The thermostat is not opening. It's broke, defective, or backwards.

 

Ok, so I got into the ol' girl again today. I popped the thermostat housing off, and I think I MAY have found the issue. When I pulled the housing, the thermostat was stuck right to it. I had to yank and smack to get it off. I cleaned it a bit, put it in a pot of water, boiled, and it opened up. Granted it didn't really open until the water was actually boiling, but it opened. So, I have a new one, have tested it, it opens fine, and I used MUCH less sealant this time. Right now, I have only put sealant between the housing and gasket, and it is drying as we speak. Do I put sealant between the gasket and cylinder head too? Also, how do I get this air out of the system with the first start up? Im thinking pull the rad cap, fill, start, and fill as it is sucked in the cylinder head by the pump, then watch and fill when it reaches operating temp and the t-stat (hopefully) opens. Sound right?

 

...and to all of those who ask, no it was not in backwards LOL.

 

Good job Jeep man. I'll bet that bugger was defective.

 

Should I still go ahead and put a small amount of sealant between the gasket and cylinder head despite what happened last time?

 

Alrite, so I just finished up. The thermostat is brand new, and tested to work just fine. The gasket is sandwiched between sealant and t-stat housing and cylinder head. I only use many a 1/16" bead and then smeared it down with my finger so it was only maybe 1/32" thick or less, then wiped any excess from the sides. I put thread-lock on the bolts, tightened them down slowly in increments on each bolt so I didn't crack the housing. The t-stat was positioned with the jiggle-valve at 12 o'clock. All I am doing now is waiting for the sealer to dry and then I will start her up and top off her coolant.

 

I hope you dont snap them bolts off next time with that thread lock on them.

 

my advice to you would be : dont tell that certain friend when youre working on your jeep. do it by yourself. he breaks things. lol