ok, i bought a 180 thermo, gasket, and RTV. Where should i put the RTV stuff? Do i just slop it everywhere?

 

put the RTV stuff on the thermostat housing and on the intake and make a constent bead of it, you want it to squeeze out when you tighten the bolts down, and the stuff that does squeeze out dont mess with it just let it harden and DONT crack your car for i would say at least 12 hours.

 

what do you mean crack my car? So the gasket will go in between two RTV seals

 

sorry i must have had a little crack today, i meant crank. And yes, if you use the gasket(i dont)

 

the package says not to tighten the bolts so much that it seeps out the sides.....when do i finaly tighten them down?

 

if the gasket maker dont seep out it will not seal and tighten the bolts down right after you put the thermostat housing back on.

 

uh-oh

 

GOT it on yet?

 

i got it on and fully tightend. I think it will be ok. smoke is comming from the headers

 

as long as you dont have a crappy MR Gasket chrome thermo housing you should be fine unless you cranked it right after

 

i think i f'ed it up, there is a pudle of coolant near the housing...gotta do it again

 

DONT CRANK THE CAR FOR AT LEAST 12 HOURS!!!

 

 

HaHa, ill agree with BT283.... I seem to remember myself making the same mistake before with a nice little mess to clean up!

 

That is how i learned that...trial and error

 

yeah, im leaving right now to get another gasket and RTV

 

Here is a little trick. Take a flat file (about 1" wide) and lightly file the surface on the intake and on the housing. You will see the low spots. Do this to remove the low spots and no more leaks.

You can either use a parts store gasket and a little thin smear of RTV on both sides, or use a GM gasket part # 10105135. It has a small ring of some type of sealant on it, and seals fine with no RTV.

 

And it also helps not to have a crappy Mr Gasket chrome Thermo housing like me to

 

ok, so i put the RTV on the gasket and not on the housing and intake? I was using a bunch of RTV before....

 

You put a thin film on both sides of the gasket. Put a thin film on one side of the gasket, put the thermostat in, set the gasket over it RTV side down, and then put a thin film on the other side. Set you housing over it, and bolt it down. You will not have to wait 12 hours this way.

When you said you where going to get another gasket and RTV again, I though you lost the RTV!! If you're using that much, it's too much !!

 

mmmmmmm RTV gasket



lmao

 

mmmmmmmmmm RTV pea soup

 

lol, i actually used chewing gum, not rtv

 

so i put a little rtv on both sides of the gasket; not the housing or manifold? Do i tighten the bolts down all the way? When do i tighten them down?

 

-rtv on gasket only

-tighten the bolts all the way down right after you put the gasket on

If it leaks after this, the surfaces on the manifold or housing are not flat, and you will have to break out the old 1" flat file to correct them.

 

i hope it doesnt leak because there is no room to use a file on the manifold side....

 

one of the problems with rtv and fiber gaskets is that the rtv lubricates the gasket and it can move or pinch and squish out of the sealing area. I never liked RTV on gaskets especially paper gaskets. You also should not be gorillaing the bolts down with wet rtv for the reasons i just mentioned. Very often people will overtighten a gasket regardless of whether or not RTV is used, the rtv just makes it worse. I like permatex form a gasket (purple goo in a can with a brush) it will fill small imperfections and it is a gasket adhesive so the gasket wont slip once it tacks up. It also will not harden and crack like weather strip adhesive will (another popular gasket glue). Keep the RTV for emergencies or for filling gaps (intake end seals).

 

omg.....too late now. I dont want to replace this because it takes about 15 minutes to unscrew one of the themo housing bolts on a TPI car

 

How is a thermostat gasket going to move? It has two holes in it to locate the gasket?

Dan, let it set for a little while, then filler up and see what happens.

 

 

if it is tightened unevenly or just too much the RTV will make it more likely to squish out. Not inevitable but it does happen too often.

The best way i have found to seal thermostat housings ( i don't mean to imply that is very hard) is the felpro reusable "O" ring gasket. No sealer or scraping required, great if you swap thermostats in the summer or winter.

 

got a part number and a link to what it looks like?

thanks

 

Dan, it's been more than 15 minutes. Does it leak?

 

http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...h.asp&N=400101

 

no good

try this:

FPP-2202

 

How can a thermostat gasket squish out?????

It's not made of copier paper. The only thing that can squish out is RTV, and it's because someone put too much on (like in dan's RTV pea soup pic). It will leak because the mating surfaces aren't flat, period. RTV, or whatever will compensate for minor imperfections. To do it right, buy a new housing, file the intake surface flat, and put on a GM gasket with no RTV. No leaks gae-ron-teed! I pulled mine off 4 times within a couple of weeks, and all I had to do was use some red scotchbrite to remove the leftover sealant from the GM gasket.

BTW, do you have the part # for the felpro gasket, b/c the link doesn't work. I have never had any luck with an o-ring setup. Works great for awhile, but after some heat cycling always ends up leaking and getting replaced with a factory gasket. Part # is 10105135, looks just like the felpro one but with a sealant ring instead of rubber, list price $1.87. You'd have to replace the thermostat 8 times to break even.

 

funny, our experiences seem contradictory. I worked as a car mechenic for some time and always prided myself on being able to get a good seal with almost anything i sealed, kind of a pet peave. I never liked RTV. If you put too much pressure on a gasket (cheap ones are more susceptable) they wil crush or crack/split and if there is a slippery substance on them like RTV it will make them squish out. Now if you let the RTV tack and only use a thin smear and tighten evenly and not exessively you won't have that problem. But it does happen, usualy to inexperienced mechanics. The only place i use RTV is to make intake end seals and multipiece pan gaskets to seal the corners. Also where i might not have agasket in a pinch. The only RTV i use is called "the right stuff" it is very strong and much thicker and tackier than average stuff. Just my 2 cents.

 

If you were to do a poll on who used RTV around the coolant ports on intake gaskets, what do you think the results would be?

A-gasket squished out

B-no leaks

This is getting beat to death. I would just like to know if dan's thermostat is still leaking or not. Guess I will find out later.

 

sorry, just trying to share my experience. I will stop beating now!

 

since i screwed up the last RTV + gasket, im gonna wait at least 12 hours before i turn on the vehicle.

btw....15 dollars for a gasket...ouch

 

well folks, we'll find out tomorrow.

BTW, I think you need to take some sound clips of that thing and post them on your exhaust thread, with open headers of course!!

 

lol, i was driving past this lady mowing her lawn and she got real pissed I need to get a digital sound recorder.... I dont know if its any faster; i only got up to 25mph cause i didnt want to go very far with a blown themo gasket...

oh yeah, i set off a car alarm too

 

 

well i drove it untill the thermo opened and no leaks yet....

 

 

 

this car still has major cooling problems. The car has 80k on it and i think the cooling system was ignored by all previous owners. The car gets real hot, it came close to the red one day in stop & go traffic. I cant get a better radiator cause everyone says they dont fit.... I dont know if its my water pump.... I dont think coolant is circulating well in the block...
damn car

 

Did you get all the air out of the system by letting it idle with the radiator cap off? It will burp (fart) a couple of big bubbles after the thermostat opens, then take another 1/2 gallon of coolant.

Also, does it run hot on the highway, or only in traffic. If only in traffic, the fan is not switching on soon enough. I know you put a new switch in, but not sure of the temp. I would let it sit at idle in the driveway, and see what temp on the gauge the fan kicks on. You might also want to check for debris (leaves, etc) between the radiator and the condenser. That will definitely cause it to run hot. Radiator might also just be shot. You should have no problems cooling wise with a stock radiator with your setup.

 

Just buy a new stock replacement radiator for it, BTW...Be Cool makes a custom fit radiator for 82-92 Camaros for about $550, I lucked up and found a brand new one on ebay for $350...It is a great peice of radiator too!!

 

Hi Dandaman

I have a question to ask yah

Good Luck with your gasket making..

i have the same problem you have with it getting a little hot when driving in the city(my car is a 86 z28 with tpi)highway it ok and yes my fan does come on at about 220 drgrees for anyone asking to check fan .


i would like to change my thermostat as well
the one thing that seems like its going to be a pane in the @ss is removing that one bolt that hide under the tpi unit.

what type of wrench or socket setup did you use to remove that bolt.

or anyone that reads this tread can give some info on what works best any help would be great

Thank You

Repzard


*Chevy Let Camaro's Live*