I just ordered an alum. T-stat housing and upper and lower radiator hoses from RockAuto.com made by Uroparts. They're $83.00 for all incl. shipping. My original hoses are collapsing like others have posted. Now that the weather is a little cooler I'll try some knuckle busting next weekend. Let you know how these parts are after the install.

 

This might help http://www.gusglikas.com/AutoRepairTherHousing.htm

 

Since the old housing is plastic and going into the trash anyway it has been suggested to break it up with a pair of pliers. That provides a lot more room to get to those bolts.

A 'crows foot' wrench works if you have a set.

 

I'm in the process of installing this same part. What I have done thus far was to grind about 1/4" off the rear 2 bolts so they will go back on under the intake. I bought 2 socket head machine bolts to but back there as replacements thinking I could just use my bondus hex drivers to tighten, but those to are too big. You can barely get the sill things out. And with a big set of mitts like mine it was even more difficult. I tried several tools. Universal swival 1/4 drive 8mm. Too big. 8mm socket on 6" extension too big. Ended up doing what everyone else does except I heat formed a halh moon 8mm box end wrench. Therefore all you need is a screwdriver thru the other end and not a pair of vise grips.

I suffered thru the removal and opted not to break up the old part. Luck is usually not on my side when I do this sort repair; smash to remove. My luck I would have sent plastic down the mount into the engine or better yet miss the pipe and hit the intake.

Have fun and be patient. I took me about 45min to an hour to get the hole thing off. Just this one part.

I did not try the crows foot since I could not find the 8mm by itself, you had to buy the whole set, craftsman quality $70.00+. The smallest I could but alone was a 10mm. You can use a 5/16 crows foot if you have a SAE set but not metric.

 

Your luck and my luck seem to be the same....all I could picture was little bits of plastic plugging up the passages.

Mike

 

The thermostat closes off the rest of the system from little broken parts if you choose to 'nibble' the tower away. The bent wrench or ground socket is the solution to the 'set' of crows foot wrenches at $70. I went the 'ground socket' route and think I still have it if anyone wants it. I will mail it to you free but you have to promise to ship it to someone that needs it.

 

mike66 how did it turn out. It took me forever to get the back screws in. But all is tight and no leaks. I did notice one cautionary thing about the aluminum inlet is the thing gets very hot. And the line right behind it is very close about 1/16" away. I hope there is no problem with that. I think its a fuel line for connecting the lh and rh fuel rails. Did you notice how hot the thing gets?

 

I ordered the same housing from jagbits except I paid 100 bucks for just the housing plus shipping. Anyway I will make the repair later this week for my 02 xk8. Anyone have any pointers or tips? This seems like a normal problem with the plastic t housing. I wonder if the aluminum housing will hold up better.

 

Brandon, the only thing I did different was to grin about 1/4 to 5/16 of an inch off the rear screws to get them in easier. There is still plenty of thread. It was also easier to attach it with out the sensors on the new pipe yet. It gives you a little more room. You can always attach them after the new pipe is installed. Since you are replacing the old pipe I just broke the old sensor brackets off the pipe. It is easier to get to the release tab to remove them from the bracket. I also used permatex HI TAC on the connections. I do not like leaks. Also how old is your t- stat and hoses. Since your in there you may want to consider changing them as well. I got my pipe from Car Quest for $76 plus tax, and no shipping. If you have a Car Quest in your area I'd get use to checking them for pricing first. If you have the Jag Part No. they can tell you if the part is available.

Good Luck!

 

Daddy007,
Thanks for the input. I do have a local car quest. I will check with them tomorrow for the additional parts.

 

Just got my parts from Rock Auto and my socket from TP today. Will go at it this weekend. Hopefully I can get that lower hose on because as I've mentioned before, I'm not the strongest. Will try hot water and lube and see if it's as tight as other posters have said. BTW try Rock Auto for price on the housing and hoses.....seems pretty good.
Mike

 

Just attacked the monster after work today. It's everything you guys said it was. After removing the front 2 bolts from the housing I fiddled with the back two with my crow's foot wrench and the socket that TP sent me. Decided after a 1/2 hour F this, got a jack handle and put it down inside the housing from the top and applied a little motivation. Broke pretty cleanly into 4 pieces. After that access to the rear bolts was easy, was able to break them free with a small open end wrench. Installation of the new housing was also a PIA but with the ground down socket and bent wrench was able to snug down those back bolts. Used the shorter ones from the T-stat housing as suggested here.
New hoses go on tomorrow. Hopefully I don't spray orange all over the place when I start 'er up.

 

The best solution has always been to break up the 'going into the trash anyway' plastic housing. That allows easy access to the rear bolts. Cut a notch into the two short bolts to allow easy screwdriver drive down. That only leaves one turn of a ground socket or a bent wrench (8mm crows foot) and you are done.

I also have a free plastic, leak free, housing that was carefully removed over about a 3 hour period if anyone is silly enough to want it.

The bottom hose to the radiator is also a PITA. Aftermarket hoses are smaller, I am sure by at least a 1/2", based on 2 hours of experience, than the OEM hoses. No reasonable person would have designed such a connection. Unless you have a $20 spring clamp tool just go buy a standard $1 gear clamp and be done with it. You are not going to get that spring clamp back on the hose and the radiator neck without the whole radiator out on a work bench.

 

TP, you're right about that bottom radiator hose - nothing like putting another pipe right in the way so there's no leverage getting the new hose on. Mine isn't on as far as I'd like, but enough to get the clamp on okay (i hope). In the process of removing the fan shroud one of the bolts holding it to the radiator disappeared, so I'll have to find a replacement. Daddyo-you're right about that heat. I slit an old hose and put it around that fuel line for some extra protection.
I am now the keeper of the ground-down socket that's free to anyone who wants it.
Next up---front suspension!
Mike