Thermostat housing problems.

[Blazin]

Hey fellas, well my water pump went on me and with the help of this site I was able to do it myself, saving me about 500 bux. :cheers:
Heres were the problem lies, I figured I'd do my thermostat as well, took off both bolts, replaced thermo. and went to put back the bolts..... top one went in no problem, then the bottom one was a bit tight with some play left in it, so i tired to tighten it up a bit more and.....................snap goes the bolt.....arrrggg.
took off the housing to find a bit of the bold still sticking out, but now trying to get it out is being a bitch cus of the torque used to put it in.
Its soaking in wd40 right now, threw some vice grips on but the fookers not budging.
Any help or advice would be appreciated
Thanks in advance

[lostforawhile]

Hey fellas, well my water pump went on me and with the help of this site I was able to do it myself, saving me about 500 bux. :cheers:
Heres were the problem lies, I figured I'd do my thermostat as well, took off both bolts, replaced thermo. and went to put back the bolts..... top one went in no problem, then the bottom one was a bit tight with some play left in it, so i tired to tighten it up a bit more and.....................snap goes the bolt.....arrrggg.
took off the housing to find a bit of the bold still sticking out, but now trying to get it out is being a bitch cus of the torque used to put it in.
Its soaking in wd40 right now, threw some vice grips on but the fookers not budging.
Any help or advice would be appreciated
Thanks in advanceare you talking about sticking out of the head? ouch!! the best thing would be to heat it carefully with a propane torch,then work on it,i could get it out of the head,but it's just something i would have to do,hard to explain. heat is your best friend here now. just be careful not to warp anthing. it doesn't take much torque to put that bolt in,the gasket does the sealing,not how tight it is.

[Blazin]

its sticking out of the aluminum housing, the heat should expand the aluminum first, correct?
If I cant get it out, would it be worth it to take it in get it drilled out, and re tapped or head to the j/y and find a back housing unit and replace it?
I know about the torque of the nut but the housing was actually still moving so thats why I went to tighen it up more. but I think the bolt was 2 rusty that made it snap.
thanks for the idea there lost, wish me luck.

[lostforawhile]

its sticking out of the aluminum housing, the heat should expand the aluminum first, correct?
If I cant get it out, would it be worth it to take it in get it drilled out, and re tapped or head to the j/y and find a back housing unit and replace it?
I know about the torque of the nut but the housing was actually still moving so thats why I went to tighen it up more. but I think the bolt was 2 rusty that made it snap.
thanks for the idea there lost, wish me luck.i might have an extra housing around here somewhere,if i do i can probably send it to you,and i'll trade you,and just remove the bolt on that one for myself. i'm fixing to go get some sleep,been up all night and i'll have a look later. i know thers one here somewhere. you are talking about the part thethermostat goes in right? he part the water inlet cover attaches to? if you can take a pic

[Blazin]

figured screw the j/y . somked a phatty and realized if i get one from the j/y im still gona have to take it off anyway.... lol yep smokin the dubie makes me smart like homer..
so I took off the back housing (kind of a bitch)and will drill it out at work and re-tap it.
didnt look like there was much of a gasket between the back housing and the inlet. anyone know if there is one or will red gasket seal work?
trying to get pictures now but cameras acting up worse then the car.
thx for the offer again there lost but im determined to get this fooker.
kinda sick lookin in side the coolin system, dam rusty as a mo fo.

[lostforawhile]

yea theres a gasket at the head end,and an o ring thing for the thermostat.

[ahmad89]

I can sell you a thermostat housing that i cleaned and includes a new D ring gasket but im going to need the bleed bolt but you can use yours. What car do you have? model/year. I have a housing that fits an 89 dx carbed, i would have to ask if it would fit your car.

[Blazin]

thx ahmad, profile has my car info, but im gona try it myself.
Im kinda havin fun takin this all apart, just hope it goes back together with no leakies.

[russiankid]

I can sell you a thermostat housing that i cleaned and includes a new D ring gasket but im going to need the bleed bolt but you can use yours. What car do you have? model/year. I have a housing that fits an 89 dx carbed, i would have to ask if it would fit your car.
He has an EFI so it wont fit.

[blh1983]

I had this exact problem 2 weeks ago while replacing my thermostat. Only I ended up breaking both bolts exactly this same way. I got a pair of good clamping vice grip pliers and crimped it down as tight as I possibly could and I was able to remove both bolts. It took me about an hour to get the bolts out. Then I went to the junk yard and grabbed some bolts from as many honda's as I could; they were nice and gave them to me for free. But of course I grabbed them from newer honda's since they tend to be in better shape.

[ahmad89]

He has an EFI so it wont fit.
thx, well good luck with your housing, i need to change mine.

[labeledsk8r]

i know exactly what your problemis i think, i belive one bolt for the thermo houseing is longer then the other therefor the first one seems snug and the other is to long so it actully seems snug when its not tight, i had the same problem a while ago but luckly took it apart and notice one bolt is longer then the other, god luck on getting it fixed though

[2oodoor]

i know exactly what your problemis i think, i belive one bolt for the thermo houseing is longer then the other therefor the first one seems snug and the other is to long so it actully seems snug when its not tight, i had the same problem a while ago but luckly took it apart and notice one bolt is longer then the other, god luck on getting it fixed though
Exactley, pay attention to the lenghs of these little bolts throughout the engine, some of them look the same but arn't.
I would use a new pair of vise grips, or some with good "tread" on them, clamp them and work it back and forth a little to get it to move some then start working it out. PB blaster FTW

[LX-incredible]

i know exactly what your problemis i think, i belive one bolt for the thermo houseing is longer then the other therefor the first one seems snug and the other is to long so it actully seems snug when its not tight, i had the same problem a while ago but luckly took it apart and notice one bolt is longer then the other, god luck on getting it fixed though
The three that I've pulled apart had equal length bolts. Honda doesn't list these bolts, but the water pump to block bolts are exactly the same and usually in better condition.

[labeledsk8r]

The three that I've pulled apart had equal length bolts. Honda doesn't list these bolts, but the water pump to block bolts are exactly the same and usually in better condition.
yes i belive the water pump bolts are the same length as the shortest thermostat houseing bolt dont remember off hand though,

[StressSolutions]

I too had the problem, but my bolt broke while removing it. We drilled it and tapped it SAE so watch out next time!

[import racer]

whenever i take a bolt out i always put some anti-seize on it before i put it back in.just thought i would mention that.

[Blazin]

Took it to work and used a teeny tiny little pipe wrench that worked in about 10 seconds, phew.
.

.

yes i belive the water pump bolts are the same length as the shortest thermostat houseing bolt dont remember off hand though,
.
Just did the water pump on Friday and made sure to keep the bolts numbered, the top bolt is shorter then the rest of them.
wow nice to see im not the only one,