Try to remove thermostat housing but its stuck! Any tips?

Vindicator · 6th April 2008, 19:33

Hey guys,

I'm trying to change out my thermostat but the thermostat housing seems to be stuck on the 3 metal pipes under the intakes.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get it out?

Michael William · 7th April 2008, 02:32

Take the 4 bolts completely out of the housing. Remove the 2 bolts holding the Vanos lubrication connection piece (actually easier if you remove one of the vanos lub flex tubes to get this piece completely out of the way).
Now comes the tricky part. You must pull the housing forward and up with a side-to-side rocking motion. As the O-rings on the three "tubes" at the back of the housing start to come loose, you will have a problem with the thermostat catching on the top of the water pump. Keep moving side-to-side and up an it will clear.
Better buy the Orings and perhaps some spairs for reassembly. It is real easy to cut them. Lubricate them before you start with a silicon spray and insert gently with the same side-to-side motion. Keep looking on the engine under the tubes for a piece of Oring rubber to show up. If you see, you cut one and must redo.

Cheers;

Mike

badboypolar · 7th April 2008, 02:51

Wirelessly posted (XV6700: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 6.8))

what he said.

bmwdctr · 8th April 2008, 05:29

Word. And grease works as well as or better than silicon spray. This job can be a tricky little POS. You can't be shy with it, don't be afraid to do a little manhandling with it. Good luck!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael William

Take the 4 bolts completely out of the housing. Remove the 2 bolts holding the Vanos lubrication connection piece (actually easier if you remove one of the vanos lub flex tubes to get this piece completely out of the way).
Now comes the tricky part. You must pull the housing forward and up with a side-to-side rocking motion. As the O-rings on the three "tubes" at the back of the housing start to come loose, you will have a problem with the thermostat catching on the top of the water pump. Keep moving side-to-side and up an it will clear.
Better buy the Orings and perhaps some spairs for reassembly. It is real easy to cut them. Lubricate them before you start with a silicon spray and insert gently with the same side-to-side motion. Keep looking on the engine under the tubes for a piece of Oring rubber to show up. If you see, you cut one and must redo.

Cheers;

Mike

Michael William · 9th April 2008, 17:05

I have read several posts that some are having difficulty removing the subject seal. As this same thermostat and seal combination (different housing) are in use on the e34 M5, and I still have one, I was forced to do a little garage/tool box search to solve this PITA removal issue.

What is needed is a tool small enough to fit in the thermostat housing cavity below the seal - but large enough to grab the lip of the seal itself. It must have a curved back in order to enable a prying motion to transform into an upward prying motion against the lip of the seal. It must have a hook so it will firmly grasp the seal.

I can remove a seal using this tool with one simple 1 second prying motion, no drama, no elevated tones, no creative cussing... Kinda takes the fun out of it...

Attached is a picture, anyone know what this common $9.95 tool is?

Cheers;

Mike

jjc1843 · 9th April 2008, 18:30

Crows Foot?

You should not have named the picture.....

Please send rewards to my home address.

Michael William · 9th April 2008, 19:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjc1843

Crows Foot?

You should not have named the picture.....

Please send rewards to my home address.

I didn't want to make it too tough!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vindicator · 9th April 2008, 19:57

Thanks guys! That worked perfectly. I did a little of both... rocked it side to side and used a pry to help it along!

Hopefully everything goes back together as smoothly as it came apart.