rebuilding external tstat...
 

ok, my engine oil temps, mixed with the fact that i can touch the oil cooler lines has me worried. with my math (bad) i am looking at $150 worth of parts to change out my tstat's guts. keep the housing and the two caps. all else gets changed. is it tricky? how the hell do you get the caps off? does the tstat have to come out onto the workbench? i dont mind the money issue too much if it delays or prevents any pulled studs off my stock 2.7. what gets the caps off? looks like it is slotted for some type of giant screwdriver? no giants or ogres in my neighborhood so i will have to rely on human sized tools. haha. oh yea, i bought the parts off of a donor car that was total in a car fire. maybe the heat wrecked the tstat....should i just get a new unit? $330 from PP.

cliff

Cliff-
I think I would just go with a whole new T-stat. I'd be a little nervous that things would go wrong on the rebuild and a long trail of oil would be streaming out behind my car. However, before you buy parts to rebuild or a new T-stat, why don't you try bench testing your current one in a bucket of really hot water. Who knows, maybe you can easily fix it.

there you are JP911! your the one that gave me the braves to try this! errrrr! just kidding! i think if i am going to go through the hell of taking it out. i may just try to rebuild or get a new one. i am going to make a GD mess! damn, remember i suspected it? the guys at partsheaven that sold me the unit, suggested that the hotter weather coming up would definately prove if it was working or not. maybe i will call them and see if they will back up their goods. lets see if anyone that has rebuilt their chimes in.

cliff

I put a new insert in mine last year when I lost flow to the front coolers and it failed again at my last time trial at WSIR. I think the aluminum body can get scored inside the cylinder or something and prevent the thermostat insert from opening (it gets jammed or something instead of the spring pushing it open?)

I bought a whole new assembly to put in now. More expensive, but it cost me a day at the track already.

TT

I thought my SC was running real hot, until I put in a new guage & sender. These things just seem to go bad sometimes.

I rebuilt mine a couple of years ago with parts bought from our host. The car has gone about 20k summer miles and no problems. I rebuilt mine while still on the car. My advice is to remove it to a work bench. The only tough part is taking the caps off, but they will come off.
Tom

Kit to rebuild mine was about $50. Did it on the car. Just have to be careful when removing cap as not to damage it. had to use a large monkey wrench..like a plumber.

The caps are the hardest. I had mine on a bench....even made a special tool that fitted in the slot. Heated, cooled, spat at, shouted at, sneaked up on, even swore at them. Would not move. In the end I ended up with a stilson spanner and a 4 foot extension bar. The force needed to remove this was incredible. Made a bit of a mess with the caps as well.

How do guys manage this in car?

Guess all are not so tight. Maybe someone used sone type antisieze material in the past.

A few months ago, Cliff, you barely knew which end of the car contained the engine. Now you're planning a Tstat rebuild. What's next? Welding and regrinding MFI space cams?

Hey, if your front cooler lines are staying cold, then fine. but if they're warm or hot, then perhaps your Tstat is not broken. You say you can touch it, but does that mean it's broken?

I changed an oil line to this unit once, and struggled with getting the line uncoupled there. That thing heat cycles mercilessly, in a bad-weather environment. Plus, it is aluminum, with steel oil line fittings - potential for electrolysis. I recommend using HEAT, and I mean HEAT. Wedge blocks of wood between the Tstat and the car body to keep it from twisting during removal of the lines. If you're thinking it is broken, and you're going to try to rebuild it, then remove and disassemble first. Buy parts later. Good luck.

Hand held pyrometers.....they are a good thing to have to confirm temp readings. Saves dealing with less than accurate thermostats and gauges....

Apologies Cliff! But trust me when I say that the extra cooling makes driving in the warmer months a whole lot less stressful. The idea of adding heat to the T-stat while on the car in order to test it sounds like a good one. Just make sure that there is nothing flammable on or near the T-stat! Would it improve my standing with you if I made a trip up to the Bay Area to be the one who sacrifices all the skin on the T-stat removal?
-Jon

P.S. You're not a large or dangerous man...are you?

I think that remaining oil in T area will bleed off a heat gun application.

I wouldn't rebuild the T until I confirmed it was stuck closed.

If you don't fave a fender cooler ?
It's a brainless install.

JP911, you are a funny dude. naw, i got it from here. btw, i think your suggestions on moving the horns without buying the relocation kit is killer. i may be imagining things, but my horn is louder than my friends because it aimed everything forward. i am deadly to those schithead baddrivers! and you're right, it is getting hot in cali! phew! piece of mind = priceless.

superman, i am thinking exactly like you are thinking. i dont want everything to sit there. i need to strike while the oil is hot, and get to those fittings before everything tightens up. the salvage yard i picked everything up at is covering the new tstat so i am going to err on the side of caution and stick the new one in. yay.