I just bought my thermostat and thermostat housing yesterday for my 91 XJ and want to install it myself to save some cash from the mechanic. The housing came with a gasket, however the side hole of the gasket seems smaller or off set of the housings.. pic below prob better explains..







Plus it seems the gasket is a little outside the edge of the housing at the top.. is this normal? Should I just trim up the gasket?

When I got everything at A/Z the cashier also told me to get this..



Do I put a little bit of this on each side of the gasket? Do I put any on the bolts? And is it safe to put this around the temp sensor that plugs into the housing?

Thanks in advance for all help.

 

permatex is good stuff. as to the gasket, i've never had to replace mine so others will respond on the how to of it - i would imagine you just need to trim it so the passages are not blocked by the gasket, and for the sealant should be just a thin bead around the edge of the water inlet. not on the bolts, though. wait and see what others say...

 

I put a thin coating on both sides and you will be fine with that gasket.They allways stick out a little.If you want to trim it thats ok too.Oh,and don't put any on the bolts.

 

I would make sure the inside holes are the same and then trim the outside. I put a little sealent on the housing and the head. Make sure you tighten the bolts evenly.

 

i agree just slap it on a little rtv both sides leave the bolts they would be hellish to remove if you needed to

 

trimming were the gasket doesn't line up on the port is ok. like it has been said thin bead on housing. then put the gasket on the housing. put a thin bead on the head and mate them together. finger tighten the bolts down at first. so that you can be sure that its flat on the head and not siting **** eyed. then tighten down, but be careful not to over tighten them as the flange were the bolts go in can crack easily if over tightened

 

Thank you all. But what about the temp sensor? Do I put any on that or use a different sealer? Says it's sensor safe but wouldnt it just make it a PITA to remove later?

 

I wouldn't put any around the sensor

 

So just screw the sensor right back in?

 

Should be fine just to screw it back in. If you feel you need something there, get some thread sealent. I use some on my IAT (intake air temp) sensor when I relocated it to the airbox.

 

AWESOME! Thanks for everyones help in clearing this up for me. Much appreciated. If I may ask one more thing and then leave everyone alone, the sensor that goes to the temp gauge, where is it and what is it called? I think my temp guage is going on the fritz, but I cant find the sender or w/e it is to replace. Thanks.

 

I found this at http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/...BurpAirMod.htm
it shows where the sensor is, i took the easy way and just posted the whole thing, hope it helps.



This is the common engine coolant 'burp' point. By removing this Coolant Temperature Sending Unit, located at the rear of your head on driver's side and parking with the nose downhill you can bleed trapped air from the coolant system. It's a minor inconvenience but one you don't want to try if you have the engine running... the pressure will shoot this sucker to the moon and spray anti-freeze everywhere.
.
NOTE!: This is NOT the Coolant Temperature Sensor!
This is the temperature sending unit for the temperature guage or idiot light. It is often removed to 'burp' air from the engine coolant.

 

I cannot thank you enough. I thank everyone who helped me with these issues. Now I can get back on track and finally slap this sucker on!

 

When I purchased my t-stat and gasket from Auto Zone the gasket was a Felpro and fit perfectly. Also the gasket did not need any sealant as it had a sealant applied to it. If your gasket did not have sealant already on it you should use a sealant!

 

Yeah, I wanted the buy the Felpro gasket, however they were out and the housing came with its own, just not adhesed or anything. Gotta trim it up. What is the technical term for the Temperature Sending Unit to the gauge? I am looking everywhere and it tells me there is no such thing.