Hello,

I am replacing the thermostat housing on my xk8. I purchased the metal housing on rock auto. Remove some of of the pipes and connector and am in the process of removing just the thermostat. The thermostat has the 3 bolts in the housing holding it in place. One of the bolts on my car is spinning and not coming out.

Is this because the the threads are busted? Do I have to drill it out and retap? Any suggestions on what I could try to remove it before I go down that route. I've no experience drilling out bolts and re-tapping and am looking to try all my options before I do that.

Thanks

 

On closer inspection the bold for the thermostat cover goes into the plastic housing. I might be able to remove it as one component instead of fighting with it. However the housing bolts in the back don't look easily accessible. Still curious about the cover bold.

I did start this to get rid of the plastic housing and the was worried about doing it on my own, may be this forces me to do that now.

 

I removed the housing by breaking it into pieces. Just be careful to remove all the pieces. Replace the screws with socket head style and tighten the back one with a ball drive socket. You can buy a set at Harbor Freight.

You should also replace the water pipe that is located under the thermostat housing. They eventually decompose and the hose blows off. Also the short connecting hose.

 

Take the tower out as a unit. You will be better able to dismantle to retrieve the thermostat once you have it on the bench.

The two rear bolts are a pain as they're obstructed by the inlet manifold. Your options are, in my order of preference:

• Remove (or at least unbolt and lift) the inlet manifold.
• Find an 8mm crowsfoot spanner.
• Take your favourite dismantling hammer to the plastic and remove it in pieces to gain easier access to the two bolts.

See this thread from cjd777:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...15/#post995175

It is more work, but if the valley hoses are old, do consider removing the manifold and replacing them 'while you're in there'.


edit: ...and also the parts RJ notes above. Much easier doing in one hit.

 

Thanks Michael, I forgot the valley hoses. Of course, while doing that the 'octopus' hose Norma connector will probably disintegrate and require replacement. When I bought my 06 I went through all those parts as preventative maintenance.

 

Hello everyone,


I bought a 8mm crowfoot but could get a 1/4th drive. had to do a 3/8 th drive and that didn't work as well and I did not want to force it in. So I started looking into option one of @michaelh 's suggestion

Moving the intake out of the way. I followed the thread Michael linked and watched a few videos

On the thread @Ungn says

> The secret is you can loosen the intake manifold in about 10 minutes (10 intake bolts, 2 air tube bolts, 4 throttle body bolts, 1 bolt under the throttle body - all 10mm socket) to where it will flip up 6 inches and the tower is freely accessible. Stick a block of wood under it to keep it propped up and bolt it back down after the tower is on.

I know - visually can see the first two sets of bolts the 10 on the intake and the 2 air tube ones.

On the videos one by @O&DR there is no mention of needing to loosen the throttle body bolts

On another

there is. I don't want to do anything more than I absolutely need to and I don't want to beak anything by trying to use force.

My questions (a) do I need to loosen the throttle body bolts (b) if so how can I locate the one in the back - any indication of the ones in the front would also be great.

I don't have any special tools as many have made in the thread - can I do it with something from the market.

Appreciate the help. ty

-bhaskar

 

Hi chillyp,
Note: - I haven't done the job this way, since I took the TB off as I was replacing the octopus.

There are two bolts on the throttle body elbow, one each side, that may be what ungn is referring to. There is a support bracket with a triangular piece on each side, secured with three bolts. One needs to be removed and the other two just slackened. This snip from the JEPC should help, although the elbow itself isn't shown:



The triangular plate (6) bolts into the bracket (7) with a pair of bolts (9). The bolt for the top hole in the plate attaches to the throttle body elbow. This needs to be removed on each side.

I don't know how good the access is with the TB itself in place.

Take care when you have the manifold lifted that nothing can fall into the inlet ports.

To be honest, I'd lift the TB, and replace the 8 inlet seals. It's 4 bolts, a couple of connectors and a TB gasket - then you have a clear workspace.
Your call.

 

Thanks @michaelh After a bit of while of trying to find the bracket I did find it. 3 bolts on each side. Am I correct the 2 on the diagnonal need to be removed and the one at the 90 degree angle slackened. I'm going to continue looking for a bit instead of doing it right away. May be tomorrow before I do this part.

 

Almost Only the uppermost bolt on each side (at the apex of the triangular support plate (6) ) needs to be removed.

I think that you will manage by just slackening the two lower, horizontal ones on one side only:- to relieve any 'pinch' on the elbow. They definitely don't need to be completely removed.

There is a short hose on the LHS that connects between the throttle body coolant reservoir and a tee-piece on the valley hose on that side. If you're changing the valley hoses on this hit, than I'd recommend also replacing that tee, since it's made from the same biodegradeable plastic as the OEM thermostat tower. Part # is NNE3944BA, and it's cheap (~$3.50)


edit: corrrect route for hose.