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Need Help ASAP! Can't get thermostat housing on all the way...

VisualOddity

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Austin TX
Vehicle/Owner Info:
I'm in Elgin/Austin TX...
She is a 1990 Jeep Cherokee Limited 4x4 w/ the 4.0 I6 & auto...


Ok, so here's this issue (Please read it all)...

To get this out of the way: I cleaned off the gasket very well and have gone through a few of them now, and the thermostat isn't backwards or sliding out of place... ;)

I replaced the water pump, and of course, I took the thermostat housing off. Well, it won't go back on. It goes on as far as fitting but doesn't tighten down. When I took it off, I noticed that whoever did it before me put some washers on the end of the top bolt that holds the thermostat on/goes into the head. Yea, I thought that was weird too! Anyway, water pump replacement done, I went to put it back on, and while the bottom bolt is fine, the top is doing so well. I tried with the washers and it wouldn't even catch. I even dropped from 3 washers to one, and same. So I did it without them, and it would catch, but not go all the way in. So, without washers, it won't tighten bown all the way, but with even the smallest one washer, it won't catch. Uhg! So, I went digging in the hole. Well, I dug out about 1/8 inch of old, dried silicone from the back of the hole. Yay! Well, not so much. Now it tightens in further, but just as it's getting tight/giving resistance while tightening, and well before the it actually comes close to sealing the thermo/head gap, it goes loose and you can almost pull the bolt back out w/out even turning it. I've cleaned off the bolt well and only helped a tad. I dunno, I'd just give up, but thats not my style...

Now the problem:
I REALLY need this running by Monday (been down 3-4 weeks and I have to drive her next week) :(... A friend at work let me borrow the tools I've been using, but he has a Jeep too, and needed the tools, so I took em back this morning. So, I don't have any tools here right now, plus I'm not sure where to go w/ it. That, and if the hole needs to be recoiled or something, I have no idea how to do that, never had the pleasure lol...

1st Question: Anyone have any idea's?
2nd Question: Anyone have a small amount of extra time this weekend and wanna help me out with it? Two sets of hands are always better than one, especially when one of those sets have never seen an issue like this before...

Thanks a ton for any idea's, help, ect... I really appreciate it.
 
it sounds like you need to retap it cause it is striped if you can pull the bolt out with out unscrewing it. and if it is tightening but is really hard it is cross threaded and needs to be retaped. To fix it you may have to go to a biger bolt now that it is so striped but go down to the local autoparts store if you can and tell them what its doing they may have a tap set you can barrow or give you some more options on what you can do.
 
The issue with the washers makes me wonder if a previous owner has either replaced the original bolt with one that is longer/wrong thread, or maybe even broke the tip of the old one in the hole.
 
My 90' had two diff. bolt lengths. Think the short one was on the bottom and the long on top...of course. I had them switched at first and remember that one of them wouldn't catch, then I noticed the diff. lengths, swapped the around and all was well again.
 
If that bolt hole is indeed stripped (which it sounds like), go to the auto parts store and pick up a "Heli-Coil" kit for that bolt size. Take the bolt with you. This kit will repair the threads if you don't want to re-tap and use a larger bolt.

www.helicoil.com
 
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