trailor

I have a leak in my 2002 GT at the bottom of the thermostat housing (being an 02, it has the updated intake manifold already). I have heard some say that the thermostat itself has probably fallen out of its proper position and is causing a leak. What are your thoughts??

Also, to fix, will I need new o-rings and/or gaskets?? Never had to do this repair before, so I don't know what is required. Here's some pics of where its leaking:

trailor

any takers?? wanna try to get this fixed this weekend

Romer

If its coming out at the bottom as your pictures suggest its not the O ring causing it. Don't see how thermostat position could cause a leak. Sound more like a crack or the intake manifold gasket. Use the drain plug on the radiator to drain off some coolant and take a look.

uberstang1

Ur gonna have to take it apart, the theromastat cant be "out of position" as it has no room to move once everyting is bolted down

cliffyk

You need to remove the intake manifold, and then separate it and the crossover pipe. You will likely find that one or more walls of the grooves holding the seals has eroded.

This is how mine failed, the inner wall of a seal groove eroded--you can see the unsupported seal projecting into the passageway:



Mine did this earlier this year and I was able to clean it all up (scrape off as much of the rotted plastic as you can), degrease it, and put it all,together using JB Weld to seal it up.

Cleaning and degreasing everything are vital, apply JB Weld to both surfaces and bolt it together--then let it sit for 4 -5 hours before re-installing onto the engine. Torque it down and let it sit for another 14-16 hours before adding coolant and starting her up.

It's been 5 months now with no leaks, of course I have a new FRPP manifold in the attic now which means that the repaired unit will never fail.

A new FRPP manifold is your other option, you can get one from AM for $170 with free ground shipping, $200 or so with 2-day shipping, and $220 overnight...

trailor

thanks for the responses guys!! unfortunately, i had a few independence day activities take place yesterday and sunday, so i couldn't tackle it this weekend, but hopefully i can get started later this week.

TKEstang

I had the exact same thing. and pretty much the same result as cliffyk's pic. Since I was tearing it that far down I just went with a new intake manifold altogether...

trailor

ok cliff (or whoever has experienced this same problem), got a couple more questions for ya.. the aluminum elbow crossover pipe has a few chunks missing out of it, and looked rather corroded when i first exposed it, see the first two pics.

then i decided to clean it up a bit with a wire wheel and noticed a couple more holes/grooves that were eaten into the aluminum, plus the ones that were noticeable before look MUCH deeper now that all the debris is cleaned off (last two pics). the inside of the piping seems solid, with no signs of corrosin or anything. now i know the two simple solutions are to either buy a new one or repair it with JB weld, but that's not what i was goin to ask you.

i was curious as to HOW this could have happened and how i can prevent it from happening in the future?? i flushed/filled my radiator a little over a year ago and used the prestone flush kit, along with prestone radiator coolant, and gave a pretty-damn-close 50/50 mixture with my water hose. i did a very diligent flush as well, and i think it was your instructions i followed (not sure, don't have the time to search for it). where have i gone wrong???

jrp1588

You used tap water to fill the radiator? I think you are supposed to use distilled water to help prevent corrosion.

trailor

hmm i have heard something like that before.. perhaps that had something to do with it. can anyone back this claim up??