Quick question about T-stat housing

[Rot Box]

Hey is that bleeder ball supposed to have spring pressure or does it just float in there? I'm about to put her back together and wasn't sure.... Also what is the torque specs for the two housing bolts? Thanks

 

[Dieselcrawler]

Floats in there. If u shake the housing and it rattles, your good. No rattle means stuck ball

 

[hesutton]

Yup, like Corey said.... it's loose and rolling around in there.


Can't say I've seen a torque spec listed on those bolts. Their isn't a lot of stress on them, so not much. Just get them "good and snug" as Dad likes to say.


Heath

 

[Rot Box]

Thanks guys


Really didn't want to open a can of worms but I figured I'd better rebuild the oil cooler while all the coolant is drained. Just moved the steering out of the way and it pretty much fell out

 

[icanfixall]

Its just as described above. Glad your digging into the oil cooler too. This is a good time to do it when all the coolant is dropped out.

 

[WhiskeyBottle2]

Yeah that ball is supposed to be loose and rattle around....no spring...When I did mine the ball was loose, but the passageway was pretty gunked up. I cleaned it out and was surprised how much gunk was in there. After opening up the hole from cleaning etc...and installed the new correct t-stat....my truck runs much cooler...now it stays right around 190 degrees even when towing...maybe a little rise, but t-stat opens and brings temp back down...

As far as the bolts...I think 14 ft. lbs...but don't quote me...I just snugged em up with my box end wrench and checked for leaks...

 

[subway]

having just been in there recently make sure you clean the old gasket off real good. mine seemed clean and felt smooth, the old gasket was so brittle and hardened that it was like plastic. in the bad light i did not get it all off and had to re-do the job. clean it down to shiny metal, live and learn. i usually do better but was in a rush

 

[Rot Box]

Good info everyone. I'm thinking my T-stat was stuck open because I have a really hard time building any heat in the cooler temps. If I work the truck hard it acts perfectly normal but just cruising unloaded it will hover around the 140-160* range

As for the cooler I ended up having to use a mirror to be able to get a decent view of that front gasket surface--its really hard to see! Looks nice and clean now.

I can't help but think how happy I am that I took the time to flush out the coolant system and add a coolant filter several years back. Everything looks squeaky clean and new inside those coolant passages I helped my friend with his IDI recently and between his 20 year old coolant and a lifetime of neglect the inside of his radiator looked like a science project

 

[icanfixall]

The worn out radiater would have been fine if only the owner used distilled water instead of well or tap water. Distilled has nothing in it. No minerals that will drop out thru evaporation or the constant heating and cooling cycles. Also changing the coolant once in a while really helps too.

 

[Blind Driver2]

The worn out radiater would have been fine if only the owner used distilled water instead of well or tap water. Distilled has nothing in it. No minerals that will drop out thru evaporation or the constant heating and cooling cycles. Also changing the coolant once in a while really helps too.

Truth.

 

[Rot Box]

What is the life expectancy on these coolers? How long should I go before I should rebuild it again? I don't know how long mine has been on there but I'm very happy I decided to rebuild it It wasn't leaking but those o-rings fell to pieces when I pulled it apart


Looks like my old cooler had Silicone (orange) O-rings and the new kit came with Buna and Viton....

 

[icanfixall]

I feel 150,000 miles on the cooler o-rings is not bad. Pushing it farther may work... It may not. The worst it can be is an oily coolant system.