360 - Thermostat housing whoopsie | FerrariChat

360 Thermostat housing whoopsie

Discussion in '360/430' started by Sundayjumper, Aug 15, 2023.

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  1. Sundayjumper

    Sundayjumper Karting

    Jun 19, 2019
    102
    Berkshire
    Full Name:
    Steve
    Things are not going so smoothly. I felt the car needed a new thermostat, so I bought one last week. I took the car to work yesterday and a steady cruise down the motorway highlighted that the old one was definitely borked. Temperature gauge only getting to 150-ish F. Turning the heater temp from min to max made near enough no difference to the air coming out the vents. So yesterday evening, it was out with the tools :)

    Engine access hatch accessed:

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    Old thermostat out. You can see daylight through it when it is supposed to be closed !!

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    But then it started to go wrong. One of the bolts securing the thermostat housing was reluctant to go back in. I persevered and used a bit more force than should be needed, it didn’t feel cross threaded, I know what cross threaded feels like ! But about halfway down I decided enough and backed it right out to have another look. It has party pulled the insert out:


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    Dammit.

    These cars are actually pretty well engineered. Other cars I’ve had, this would simply be a thread in to the aluminium. Here there are factory fitted helicoils. So I think a bit of galvanic corrosion has squeezed everything and it just happened to grip the bolt more than the housing. But still. Dammit..

    There’s no space to work on it in situ so I think I’m going to have to remove the whole water pump housing now.
     
    collegeboy likes this.
  2. mike32

    mike32 F1 Veteran

    May 13, 2016
    5,961
    Isle of man- uk
    You should be able to pick the helicoil out with a pair of needle nose pliers, then get a helicoil kit to suit , this will clean out the thread in the housing and refit a new one. If corroded then fit the new coil in retainer fluid.
    Also buy some draper picks to help lever it out
     
  3. Sundayjumper

    Sundayjumper Karting

    Jun 19, 2019
    102
    Berkshire
    Full Name:
    Steve
    Is that possible in-situ ? I'll give it a try but it looked pretty tight or access.
     
  4. vrsurgeon

    vrsurgeon F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 13, 2009
    16,527
    Charleston, SC
    Full Name:
    Curt
    My thermostat replacement procedure started with me trying to loosen the bolts, but then I looked in my coolant tank and saw brownishness on the bottom and turned into a heat exchanger replacement project. It's so much easier to do from the top. Intake plenum is easy to remvoe. Just get a flexible adapter with a socket extension and it is removed in no time. The brake booster like can be a bear at the front of the engine but you'll have it out in a few hours first time.

    Agree though.. the engine hatch isn't quite the room to work that we might like.
     
  5. Sundayjumper

    Sundayjumper Karting

    Jun 19, 2019
    102
    Berkshire
    Full Name:
    Steve
    The engine hatch was fine to get the thermostat out, I don't fancy disturbing the plenums. Plus you must have much longer arms than I do if you can reach the thermostat from outside the car !!

    Back to the helicoil question, I've ordered one of these. Looks like it'll work in a restricted space. I don't need to drill it out, I just need to chase the threads and put a new insert in, these tools will work with a 1/4" socket on them.

    https://www.voelkel-shop.com/en/v-coil-rapid-thread-repair-kits-6-x-1-0-1-5d-volkel-04310-m6.html


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  6. mike32

    mike32 F1 Veteran

    May 13, 2016
    5,961
    Isle of man- uk
    That is a good make, they also do great taps and dies. German made
     
  7. Sundayjumper

    Sundayjumper Karting

    Jun 19, 2019
    102
    Berkshire
    Full Name:
    Steve
    I can now close this out, thankfully :)

    It didn’t turn out too difficult in the end apart from access being a bit awkward. A stud remover was adequate to grab the old coil and wind it out. The helicoil kit worked perfectly. I wasn’t planning on using the drill from the kit but the tap wasn’t initially keen to go in and gently clearing through with the drill helped. The new coil wound in easily just using my fingers.

    Thumbs up to V-Coil ! Seems to be decent kit.

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    Here's my tool tip for the thermostat housing bolts. A long hex bit, a 1/4" ratchet, and some tape around the end to stop it falling out. This allows you to move the ratchet up/down to wherever there's clearance to swing it around.

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    So then we had the fun of bleeding the cooling system. Long story but the takeaway is this - do not engage the "STOP" button on the heater controls. It doesn't just stop the a/c compressor, it also stops the heat, and you simply get ambient air regardless of the setting on the dial. Whoever thought that was a good idea owes me two hours of my life that I spent trying to get hot air out of the heater. I think the system had actually bled itself.

    So all fine now. The engine sits at ~175 normally and creeps up to ~200 when moving slowly or stopped. Before it was dropping almost right down to 140 when moving.
     
    EastMemphis likes this.

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