Is there only supposed to be an O Ring to seal the thermostat gasket? or is there 2 different rubber seals?

Thanks

Jeff

One rubber and one fiber. Get them both.

ok well I dont have a fiber listed at my local parts store...only the O ring and when I did pull the thermostat housing today there was an oddly shaped rubber seal in the bottom that had looked like it was forced in causeing a leak.......Could there just be the Oring?

Jeff, long time no talk man!

The tstat housing has a rubber O-Ring.. yes. This is required to seal the housing to the intake. Without this it will leak.. BAD. There is also a gasket between the tstat and the housing. This is not on all Bonnevilles. It has been reported that this causes a lot of 'blow-by' and provides only minimal heat in the winter. That seal should NOT look like it was forced in there. It fits nice and snug, minus the tstat. Now, I am going to bet that when you pulled the housing, the tstat was attached to the housing, right? Nice and firm, correct? And when you say it was forced in there, that when you go to put the [new] tstat back in there, it doesn't fit, correct? That'* because the tstat does NOT go on the housing. It rests in the intake. You are probably wondering how the tstat came out attached to the housing? Well, that'* a good question. Honestly I do not know. However, what I do know is that it does seal the tstat and that second gasket when the housing is placed on the intake.

Here comes the common issue on our cars. The oring you have.. is it tight on the housing? Let me guess, it isn't, right? Well, you WILL have a leak, even if you do manage to get it on there. You must replace that oring with one that fits TIGHT around the housing. Just take the housing with you to the LHS [local hardware store], and test fit the oring. Also check the diameter of it, so you can have an approximate value to look for. This is crucial to a leak free setup.. I ran into this problem, and was completely stumped for quite some time on it.


-justin

well actually the Tstat stayed in the bottom part...the rubber thing that was a mystery to me seemed to be jammed in between the top of the tstat and the lil 90 elbow. it was mangled quite badly. to make a long story short I didnt put it back in. The ORing fits tight
and the housing went back in tight.........I ran the car and reved the engine up a few times with no leak or blow by as you called it as I was getting before. so I am thinking that other rubber piece was not supposed to be there?

or is it supposed to be there?

and yes it has been a long time...I dont see ya on msn opensourceguy :P

It does not need to be there, however in the winter, you may notice decreased heat. The 'blow-by' I was referring to is not visible, but blow-by passed the tstat before it opens. If you cannot get that second gasket to fit, then just leave it off. You'll be alright, until winter at least.


-justin

I will probably let it be......and as far as heat goes........it blows more than enough heat I think anyways.......it does seem however that the 90 degree elbow fits down most of the way. the gap must be very minimal between the elbow and the top of the tstat

and actually the parts store only has the ORing listed.....and you got to remember I am in canada.......we dont always have the same manufacturers of stuff :P

thanks guys

Yep, I couldn't get the lower gasket at Autozone, never went to any other places though. Don't really need it anyways. Mine is in good condition.


-justin