Help me.... I don't want to take it apart again.

For the love of God, why did you you feel the need to take out the radiator? I changed my stat last weekend in about 20mins. Remove fan and fan shroud, 4 bolts (3xM6, 1xM8), replace stat using new o-ring and rubber gasket, and it's all done. (Refilling and bleeding the cooling system afterwards naturally0. As for snapping off a bolt, do you own a torque wrench? If not, I think you'd be better off taking it to a decent mech. Seriously.

JB

Well, it probably has as much chance of fixing itself as I do of winning the lottery. On my 97 328, I had no problem replacing the T-housing by just removing the fan - not sure why yours would be so different.

As far as fixing it - have you torqued all the bolts evenly? If not, that MAY fix it. Not sure, but possibly running without the final bolt for awhile, there, could have damaged the gasket, because of the uneven pressure or it got pinched - again, don't know for sure. Only way to find out is to torque all bolts properly now and cross your fingers. If it doesn't work, you will need to replace the gasket.

Last question - do you have the plastic T-housing? Could it have cracked from the uneven torque when the bolt was missing? If you need to go in again, then you should replace with a metal T-housing - see BavAuto or Pelican Parts etc.

Best of Luck

Frank

Well, it is a metal houseing I got at Bavauto. I did not use a torque wrench.. ... I think I should have. One thing I did notice was that when I put the new t state in the black rubber seal made it hard to seat the T-stat, so made it did not seat right. Is there any web site or pictures of the bolts to take the fan off with out takeing the radiator off?

It's one big 32mm nut, not bolts. A sharp tap on the end of a long 32mm spanner in the *clockwise* direction (as it's a left-hand thread) is all that is needed to remove the fan.

JB

thanks that will make it a whole lot easier. Is there any trick to seating the T-stat in the right location before I tighten the nuts on the houseing?

Once you have removed the old O-ring 'holding' the stat in place, remove the old one and fit the new one (noting the correct orientation arrow if there is one). Then place new O-ring to 'hold' the new stat in place (a little silicone grease really helps here). fit new rubber gasket in housing and refit, torquing bolts appropriately. Refit hoses, fan and fan shroud. Refill and bleed system (With claimte control/heating on HOT with ignition on but engine NOT running initially). Screw up bleed screw when no more bubbles are present, fire up engine and warm up until new stat opens. Switch off, allow to cool, and top up coolant if required. Job done.

JB

Just to make sure... When I took the old T-stat out it looked like the oring went in then the T-state then the houseing. Is that wrong? Dose the T-satate go in then the oring then the houseing? If so I think I know why it is dripping. Thanks

Stat first, followed by O-ring, then cover (with new rubber gasket already fitted),

JB