thermostat housing studs?

[alfie]

hey guys i just swapped in a new motor in my 89 4 door and all went pretty smooth, until i noticed that i had a coolant leak. i checked and changed a few different things and still nothing. so long story short i take of my thermostat housing and realize that the lower stud is loose enough for me to pull it out by hand. My assumption is that is that my leak is coming from here.

any advice or past experiences with these studs or anything at all will help...

thanks in advanced ........ Luis

[ohthejosh]

get new stud and tighten and check for leaks?

[acolella76]

Well if the stud is loose, it won't be able to torque the housing down properly. Tighten that stud down and see how that sits.

[alfie]

i have tightened the stud but when i tighten the nut on the stud it becomes loose again. i am starting to think that i will need to go with a bigger replacement stud or maybe ditch the stud and nut, and go with a bolt with a hex head.

[redhatpat]

Is the aluminum in the head damaged where the stud goes in? You might need to use a helicoil to get the stud back in there properly.

[acolella76]

Use some blue loctite on the end of the stud or buy a new stud and blue loctite it. I do that to all of the studs on my head... I'm sick of them coming out when I take out the exhaust/intake.

[browntown]

Replace stud. The stud is threaded the same direction as the nut so tightening the nut should tighten the stud (I think I'm visualizing this correctly). Chances are you need a helicoil or drill and tap up to a bigger stud size. The steel studs in the aluminum head develop galvanic corrosion and have a habit of welding themselves in and snapping off on removal. I personally wouldn't loctite them. Ten years from now when you need to take the head off and get a machinist to get that broken stud out, you might regret it.

[alfie]

your right tightening the nut would in theory tighten the stud but i tried. i can push and pull the stud almost freely so i am going to need a new stud. my question is can i use a bolt to replace the stud and nut all together or would you recommend replacing the stud.