92 S10 leaking coolant by thermostat

Mine was leaking on the back corner

A 2-3 hour job, just mark everything when you take it off, keep the nuts and bolts you take off in the same holes, and watch how the throttle cable brackets come apart. Would help if you have a grinder with a wire wheel to clean up threads and the manifold surfaces, but a wire brush and some mechanics sanding strips will work just as good...Put a drop or two of oil on the cleaned bolt threads ....get all the old gasket off the contact surfaces and sand them clean, washing off any oil with carb spray..(I like Berryman's B-12 Chemtool) Put a good bead of sillycone on the front and back engine contact surface, and I'd even put a bead around the water inlets holes on both sides of the manifold gaskets....Use care on the gas line nuts and threads, (no stripping allowed)

Lastly crawl up on top of the engine for the best possible aim when you drop the manifold back on. Nice if you have a couple of line-up punches, but two Philips screw drivers will work to help guide you to the perfect "drop zone"

the book should tell you a pattern to put the bolts back on and the torque..but if you don't have a torque wrench , just get em all goog n snug

did I miss anything?

Did you miss anything? When will you be here? I plan on starting at 10am. Can you get here in time? :)

It shows 35 pounds of torque and does show the pattern. It says when putting on the bead of calk on the front and back, to go up the side ofthe head 1/4 inch on all four corners to help hold the gaskets inplace and seal the ends.

Will I need to time it again or will it be close enough? I have everything but a timing light.

Lannie

I forgot about removing the dist and the oil pressure sending unit--it's in the way, I think

Mark the wires (of course) and where the rotor points towards with some white-out, tape, or paint (fingernail polish works good too) and then mark exactlly where the dist base is in relationship to the engine with something that will scratch metal...a punch, a knife blade,

When you pull the dist out the rotor will move as much as 30-40 degrees. Remeber that when you replace it or you're in deep shit.

E-mail if you need any info tomorrow.. I'm in Calif so unless you close by........

I'm in Iowa. :) 14 inches of snow and 8 degrees and no heater in the garage yet. :) It will be fun.

The book shows in detail how to mark the distributor to keep it in time. Thanks for all the help!

Lannie

I'd like to correct a couple of things. Torque specs are for DRY threads unless otherwise specified. Oil will increase the torque applied. If you don't have a torque wrench, borrow or buy one. H

I'm going to buy one when I get the gaskets and supplies. Which are better, the ones that have a dial and click or theones with the little needle?

I like the adjustable, click type for most things. Preferably with a ratchet head. Just remember to zero it when you're finished and NEVER use it for a breaker bar. H

the beam type torque wrench are alot more accurate than the click type. they are also alot cheaper and never need adjustment. clickers are alot easier to use in the moderate torque ranges (30lbsft-200lbsft). when you get down to the inch-pounds, I'd use nothing BUT a beam type, as I've stripped out holes when the "click" of the clicker wasn't strong enough to be audible OR tactile.

if you buy a clicker, spend no less than $150 and get it checked every few years (or sooner, depending on the frequency of use).

HTH, Bret

I always clean up and oil head bolts and washers B4 torqueing them....Is there another way to do it? And do the same, when needed, in other applications

Of course. There are many ways to do it. Some right and some wrong. I NEVER reuse head bolts unless new ones cannot be found.

Torque values given are always dry values unless otherwise specified. Don't take my word for it. Find an SAE manual and check it out for yourself. H

An accurate torque wrench is just that, whether it be beam or clicker type. My Craftsman 3/8 dr.clicker is still accurate after 20 years of intermittent use. I think I paid about $40 for it.

they are also alot cheaper and never need adjustment. clickers

Agreed. My inch pound wrench is beam type with an led and beeper that sounds when the value is reached because I often can't get in position to see the gauge.

If you use it professionally, spend the big bucks. The average shade tree mechanic can spend much less and still get a good wrench. H

Ihave the intake off and everything cleaned up. The water jacket on piston number 1 of the intake is pitted. It's about 1/8" deep. I called a few used parts places and all three of them said to just put sealer around the water jackets on the head, then put the gasket down and put more on the intake and it will seal up.

None of them have any used intakes anyway. What's your thoughts?

Lannie

Use some RTV silly-cone to fill the pits and hope it works.....Which you probably have already done

if you read the fine print on clickers, you'll see something to the effect: accurate to +/- 3% clockwise in the upper 80% of operating range. you'll also see "gauranteed accurate for 1 year" or so. clickers *DO* need readjustment. for example. I am an iron worker by trade. the bolts we use have to be tightened by one of 4 methods to meed AISC requirements. the LEAST recommended method is by using a torque wrench. to meet the requirements, the torque wrenches have to be calibrated DAILY. naturally we don't use that method, but I digress.

$150 isn't big bucks for a torque wrench. Snap-On ones go for about $600. the bare minumum clicker I would buy would be the Craftsman Microtork line at sears... they go for about 70 bucks. I have one of those "parts store" $40 torque wrenches.... biggest piece of crap I ever owned.

-Bret

It's back on and oil changed. I think I will wait overnight to fill it with coolant and let the RTV cure. I'm nervous about the pit, but others seem to be confident in filling them with RTV.

Thanks for all your advice.

It wasn't near as hard as I thought. Took me 5 hours total.

Lannie I hope your leakage problems are over, but if the leak returns because of the pits in the casting, Google for Devcon Titanium Putty. We use it successfully for just the problem you describe on new diesel engines. H

DONE!!! Thanks for the help everyone gave.

When I was done it leaked like crazy at the thermostat. What an idiot, after five hours of working on it, I forgot to clean the last part back on!!!

Fired it up and it knocked and pinged. Apparently I didn't mark the distributor very well. 18 degrees off! :)

She's running great now. Hope to get past the 300K mark. Just 8K to go.

Woke up in the middle of the night and remembered something about the timing situation that I didn't mention. Figured by marking the dist you wouldn't need to retime it Did you first unhook the brown wire just under the carpet below the glovebox? That puts the timing into base mode and by-passes the ECM If you didn't, that would explain the timing being off so far ..ken

No I didn't. The Chilton's manual never stated to do that so I didn't. I did have to turn the dist about 45 degrees farther then it was previously. Been working good so far.

Lannie