I just went through replacing my thermostat housing with an aluminum one. And I have a leak from the aluminum cap. The o-ring does not seal. The top of the housing is not uniform and the o-ring must get distorted. A poor design.

I may go back to plastic.

Any one have similar issues.

 

Hi stevepaa
I also bought an aluminum thermostat housing, but have not installed yet.
Where did you buy it and who is the manufacturer?

Jim Lombardi

 

I installed one and have not had a problem with it Thermostat Housing Replacement Are you sure the top was installed properly and with a gasket? Sorry I do not mean to be disrespectful it is that I have not seen this problem come up on the forum.

 

The threads on my recently installed Uro Parts Al tower were not cast the finest. Some of the threads had cast incompletely and looked "delicate".
I also used a dremel to smooth off some rough casting lines inside the tower.
I used Hylomar Blue on the top and bottom rubber gaskets and put antiseize compound on the tower threads.
No leaks so far.

 

Bought it from motorcars it is a uro part
AJ82217.KIT - Thermostat Housing
here are some pices.
There is no way an o-ring should be used as a butt seal on a surface half its diameter.

 

I called the seller and he started taliking about ways to replace it with another. I said whoa. I'll send you pics and then you can check the one you have there to be sure its good.

Sent pics this morning, no reply yet.

 

I got mine from Ken at Motorcars and if I recall it had a gasket in the top. Metal on metal does not make a good seal. Call and ask for Ken and see what he has to say. When you talk to him tell him I said Hi.

 

made my own gasket from some flat rubber. works fine.

 

Got a call from seller. This is the first defective one they have had. I told him I made my own gasket and he left it open as far as returning it later.

I'll probably make a better one and glue it in the top.

 

my 97 still has the orig on it. I assume when they did the timing chain fix on my car and installed the new water pump that the plastic thermo had to come off, if so it was put back on and is not leaking. Should I worry about it now?

 

I assume it is just a housing that only water passes through?

 

hot water inside..hot engine outside... crackity crack of plastic. Just plan on its replacement as a 'to-do' item, on your schedule, not in a crisis.

 

seems that the new metal ones you all are talking about here are not good to go out of the box!?!?!?!

 

Try this one from Welsh then if you like.

 

I suspect there is only one manufacturer of this item and the sellers just repackage it.

Welsh just uses a big o-ring also.

They have never heard of one leaking.

You will probably be safe to get one. I'll try the o-ring again. Maybe I'll put some antiseize on the threads to ensure a proper torque.

 

The "O" ring from URO is the problem. If you look at the Jag "O" ring you will see that is more washer like than "O" ring like. This is why the JAG cap does not leak. The "O" ring on the crap URO part has no place to seal against. That is why making a rubber washer is better, or as I chose to do was to but a OEM plastic cap on the aluminum housing.

I got mine from URO also it is a piece of crap on top. I have a new plastic cap on my aluminum housing just to keep it from leaking. You are right the threads are junk. If yours were like mine, it sounds like they are cross threading them when you try to tighten it up.

The other thing I did was to add a section of hose aroung the fuel line right behind the cap. You do not know this yet but that cap and housing gets R E A L L Y hot.

I also have a leak around the base because the base gasket is crap.

Not impressed at all with this item.

 

I removed my gasket and screwed the cap all the way down to clear the threads. Put the o-ring in again , put anti seize on threads and torqued cap on. No leak.

I used the JAG rubber gasket at the base. The paper gasket would probably leak on mine also just from looking at the surfaces.

I think I will buy the JAG setup as a backup. And add hose for the fuel line.

 

Since this is still fresh in your head, hear is a question. I swore the only gasket I got with the C$%P piece was a paper one. I have the "O" ring rubber gasket from JAG to replace the paper one. Am I remembering right that the C$%P piece only comes with a paper base gasket?

 

I think that is correct. Although at my age my memory is not very good on those small details. I had bought the correct seal and thermostat from JAG dealer prior to buying the Al housing. Now I have an extra bottom seal and thermostat seal, so I am not quite sure that bottom seal was not with the Al housing.

 

The Al kit comes with two rubber gaskets and paper gaskets. I used both.