whtevrittakes801

Hey Guys,
2002 Mustang GT.... 190,000 miles.

A few weeks ago I noticed the common antifreeze leak below the thermostat housing, and looked it up online and read about the lawsuit... i bought the car second hand in 2003 and never received any recall information so this was new to me.
Doing a quick review online, i swapped the stock intake with a Dorman replacement. Some people seem to love them, some people hate them..since I have so many miles on my car, i bought the (cheap) dorman.
Anyway, I changed the intake over, and when I got to the last step (tightening the thermostat housing bolts), i forgot to put in the spacers and I ended up tightening the housing. I went to the dealer and purchased a new housing....it is the housing for the "performance package", so it has a slight bend in it that keeps it away for the alternator bracket. I put the new housing on about 5min ago, tightened it to 18 ft/lb with the spacers and o-ring gasket in....when i fire up the car, antifreeze pours out of the housing. I saw the torgue specifications are 18-22 ft/lb but I am afraid to tighten it anymore since i broke the last one. It looks almost like the spacers make it sit too high?? i was considering adding RTV sealant, but i figured that I might as well ask someone before I start trying a bunch of ideas that dont work! I hope someone can help me, im getting really frustrated at this point! thank you so much in advance!
Dave

whtevrittakes801

i dont know how to edit original post, but i mean i ended up "breaking" the original thermostat housing bc i forgot the spacers.

cliffyk

I bought a Dorman manifold back in February and brought it back 5 minutes after getting it home when I discovered it was a 4.6L 2V universal fit package, and a non-PI basic manifold with PI flanges (the FRPP PI manifold itself is actually less expensive than the Dorman, and about the same cost with 2nd day shipping and sales tax).

However, as I recall the spacers were to go under the thermostat with the O-ring on top--is that how you put it together? You may also not need both spacers, IIRC the instructions were vague as to what went where.

whtevrittakes801

i put the spacers right under the housing, even though it doesnt make much sense to me. and the o-ring on top of the thermostat...i will try to add a picture but not too sure how...

whtevrittakes801

i took the spacers out, and it seems to be fine and not leaking....hopefully it will stay that way

cliffyk

Cool (no pun intended). If it leaks try one spacer, then the t-stat, then the O-ring...