Gasket sealant/dressing for t-stat, yes or no

[babyivan]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Honestly the main reason is the High Tack is kind of messy stuff. I was curious about the alternatives. Since I already got the Indian Head, I'll see how it does.

As long as you're using something, then I think you will be fine. As long as you are not put it on dry is the main point I think.
I personally prefer High Tack, but the Indian Head stuff will do the trick.

On my buick 3.8 sfi (same like the Grand National, just no turbo), it has the weirdest set up.
There is no neck with a flat mounting surface, the RAD hose goes onto a cylinder that has an o-ring around it and it gets shoved into the engine with a holding bracket that screws in. The holding bracket is a separate piece that goes between a bulge on the cylinder and the RAD hose.

BIZARRE! But it works, no leaks.
When I did the t-stat, I was sure that there's no way it would seal right, but somehow it does

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
Wouldn't using only Permatex High Tack glue the two intimately mating aluminum surfaces together, making it impossible to take apart the next time? If you want to do away with paper gaskets I think rtv would be a better choice for this application.

You don't want to use high tack on two machined aluminium mating surfaces like a Subaru oil pump for example for that job a anaerobic sealer is recommended an will out perform RTV by a long shot.

 

[Scott_Tucker]

I use Gaskacinch myself, but the high tack works OK too (and the Indian head). DO NOT use RTV, it is too slippery and will promote leaks. I can't tell you how many thermostat housings I've seen leaking from RTV. If someone says they've used it any 'never had it leak' just means they got lucky.

 

[babyivan]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
Wouldn't using only Permatex High Tack glue the two intimately mating aluminum surfaces together, making it impossible to take apart the next time?

haha, NO!
It's not a glue at all, let alone some type of alien super glue that would prevent you from pulling the neck off of the engine.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Honestly the main reason is the High Tack is kind of messy stuff. I was curious about the alternatives. Since I already got the Indian Head, I'll see how it does. The t-stat on this truck is an easy job so I don't mind experimenting with different sealants/shellacs as long as they are safe to use.

Some cooling system goodness...

The trick to using Indian Head properly is putting a very thin coat on, don't put big gob of on. Squeeze the dauber off on the bottle neck so the excess goes back in the bottle before applying it.

 

[01rangerxl]

Thanks for the tip...the bottle says to allow it to dry before assembling the parts. How much time do you give it? It says it contains isopropyl alcohol, so I assume it dries pretty fast. I'm not under any kind of time pressure to get it done, just wondering what the ideal dry time is for it.

 

[Trav]

Put on thin 15-20 min is fine. Coat both sides of the gasket first and put it aside on a nail.
If its a metal water neck put a very thin coat around it also before putting the hose on especially if it has the lousy worm drive clamps.

 

[01rangerxl]

Thanks...will do. The neck is metal, and it does have a lousy worm drive clamp on it since I lost one of the OE spring clamps last time. I need to grab some of those clamps next time I am in Pull-A-Part. I do not trust the worm clamps, especially when it gets cold outside.

 

[babyivan]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Thanks...will do. The neck is metal, and it does have a lousy worm drive clamp on it since I lost one of the OE spring clamps last time. I need to grab some of those clamps next time I am in Pull-A-Part. I do not trust the worm clamps, especially when it gets cold outside.
worm clamps are garbage!

 

[01rangerxl]

And I don't know why you still have to go to either the dealer or junkyard to get proper sized spring clamps (not the tiny ones for mowers and such). I guess people just think the worm clamps are easier to deal with even though they are pretty bad at what they are supposed to do.

 

[01rangerxl]

Update...had to do this again, but due to the water neck I think. I think what I did this time will have this [censored] thing sealed off for a long time, I hope anyway.

I started to notice dried coolant around the water neck back in November or December when it first started to get what we call cold here. At first I was thinking I had somehow botched the gasket install, but the coolant trail started above the gasket. Everything would dry up and just leave white stains when the engine got warm. I caught the leak in action one morning by watching the area immediately after starting the truck. I saw a thin stream of coolant dribble down from the hose, then spread out around the base of the water neck.

The leak was minor, so I put off fixing it because it was cold and I was being lazy, but I started amassing parts. It was starting to make a mess though because the coolant would run down on to the harmonic balancer, then get slung everywhere. It was nice out today and I had everything I needed, so I decided to go ahead and deal with it.

I remembered there was a weird pitted area on the hose end of the water neck, so I immediately suspected this since the hose looked/felt like it was still in great shape. I did put Indian Head on this connection last time, but apparently it wasn't enough to seal the pitted area once temps dropped. I got a new Motorcraft water neck, new Motorcraft upper hose with OE style constant tension clamps glued on to it (looks like an assembly line piece, clamps were locked in the open position by a tab), and this time a Felpro PermaDryPlus composite gasket. I would have used one last time, but did not know they were available for my application. The PermaDryPlus has a plastic frame with a silicone gasket bonded to it. It is several times thicker than the paper gaskets, and doesn't require any sealant. I really like this because cleaning off the old paper gasket is by far the worst part of this job.

I also like that I am now back to brand new OE constant tension clamps instead of the worm drive clamps. The Motorcraft hose with the clamps glued on is awesome...just slide the hose in place, then pop the tabs loose with a flat screwdriver.

So far, so good. Put about 40 miles on the truck post repair and everything is totally dry. I'll check for leaks first thing in the morning.

For people with difficult to access or leaky paper gasket water necks, I would strongly suggest looking into a Felpro PermaDryPlus if available. It's 3-5x the cost of a paper gasket for my app (about $9), but it's a very stout looking gasket, and no sealants and no mess are nice. To me, it's well worth a few bucks more. I feel much more confident with the repair this time...all new parts, correct clamps, and a beefy gasket will do the trick I hope.

 

[GaleHawkins]

That looks like a very good gasket. I do not like to use anything that would have to be scrapped off.

 

[Trav]

Good looking gasket! I have to change a leaking screw clamp on a car this week also.
I wish they would take these worm drive clamps of the market.

 

[Merkava_4]

If it's a paper gasket exposed to water or oil, I'll coat both sides of the gasket with Permatex 2B.