Thermostat Housing

jccjr1982 · Post by **jccjr1982** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:38 pm

Howdy,

I just bought a 2001 Lanos, recently salvage. The junk lot owner I bought it from just replaced the front bumper and radiator. The old radiator was just bent, and it appeared that was the only thing that was damaged (nothing touched the engine or belts).

Anyways, white fog was coming from the hood, so I pulled over. The plastic thermostat housing pretty much split in half, and my coolant was spewing out. Luckily I was in a Target parking lot so I bought some "Mighty Putty" and sandwiched it back together, filled it with a weak solution of coolant and water.

Made it home with minimal leakage...

I called Kragen, Napa, Pep Boys... all say that its a "dealer only" part or that its "not available" and can't order it for me. Autozone will special order, and it takes 2 days. I'll just buy off eBay since its 7 bucks cheaper.

Just so I don't screw this up... any special gasket/parts I'll need, or any precautions I should be aware about before doing this job? Looks like a simple 2 bolt job... but I never worked with these vehicles before so I'll rather have some expertise advice before I do anything. I search the forums and all I read mostly about is the "metal" version of the housing...

Pir0 · Post by **Pir0** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:45 pm

Be aware of brittle bolts on the thermostat housing. As you said, try your best to get a metal housing, soooooooo much better.

Take your time with the bolts taking them out, and try your best not to snap them. When resealing the thermostat, use some sort of silicone that's heatproof. Stuff like 'heatmate' would be ideal. SOmething that'll seal it and be heat resistant. Also, make sure the surface is reallly clean before stickin it all back together, but not greasey. If it's greasy the silicone wont do much sealing.

jccjr1982 · Post by **jccjr1982** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 12:00 am

Thanks for the advice...

The seller on eBay is offering the o-ring external gasket for just 2 bucks more... do I need this or will silicone sealant alone suffice? Or should I use the o-ring, and supplement it with some silicone for a better seal?

Pir0 · Post by **Pir0** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:21 am

Use the O ring aswell as silicone. The more the merrier. remember to let the silicone set before filling the car with water.

jccjr1982 · Post by **jccjr1982** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:14 pm

I just took the housing off, and noticed that the o-ring is needed.

It looks like someone previously rebuilt this... because where the housing splits, someone poorly screwed the housing back together all around, very unevenly, and half the screws were over-torqued. They also grinded down the thermostat plate (the small one) to fit in the housing, which I would think you'd have to do with a universal thermostat due to the vanes in the housing.

I'm going to attempt to rebuild this until I get a new housing. The cheap eBay seller oversold his housings, and Autozone told me that the vendor they special order from doesn't have any in stock

Thanks again Pir0!

Daniel · Post by **Daniel** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:42 pm

Did you tried https://www.gm-car-parts.com/ ?

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 9:16 pm

go to a chevy dealer and get one for a chevy aveo, same engine if you have the 1.6 they should have them in stock