggle valve in its flange. And there were times when neither happened but either way I would slowly fill the radiator to get as much air to dispell as I could. Then I would put a large mouth funnel into the radiator neck, jack up the front end of the truck (like when you bleed brakes trapped air likes to rise). Then make sure your heater valve is pulled open, and start the truck. When the thermostat finally opens you will get a belch of air that will force coolant up for a moment then it will splash back down into the funnel again. When that happens let it run another 5 to 10 mins. Of course you are keeping an eye on your temp gauge while all of this is going on. Shut off the truck and let it sit that way for a few hours. More air will eventually bleed off into the atmosphere while your engine and radiator cools and your thermostat shuts again. After a few hours of cooling top off your coolant, pull out your funnel, twist on your radiator cap, let the front of the truck down and it should be good. I know it's a lot more steps than most people do. It's just always worked well for me.
Myself I think adding the hole is a good idea. That way as you are filling the radiator the air will dispell as the coolant flows through the thermostat hole and starting to fill the top hose. After you start it up and the thermostat opens, you may notice you'll get less of a belch of air and coolant, because you pre-bled it with the hole in the thermostat. That has been my experience anyway.
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