IS THERE A GASKET BETWEEN THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING AND ENGINE BLOCK???

Hi everyone. I have a 2004 Tacoma V6 4x4 crewcab that I just purchased. It drove great for the first 1,500 miles or so and then it started to overheat one day. I checked it out, no leaks, fan is running, full of coolant, engine oil is good and full, so my first try at fixing this is to change out the thermostat.

However, I looked at the FSM manual and it shows no gasket between the water inlet pipe and the engine block. After calling two toyota dealerships two separate times, and 2 local autoparts stores (Autozone and Pepboys), I've got all sorts of different responses telling me the there is a gasket, that there is not a gasket, etc. Pepboys even gave me a part number with a picture, but I believe it is for the upper outlet from the radiator.

So my question is, Is there a gasket between the lower inlet (thermostat housing) and engineblock. Should I worry about it, or just use RTV? I don't normally do my own car work, but after buying this truck, I really want to learn to do everything myself and want to do it the right way.


thanks!!

 

it should be on the t-stat itself

 

lol...I already bought the thermostat... maybe I should've actually looked at it.

So it's already attached to it? I'm at work right now, but I'll check as soon as I get home. Thanks!!

 

Ok, so I just saw the picture you uploaded. When I purchased the t-stat at Autozone, they sold me exactly that. A t-stat, with a separate 0-ring/gasket (Sorry, not good at the terminology yet). And they also sold me that RTV silicone stuff. SHould I also use that? Or is that a bad idea?

 

Just to confirm, are you saying that I DO NOT need silicone anywhere?

Is the black circular gasket all it needs?

 

DUDE , use the RVT silicone also

 

if you're talking about the elbow that leads to the t stat then you do use form in place gasket material.

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/timing_belt/

 

x2

 

Ok so I guess that's it! No silicone, only thermostat and black o-ring/gasket is the only thing I'm going to change. I hope this solves the overheat problem!

Thank you so much to everyone!! I really appreciate everyone's help. I'll post how it goes after.

 

sure you wanna use a autozone t-stat ......

 

Personally, I will always thin coat some RVT to a gasketed surface with the exception of a mated machined surface ..

 

I have one more concern. I absolutely cannot unscrew the dumb drain on the bottom of the radiator, so I was going to siphon out as much as I can through the radiator top. I've read that if you get coolant/antifreeze on the belts, you should change them, and it sounds like I'm going to get some on the belts...any advice?

Does it really matter if the belts get a little wet with coolant/antifreeze? I suppose I can just quickly spray it down with water.

 

If you want drain your rad and can't undo the drain plug just pull the bottom rad house off where it connects to the rad. Might as well by some rad flush and run that thru it while your hands are dirty

 

I would get the radiator tested before you go to the trouble of replacing the tstat. It may be clogged, depending on if the previous owner put some of that "magic" radiator sealant crap in it. It might just be ready for replacement, too.

 

There is an easier test of the Tstat. When your truck engine is cool/cold. Open your radiator cap and start your truck. At the begining you should not see any flow through the cap openning. Once your Tstat gets to operating temp around 180 degrees (models vary in temp) it will open and you should see the water/glycol mix flowing in your radiator. The water pump will push the mix through your engine. If you see no flow then change out the Tstat.