Hey team..
It’s just me TDC again..

This time around I’m doing a R&R (remove and replace) of the thermostat housing and I just thought I would share the process I went though.

Thanks for your time and have a great weekend everybody..

Tdc.

Jaguar’s upgraded housing.





Here’s why I’m replacing it..




Here’s what it looks like with everything removed




You MUST have a 8mm crowfeet.. I checked 5 different autoparts stores none of them had it, I ended up at Harbor freight tools for this set. Kiss another $37 goodbye.








Success.

New one going on




Reconnecting all of the coolant lines back on the block and the housing.











After adding new coolant, I tighten the cap down to spec (9lbs)





Here are all of the tools that were used for this project






Builders note:

• Drain all coolant ahead of time through the radiator drain valve (pecock valve) you can save it and reuse it if you don't get it dirty.

• An 8mm crowfeet wrench is mandatory!

• Use caution when removing and reinstalling your original plastic coolant “hard lines” they are just as old and brittle as the housing you’re replacing.

• Once you’ve completed the project, your heater will NOT work!, you now need to bleed out all of the air from the coolant system as “WE” have a pressurized system.

• This project duration was just under 90 minutes

• my total cost for this project was just under $60.00, the shop wanted to charge me $250-300 for it..

Well that’s all I got everybody.. I hope you found this information helpful

Tdc

tdc, as par for the course you are a welcome addition to the team!! Thank you for your description.

Great photos and write-up!

Thanks , this will be FAQ

Had to do the same job, didn't consider the medal housing, but was pleasantly surprised when the part arrived and it was medal....plastic discontinued? Checked around for the crowfeet wrenches, hard to find 8mm, then saw another poster rec bending a standard wrench to do the job!! Worked great!

For those trying bending wrenches, works best with a good quality wrench since they are forged versus a cheaper wrench (my toolbox) which are cast steel. I was able to bend my cheap wrench just to the point of starting to break, and was lucky it was still "strong" enough to do the job! Used the box end and a screw driver in the open end of the wrench for leverage. When tightening the bolts, a pliers worked best.

BTW, all four 8mm bolts were the same length, but I noticed the thermostat cover had bolts a bit shorter so I switched the 2 back bolts of the housing with two of the shorter bolts for ease of reinstalling. The longer bolts had plenty of clearance for use in the thermostat cover.

Thanks again for taking the time to post your pictures.....they are a great help to us weekend mechanics that HAVE to save money!!

Great write up and very helpful! I had to change out my water pump and decided while I was in there to get a new thermostat and the aluminum thermostat housing installed. (amongst other items - cross pipe, bypass hose, serpentine belt)

The thermostat housing from Welsh was only $65.00 with free shipping and free Jaguar OES thermostat. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jaguar-S-Typ...72b5eb&vxp=mtr

I used a 8mm flex head, self ratcheting spanner wrench - found it on www.amazon.com for only $14.50 -
Worked like a charm. (Couldn't find the crowfoot wrench)

Here is the deal on the O-Rings from the supplied Welsh kit w/ free thermostat that I would like to mention:

1) The rubber O Ring with ribs on them goes between the aluminum thermostat housing and the manifold. Take your time installing the O Ring with ribs - make sure it is seated flush into the recess in the aluminum housing.

2) The other rubber O Ring is for the thermostat. The O-Ring that is on the included thermostat is too thick (remember - this thermostat was originally used on the plastic thermostat housings) remove that O-Ring from the supplied thermostat and place the O-Ring that came with the aluminum housing kit onto the thermostat. Even if you use your old thermostat from your old plastic housing or buy one separately you need to switch out the O-Ring and use the one from the kit.

3) Finally, there is a small O-Ring - that is for the thermostat housing cap

Hope this information helps...

I just completed this project this morning - thank goodness - no leaks!

I just want to point out the following: The hex ratchet size for the cap is 10mm

Finally, the correct ft lbs spec to tighten the cap is only 6.7 lbs (9Nm conversion to 6.7 ft lbs) - I guess the extra 2 ft lbs torque isn't going to do any harm but I wanted to point this out.

When taking on this project - remember - take your time, have the right tools, use the supplied rubber gaskets including the thinner thermostat O-ring and tighten the 3 thermostat housing bolts and cap to spec - (if you have a ft lbs torque wrench - convert Nm to ft lbs) and don't over tighten the 4 thermostat housing base bolts...

I know this is a very old post but I found it quite useful! Thanks for the great info. I am currently tackling this project as my wife's car just blew the cap off of the top of the housing(threads and all I might add). I can only hope there was no major damage done because the car did get hot...

I found the housing in a couple of different varieties on eBay. My concern is that one comes with a tstat and 2 o rings whereas the other one has no stat but 3 o rings. Any thoughts?

Thanks again!!!

Here is the one I went with from eBay:

Jaguar s Type Aluminum Thermostat Housing Upgrade 2000 2002 V8 4 0 NCE2247AD | eBay

I purchased the replacement thermostat separately.

Regarding the O-Rings:

The ribbed O-Ring goes onto the base of the thermostat housing.

The other O-Ring is needed for the thermostat (any replacement thermostat will come with the O-Ring already on the thermostat) - remember, the thermostat supplied O-Ring is thicker and designed for the plastic housing. You remove the O-Ring and use the thinner diameter supplied O-Ring so the thermostat fits into the aluminum housing.

The small O-Ring is for the thermostat housing cap.

Thanks - Anthony

Because of this post being so old i cant see any of the pictures! Im blind to the entire procedure!

Unlikely to change unless they're on archive.org?

I too can't see the pictures.

See post #12 except understand it to be "will not change".

This thread is a good reminder on how to properly post pictures to this forum. As everyone can see the pictures do not show now and are forever lost. This is because you should NOT use any picture hosting sites!!!

They all go broke or sell out causing this problem. Please, please post ALL your documents, pictures and anything else DIRECTLY to the forum only! That way they will last as long as this forum does.

It's a real shame too as we have dozens of wonderful illustrated repair instructions which are much less useful since all the pictures have been converted to kittens. The original posters are long gone too.
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