Thermostat Housing Torque 2003 3.9L V8

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Rogyates

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Two weeks ago I drove the car back from Arizona (1,850 miles). I feel fortunate to have made it without incident. Every morning for the past two weeks I've noticed a faint, sweet scent of burning anti-freeze. No leak was visible. This morning, about 15 minutes into my morning commute I see clouds of smoke coming out the back. Pulled over, raised the hood and there is steam coming from the front of the engine. Also the thermostat area is wet. Took the cap off the Degas(?) tank to relieve pressure and made it back home (about 12 miles)....never over heated. Tonight I went out to try to find the leak. I barely moved one of the smaller hoses coming out of the top of the thermostat housing and the fitting snapped off without any effort. Anyway, I ordered a new Dorman thermostat housing, Motorcraft thermostat and serpentine belt (the original has 126,000 miles on it and is now contaminated with anti-freeze). Anyone know the torque spec on the thermostat housing bolts? Also any other words of advice would be appreciated as I see from reading this forum that cooling issues are very common on this car.
Thank You.
 
Words of advice:
Stay away from Dorman for cooling parts.
You are in for a world of hurt those are the only parts that you ordered. There's a good chance that the crossover tube and the water outlet pipe will crumble when you go to replace the thermostat. If they don't then you'll be replacing them, one by one, for the next few months.

Bolt torque is 10Nm.

Here's the other parts you need to replace.
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/showthread.php?91092-GenII-LS8-Cooling-System-Overhaul
 
I remember when one of the ends broke off of my crossover tube... the thermostat housing crumbled to peices when taking it apart to replace the other part... then after waiting for the housing and getting it all back together, the upper radiator hose broke and sprang a leak. then I wised up and replaced most of everything else before putting it all back together.
 
Thanks for the reply. I spent 30 years in the automotive aftermarket (JC Whitney). Dorman has the complete 3-pc housing. The OE replacement parts can't be very good if they fail so quickly. The LS has 126,000 miles on it. The way things are breaking down on a regular basis, coupled with the difficulty and expense of finding replacement parts, I'm hoping to just get it running and sell it. This car was over $36,000 when new...now worth practically nothing (even with low mileage).
 
10 years and 126,000 miles is quickly? If you think that's quick wait til you see how long the Dorman lasts. You'll be lucky to get 6 months out of Dorman parts on this car.
 
There is a junk yard 4-miles from my home and the nearest Ford dealer is 9-miles away. I'm hoping to make it to the dealer ($1,000 trade vs $250 at the boneyard). On a side note, I had a relative who spent his entire career at Motorola. In 2002/03 he was sent to England to work on getting the Jaguars (and Ford derivatives) EPA compliant. When I told him I bought a new (03) LS, he laughed and said "Good Luck with that car". I wish I had spoken with him before forking over +$36,000.
 
If you're looking for someone to tell you not to sell your car or to start an argument you're wasting your time. Good luck with getting to the dealer and with your new car.
 
So..... You're angry at a machine that lasted 10 years through how many hot/cold cycles as well as seasonal temperature changes without other than regular maintenance? How long does/did your computer last? Still running Windows98?
 
Just because I'm bored... I'll mention this. My car is out of commission and needs major repairs, mechanically not cosmetically. A friend of mine (who hates my car) has been long telling me to sell it or get rid of it. I've refused because when I get behind the wheel of my LS I'm actually HAPPY. In my other car, sure I like it, but it doesn't make me HAPPY. Anyways, back to where I was heading with this... he has a fairly new "reliable" car. It's a 2010 Chevy Cobalt that came with a 5 year 100,000 mile warranty and has had no issues. He just hit 103,000 miles and now his car randomly turns off - while driving, sputters, has a computer issue, and several other issues. The dealer quoted him at over 4k to fix it. And they're not even sure if that will fix all of his issues.

After considerable mileage and wear and tear on a car, and if all you do is regular maintenance you will eventually have to fork out the money to make the repairs that you procrastinated on later. There's a reason mechanics/manufacturers recommend "preventative maintenance." What you get out of a car is exactly what you put in. I've done a TON of preventative maintenance on my car and it has NEVER once left me stranded, not even with a flat tire.
 
If one of my friends that drove a cobalt told me I needed to sell my car, I don't know how long I would be able to hold back the laughter!
 
1LoudLS said:
If one of my friends that drove a cobalt told me I needed to sell my car, I don't know how long I would be able to hold back the laughter!
Click to expand...

To be fair its the SS turbo... but still... he only tells me to get rid of it because of the usual things: depreciating value, mechanical issues.. etc.
 
LS4me said:
... without other than regular maintenance? How long does/did your computer last? Still running Windows98?
Click to expand...

Hey now, WIN32 client running on a NT environment lasted for years ... and it actually worked without needing daily Fn updates like WIN8.1 does.

~ bought a new ACER desktop recently, (DELL on XP finally bit the dust) ... it's running 8.1 with classic shell and all it does is Fn update daily!!! Piss me off!!!
 
Hey Rog I agree with joegr. Just went through the same thing myself. My riser tube had a crack all the way up the bottom side. After that you might want to keep an eye out on the radiator lefthand side where the ac and oil cooler attach. Mine had a leak there also.
after replacing those two parts all is right as rain.
 
First, Thanks to all on this site who posted issues/corrective action regarding the Gen II LS cooling system. Spent three hours Saturday replacing the thermostat housing and serpentine belt. Car is up and running, the cooling system is holding pressure and temperature is stable. I noticed a "whistling sound" coming from the top/front of the engine. Could be the gasket at the MAP air intake, a rubber hose/fitting on the intake side or an intake manifold gasket. I'll track it down with a homemade stethoscope made from a piece of 3/4" hose. As joegr posted, the Dorman thermostat housing is not O.E. quality, but it will do for now. I wasn't able to locate the "air bleed" on top of the engine. The fitting I saw was a vacumn line as it sucked a lot of air when the fitting/cap was removed....maybe I'm missing something. Oil/filter change on Sunday and installed new lug nuts on all four wheels. Over the years and two sets of replacement tires, the tire stores tore up the lug nuts to the point where a 19mm socket is too big and slips. This lug nut design is poor as it combines a steel nut with a soft stainless steel cap which gets torn up when removed/installed. Anyway my love/hate relationship with this car continues...It's fun to drive but can be a pain maintenance wise. Now if I can just find replacement lock actuators for the rear doors.
 
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