morning all.
I have a suspect bad thermostat and a top rad hose that goes flat once the engine is cold.
The replacement has arrived and i plan to tackle it today.

Has anyone reading this replaced theirs?....i ask as the 2 bolts which hold the thermo housing to the block are quite small and rusty looking. I have a bad feeling at least one of them will snap when i try to remove them.

Has anybody had that happen?

I have just PB Blasted them and i'm now letting it soak in.

It looks like i'll need to remove the air box and the battery box to get to everything.

Any stories...good or bad welcomed :+)

I have ramps...extensions and universal joints in my tool arsenal.
The top bolt on the housing does not look like fun :+(

Any tips/tricks?

Thanks muchly

 

Ok..i have a tip for others attempting this...pay a tech to do it!

It took 45 mins to remove air box, battery box, thermostat housing and release all hoses.

About 10 mins to wiggle the hose and thermo out of the car.

about 45 mins to replace everything.

It's an ugly job to do..lol

To remove the thermo housing nuts i needed, 2x12" 3/8 extensions. A swivel joint (UJ). 13mm ratcheting cresent wrench with a flexible head

Once the upper thermo hsing nut was loose i was able to access it from above the engine using the ratcheting cresent wrench with its head flexed back 90 degrees (after removing air box)

I did not "drain" the coolant, i just detached the hose from under the thermo housing and let gravity do the rest...once the flow had stopped i knew i would not encounter any more coolant when removing the housing and upper hose.

The 2 nuts holding the housing to the block are 13mm, on the lower one, the whole stud came out of the block, on the upper, just the nut came off. It would have been easier if the stud came out of the top also...would have been more room to remove the housing.

A small wire brush is handy to clean the surface of the block where the thermo housing attaches..my surface was quite cruddy...a leak would have happened soon if i had not replaced it.

A heavy pipe over the ratchet handle gave me enough torque to loosen the thermo housing nuts...i recommend using PB Blaster and let it soak in for an hour.

Anyway...job done...a pig, but do-able.

 

Lol, it's not a fun job at all! I agree. Have you seen this post? I think pics start showing on pg. 2

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...me-part-59142/

 

Here is a pic of the old thermostat housing. You can see a leak would have occurred sooner or later.

 

Patterson...no i did not see that post beforehand. Regarding that post, my pipe came with that bracket already installed.
How long did the job take you?
Looks like we saved a bucket load o cash :+)

 

Your pipe came with the bracket already assembled to the flange? I was stumped for a bit but then examined the new flange and decided it must be strong enough to hold. I could not get the original C-plate to fit back in place.

The job took me about 5 hours, but I wasn't in a rush; and like I said in the other thread, it was a knuckle scraper for sure! But, when done with care, you get absolutely no leaks. The replacement part is well designed.

I'm all for saving the Benjamins too! and, I like getting to know the car bc I plan to keep it til the wheels fall off In your pic of the old thermostat hsg, looks like the green coolant was exceeding the gasket quite a bit. How many miles on your X?

PS. the swivel socket attachment tool is a must for this job! ....A pig of a job for sure.

 

yes, the new C plate was already attached. After seeing the housing i'm amazed it wasn't already leaking.
130,000 miles, i bought it last year with 103000

I think it would not be possible without the swivel bit

 

tackling this project tommorow, my crack along the seam of the "T" pipe

 

Job done, easier than I thought, luckily none of the bolts were seized up.

 

Hmm I am having the same leak and the mechanic shop wants 400.00 to do it, I've taken off my intake manifold and replaced my starter before, should i attempt this job myself, tools required to do the job?

 

Anyone?

 

Its a pain in the *** but not difficult. You should be able to do it

 

No special tools from what i remember.... I think 3/8 drive sockets, longer extensions and a swivel joint socket were needed to get to the 3 bolts holding the thermostat housing.
There is a clip holding the 2 pieces of pipe together. I think removing the clip and separating the pipes before removal would make removal easier.(i did not do that)

 

Ok cool yeah I want to try and do the gasket only if I can..did you still have to take the hole upper hose off to do that?

 

Without removing the hose and cleaning both mating surfaces, you will more than likely leak

 

Ok cool well ill have to look into doing this job myself then

 

I just got done doing this 5 days ago...its not difficult once I understood how slanted the upper 13mm bolt was...lol I thought it was stripped but the issue was is that I wasnt going down far enough at an angle...overall its a pretty easy job...to be honest getting the old one off was the longest part...putting the new one on was super easy...

 

I also would advise replacing the whole entire thing...especially if there is a leak...nothing like replacing a thermostat and coming to find out it was the 'T' connector or the gasket that mounts to the engine...cost me $130 shipped for jagbits...expensive but worth it

 

Yeah, I know for sure it's the gasket that's attached to the engine it's it a drip and the bolts are full of antifreeze.

 

Ya thats the way mine was and it appeared I had two leaks, a leak that was patched on the T connected and the gasket itself...so definitely glad I replaced the whole assembly