top

 

Take it off again. Clean the thermostat housing and intake manifold area really good. Place the thermostat itself into the thermostat housing. Apply an even 1/8" inch bead of Permatex Form-a-gasket sealant (part# 1B) on each side of the gasket. Make sure the bead is continuous and does not have any breaks in it. Also make sure you put some glue around that little hole for the water pump bypass. Let the glue get tacky for a few minutes, then reinstall the thermostat housing onto the intake manifold. Torque the bolts down evenly, but do not over-torque them. Just until the bolts are snug. Refill the cooling system, bleed, and check for any leaks.

 

I'm having the same problem. Did you get the leak fixed?

 

+1 for permatex. I use that on every engine I have built/rebuilt. Look closely for any cracks as I have had a one once that leaked for a while till I finally figured it out.

 

Hello,

is it a crapy chrome ford racing housing?

Markus

 

The FRPP piece is a complete POS. It had chrome slag on the sealing surface and the plug was loose in the top even after wrapping it with 3 layers of teflon tape. Worst thing I've evr bought for my mustang. The $13 dollar cast iron piece from my local parts shop has been great. I painted it black before installing because those things will rust up quickly. The FRPP w-neck is well known for being sub par

 

Who wants to be they are?

 

I just use the permatex and skip the gasket. 1/8ths all round, including the bypass. I use a bit of bent wire to hold the thermo in the right position while I install the housing. I've been doing this on vertical thermo fords for 20+ years with no problems.

P51C

 

Coolant will eat thru the aluminum housing eventually..check for holes in it

 

I agree with above statements to check housing for cracks, sometimes when installing the thermostat tends to come out of the groove and when your tightening it the housing twists and cracks, if cracked get a new replacement housing, and as stated use some gasket maker on each side of the gasket to be sure no leaks.

To install and be sure thermostat stays in the housing groove, I use a Elastic rubber band doubled threw the thermostat and pull both sides up threw where rad hose attaches and put a pen or pencil threw Elastic and across neck where rad hose goes, just keeps thermostat secure in place till bolted snug, then remove pen and pull out elastic and your good to go.

Hope this helps

Garett

 

Garrett ? Props! That is a brilliant idea! I never would have thought of that. Sweet idea!

 

I prefer to use a Fel-pro self adhesive gasket. It'll hold the Tstat in place while I bolt the water neck on. It seems most of the time for me, it was the thermostsat that slipped down that caused the leak.

 

.....what Nutts said -- the most common reason for leaks at the bottom has nothing to do with gasket material or use of RTV (which is totally un-necessary to seal the housing). It's because the t'stat isn't held in place and it slides down slightly interfering with the housing's ability to sit flush against the intake. MANY people have clogged enough RTV in place to keep the leak from happening even with a misaligned housing -- which, by the way, is the main reason they crack and break -- overtorquing with the t'stat edge wedged in the gap.

GET THE PROPER GASKET -- which has a peel off adhesive back on one side. Clean both surfaces completely. Get the proper t'stat positioned properly (there's only one way it can be placed in the housing for the air bleed to be at noon), adhesive side towards the t'stat/housing to hold it in place, a bit of hylomar gasket dressing on the other side of the gasket to ease removal when it has to come off, bolt it into place and away you go.

Another common problem is trying to do the job with any of the hoses bolted up. Take both the small bypass hose and the large radiator hose COMPLETELY off and get them out of the way. They'll only cause misalignment of the housing. They go back on after the housing is in place and torqued properly.

 

Send it to me.....wwww.ultraseal-inc.com

My business is called vacuum impregnation. We seal porosity in castings of all kinds. Intake Manifolds, Cylinder heads, engine blocks......

Porosity is inherent in all casting processes. We currently are processing 1100 engine blocks a day for one of the "big 3"

Anyways, without guys like us you would have coolant in your oil if your engine block was made out of aluminum.

The process uses vacuum do draw air out of the porosity and allow the sealant to penetrate the leak. The sealant is rinsed off in water and immersed in hot water which cures the liquid sealant to a hardened plastic which is not affected by heat, expansion, or chemicals.

Brandon

 

This is all good advice, but this thread was over 5 years old!??

 

Yep. :lol:

 

Has anyone ever used the water neck with the oring design in it? That looked like it would be a good deal and a lot cleaner instead of messing with silicone and gaskets all the time.
Tyler

 

Since i bought two crappy ford racing chrome housings in short time (both are leaking) i bought a housing from CSR with o-rings. It costs alot of money, but it worth it.
This thing is absolut perfect and NO LEAK.

Markus

 

Haha...it is 5yrs old...I did not even realize that, but if anyone is having this problem, we got ya covered

 

chalk me up as another victim of the nightmarish ford racing chrome housing.

 

The stock piece isn't cast iron - just 'pot' metal. And sealing with the billet/o-ring piece is the best for sure.

 

I too bought the FRPP chrome crap piece. Mine doesn't leak, but I had to wrap about ten feet of teflon around the threads of the large screw on the top of it. And I also put a plastic washer on that screw and then tightened it down as tight as I thought I could without stripping it.
Question-Who the hell at FRPP lets this part go out the door with such a f__ed up design flaw?

Question #2-What is the purpose of this screw?

 

I believe the screw is so you can remove it & install a sensor.

 

I picked up a nice and shiny Billet Specialties T-stat housing. It's like the CSR with O ring construction.

 

Jan 10, 2002

This thread can now drink!