Any tips for removing a housing that has been in place for many (25+) years? This particular engine is in a 68 Traveller, and the stub for attaching the top hose has disintegrated, which does not help the water circulation or cooling.
YouTube videos on changing the stat seem to gloss over removal of the housing, which seems to weld itself into place!
Violence. Then buy a new one.
Can you get the bolts out or is that the problem?
I seem to remember that often the bolts came out OK but the housing tended to be rather well glued in place by the gasket cement.
Do you need to preserve the thermostat housing? If not then just break it, it's fairly non-robust aluminium alloy I think. If you need to preserve the housing then try levering it up working round the edge with a screwdriver or chisel, you should be able to get the bladein the gap where the gasket is, the gaskets are quite thick.
New one on order, but I can't shift the old one. May have to go from violence to extreme violence.
Feeling sorry for Son, who is 17 today, and for years has wanted to drive the Morris. Took him out and he did well for a first time, but had to stop due to clouds of steam.
Ha! Last time I did this I did end up with a new housing - plastic IIRC.
From memory I have succeeded by soaking with penetrating fluid to liven up what's left of the gasket (or O ring?), and taps with a rubber mallet. Just don't be tempted to pry it off and damage the mating surface.
Blowlamp ?. Alloy will expand faster than the cast iron block, then tip some cold water on it. Repeat until the bond breaks.
I have sympathy for your son. One of the first times I went out driving with my dad (on L plates) the throttle cable on my mum's car jammed fully open as I was going up a steep hill. First noticed when the car shot forwards as I changed up into third and then fourth. I did the right thing: brake in gear and very gently turn off ignition in case it enabled steering lock (*); I resisted the temptation to press the clutch which would have removed any mechanical load and engine would probably have overspeeded and damaged itself (eg excessive load on conn rods or crankshaft)..
Good luck in fixing the problem.
(*) Apparently this doesn't happen until you remove the key, but I wasn't to know.
Oh, you will break it, trying to get it off. They're made of cast easilybrokium.
is that similar to "muckite"?
I'd try removing the studs. But there is the chance they will snap. If you have new ones standing by, less likely. ;-) Other thing is heat. Obviously easier/safer with the head off the car and all water drained.
Otherwise, saw it off. Less chance of damaging things than an angle grinder.
Surely it's already broken if the bit where the top hose fits has disintegrated. It will have to be replaced - so it's extreme violence time, but try not to damage the head.
IIRC, it's held on by 3 studs which screw into the head, with nuts and washers on top. If you can get the studs out (use two lock-nuts if there's enough thread) it will allow the housing to be rotated (metal bar for leverage in what's left of the hose outlet), which may break the seal.
Very common problem, studs rust and make removal very difficult.
Screwdriver between housing and head and hammer in. The cast iron head won't usually be damaged as its so hard. The thermostat housing is toast. It should eventually work itself off with levering from different directions.
Get a new thermostat housing and possibly some new studs. I'm not sure but think one stud goes into the water jacket. eBay should be a good source.
I had to drill one stud and retap to clear fragments, I can't recall the thread! Probably 5/16 UNC
Good luck.
+1, and/or break it.
The KEY point is not to try prying, and damaging the mating surface.
just be aware that's not the case for a lot of cars.
NT
key, but I
Had a similar thing with a BMC - the Earth Strap had a bad connection and ithen starting the throttle cable would get hot and melt the nylon lining of the outer cable causing it to stick. Once cool it would free off again.
Almost as obscure as the Antifreeze label being drawn ocer the intake of the air cleaner when on a motorway and causing the engine to loose power unti the label unstuck.
Are there some cars where the steering locks as soon as the key is turned fully off, even though it remains in the lock? I thought this was only an old wives' tale. Evidently not.
I remember I turned the key cautiously until it first reached the point where the engine stopped running under power - probably when the LT circuit to the distributor was broken, but I thought afterwards that I was being over-cautious. Perhaps I was wise to be so cautious.
On another occasion the gear lever came off in my hand and I uttered the immortal words "Is it supposed to do that?". It was a Renault 6 with a hockey-stick gear lever (like on a Citroen 2CV) which ran along the top of the engine and enmeshed with a conventional gear lever sticking out of the gearbox which was between the engine and the radiator. The gear lever rod was welded to a plate with a large hole in, with the rod on the gearbox going through it, cushioned by a rubber grommet. The grommet had fallen out, allowing the plate to disengage from the rod as I went into reverse while doing a three-point turn, so when I discovered it, the car was completely blocking a road. Talk about embarrassing...
aka "shitmetal".
Bwahahahaha.
Vast numbers of them. I can't say all mine have been that way as not all had steering locks.
could be a lot worse. Cars have killed many millions.
NT
I had this happen on a Rover SD1, except it didn't free off again properly. I drove the car home with a "binary" throttle setting - "roar!" coast "roar!" coast [repeat for an hour or so)
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