Random questions for thermostat housing

[PAExplorerXLT]

- I have removed the top part to fix a leak but don’t see any O-ring or gasket between the top and bottom part. Is this the way it is supposed to be?

- My temp reading used to sit at 1/4. How do I know what temp thermostat I have and what is considered “hot”. Any brand recommendations?

I also removed the throttle body. It has a funny looking gasket. https://www.rockauto.com/info/6/61057_P04_TOP__ra_p.jpg

Now I forget which side is up. Does it matter and why is it like this?

- With the t-body off, I can see inside the intake plenum chamber. It is wet with sooty material. Kinda surprising as only air passes through at that point.

- I keep reading the the lower part is leak prone but from where? If that O-ring is indeed missing I will fix that first.

 

[drdoom]

The lower housing tends to split at the seams of the molding process. There should be an o-ring at the thermostat, your parts house will have them. Around here we use STANT thermostats & radiator caps. Also remember the PCV system pulls vacuum from the intake plenum, that's where the gunk comes from. Best wishes.

 

[PAExplorerXLT]

Thanks. I want to tighten things up and see if I still have to remove the lower. Stopped by AutoZone today and indeed found out what you were saying, that there is only one o-ring and it is on the thermostat. I picked up another thermostat and a new o-ring just in case. They all look so generic. One thing I noticed was that it is easier to push the new one. Does it mean it also opens at a lower temp? The parts man didn’t think think so.

 

[koda2000]

there's just one large o-ring that sits on top of the t-stat. There's a smaller round gasket that goes between the lower housing and the engine.

 

[drdoom]

Koda that's right there is a flat rubber gasket underneath.