Mowin8603

i changed the timing cover gasket and the water pump gaskets last saturday and i have been having troubles ever since. first it seemed ok, then i let it idle for a while to get my electric fan to turn on so i knew it was to running temp (dont have a temp gauge) and the lower radiator hose blew off, didnt pop just blew off the radiator. so me and the guy that helped me did remember that we got a lil RTV on the thermostat but we didnt htink it would be a problem because we cleaned it off real good. sure enough we take the thermostat hosing back off and theres RTV on the thermostat causing it to stick. or at least we thought. so we put a new failsafe thermostat in it, new gasket, RTVed it up, andput it on.. seemed to be ok. let it sit over night to let the RTV set and now i just got back from a doc appointment, about a 4 mile drive and the upper and lower hoses are hard as hell! before we changed all the gaskets the hoses never got this solid, and it never over heated. but as of right now its cooling off, there is a leak just under the thermostat somewhere, i cant really tell. but there is coolant sitting ontop of the passengerside of the timing cover. and the thermostat spring is faceing into the block, to give you an idea how we put it in. thats the way we have been told to put it in, so i dont think its in the wrong way.[/align][/align]so far i have about 15 hours in just the F*CKING cooling system on this car, so im tired of working on it. ill prolly just have a reputable shop here in town check it out. but the car has always been maintained very well, i have all the records to show. its been completly documented, everything ever done to the car. i just dont get it..[/align][/align]any ideas?? [/align]

94ford5liter

The thermostat housing is probably just leaking. How long did you wait to start the car after you sealed it up. i have had this problem on mine before when I changed the thermostat. If you try to drive it right after the coolant just burns through the RTV cause it isnt dry. Mine was leaking coolant on the timing cover and it overheated really fast.

mattdel

correct, the pintle on the therm should be up, spring down.
sounds to me that air is being introduced into the cooling system while running, or it needs a severe burping. probably the first.
therm housing gasket should be enough, no need to RTV.

is there any chance that you cracked the block under the therm housing during the first tightening?

90Lxstanger

Hmmm.... very interesting b/c i see a lil cooland leakage right on top of like the water pump area. Nothing too seriuosi woulsnt say, ive never overheated, and its not leaking majorly, or hardly at all.

Mowin8603

well the guy that helped me with this job works at a shop, and he also said that there might just be air in the system, but how do you burp the system on a 5.0???

Mowin8603

[/align][/align]you know the reason why i ended up changing my timing cover gasket was because it was bubbleing on the driverside, it wasnt even leaking. but i did have a coolant leak from the driverside of my radiator so i just went ahead and bought the gaskets too if i was going to hav ethe radiator out. ended up being that the over flow can had a leak in it. saved me $160!! but i just went ahead and changed the gaskets.. kinda wishing i didnt now since it wasnt even leaking, even though they prolly would have had to be changed soon anyway.[/align]

mattdel

best way is to head to autozone, pick up a radiator filler funnel kit, comes with adapters that screw a giant funnel right on the rad, where the cap would go. fill the funnel about half way, fire it up. let it run and burp through the funnel. when the therm opens, it should suck down real fast. fill again until the coolant stops going down the funnel. dont stop until air stops coming up through the funnel. then plug the funnel(comes with a plug), remove and reinstall your cap. done.

Mowin8603

well im on hold with Autozone right now to see what they have.. the guy on the phone is kind of a retard. but anyway.. so just leave all the hoses on while doing this?[/align][/align]ya and Autozone didnt have the kit.. he says he knew what i was talking about but they havnt had that kit for atleast a year. so looks like im going to call some other auto parts stores.[/align] [/align][/align]EDIT: Advance auto didnt have it either.. still hunting.[/align]where did you get the pick from?[/align]

mattdel

yah leave it all on. if it seems like nothing is happening after your car fully warms up on the gauge, remove a heater core line from the firewall.

mattdel

i got mine from a snap on truck. its still early, drive around some shop area's and see if there is a snap on truck. even matco or mac should have at least 1 on their truck too.