BC

Hey all,

I was driving the 81 yesterday (yes, the one thats for sale), and I think it has a slight leak where all the coolant lines go into the engine at the top center. I hear a bit of "hissing" when the car is off, and there is a bit of s drip on the front of the timing belt cover near the center (on the outside). I was looking at PET, b ut I cannot find a really good spot to check without taking everything apart.
Has anyone had a leak in this area on an early car (dare I say OB) - there are only two seals. Its doesn't seem that hard to just take everything off and redo it all with a new thermostat.

Paul D

Brendan - I've replaced all those seals on my thermostat housing recently. There are 4 different seals that are used in and around the thermostat housing. Mine was leaking at 3 of the 4 seals. I removed the strut brace and the plumbing (wires and fuel lines) around the thermostat housing for easier access. One seal (O-ring type) is inside the Thermostat housing itself and seals the thermostat to the thermostat housing and the front cover. Another seal is at the bottom of the thermostat housing that mates with the top of the engine block (O-ring type). On my car this seal was in the worst shape as it had completely solidified. The last 2 seals are gasket type (with integrated silicone seals) for sealing the 2 ends of the thermostat housing to each cylinder head. It's not a difficult task to replace all of them. I had to remove the oil separator to get the thermostat housing out. Replace the oil separator gasket also while you are in there (mine was leaking horribly). You should drain the engine block of coolant before removing the oil separator and thermostat housing (good time for a flush anyway). Once the oil separator is removed there is a BIG hole for stuff to fall down into the inside of the engine. Be very careful not to drop or loose anything down this hole!!! (ask me how I know this!). Hope this helps.

John Struthers

Holy Cow -ala Bart Simpson-, Paul,
When my thermostat went south on a SITO run we Dave - Pittsburgh - and I let her cool down, Brett took off for more assistance. I pulled out my three mystery bags, Dave went down ta' the crick' fer to get some water - no crawdads please-. We rigged up a filter/strainer, Dave made a jumper to check the elec. fan -o.k.-. After the refill she boiled again and we had to pull the thermostat/housing. Dave did well to keep the gasket in two major pieces. After drilling holes in the thermostat for flow thru - you can't reassemble the critter without a thermostat - DAVE siliconed the gasket back together then back in place. Jay and I tried to reassemble the thermostat - if you press to hard while drilling the assembly unclips, no joy. Joint decision to install the critter in a loose collection of parts, assuming the housing would keep things in place. We were lucky that the two housing bolts were a little longer than they needed to be - IT WORKED -! I must really need those manuals and PET because I didn't see those other gaskets & O'rings.
Maybe Dave did or the Luck of the Irish was involved, but I was blind to them.
Brendan If Snow reads this post he might compliment Paul's advise , as I recall he had a few leaks about a year ago not related to the heads.

Normy

-I replaced all the above mentioned gaskets a few months ago, along with the thermostat, and I can tell you that it is a back-breaker but not a particularly difficult job. Changing the gasket on the bottom of the oil strainer even stopped a minor oil leak. I was so proud of myself that I even painted the garage floor afterwards.

Now my steering rack has developed a small "drip"....

<img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

Normy!
'85 S2 5 Speed