Green Bean
SILVER Star
I used one of these pressurized cooling system flush guns which seemed to work pretty good for dislodging crud.
FJ40 Thermostat Installation How To (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Vae Victus
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Thanks, I will look into that. Do you think I have blockage even though all the drains are draining with full pressure?
Here are pictures of my thermostat that I removed. This one is aftermarket from O'Reilly's 180°. Just wanted to show that the Toyota gasket sealant was on very thin and was not blocking any passages
Below are pictures of my thermostats that I have tried and removed both brand new. The one on the left is what I got from O'Reilly's a 180° thermostat. The one on the right I got from City racer they Said it was OEM aisin brand but not sure about that. This one is 190°. Look at the difference between the two. The one on the right is slightly taller and also the bottom protrudes. When I tested them both in boiling water they both opened up as I thought they are supposed to but the OEM version did not flow as much water when opened but did flow. I am now trying without the thermostat to rule them out completely. I will post back when I am done running after I burp it over and over again to see if I can get it to go through the radiator at least. At this point I am almost 100% positive that I have not been getting any flow through the radiator at all as I'm getting all these hot temperatures everywhere but the middle to bottom of the radiator never gets hot. Let's see what happens with no thermostat
Green Bean
SILVER Star
It is a head scratcher for sure. I think if it were me at this point, I would try disconnecting the upper radiator hose and run it to see if there is any return flow. Alternatively, I suppose, I would open the engine block drain while the engine is running to see what type of pressure/flow your are seeing.
I'm about to run it without the thermostat to see what happens. That doesn't go well. I'll remove the upper radiator hose to see you. What's going on?
RevISK
SILVER Star
Where exactly are you putting FIPG? That first thermostat looked like it was caked in it in several places. As stated early on in this thread, you really shouldn't even need goop if everything else is good, just a good gasket. If City Racer said that is an OE T-Stat then it is.
Everything out right on here says to put a very light coat on both gaskets upper and lower and that's what I did. And yes it did get on some parts of the thermostat but I wiped it off so there's no chunks anywhere and there's nothing impeding any flow anywhere
RevISK
SILVER Star
Ummm, what is going on here?
That is The top gasket that stayed to the thermostat housing. When I pull the thermostat out I just cleaned it all up. It's good to go
John McVicker
SILVER Star
This picture is from post 2 in this thread. This is how I have always installed my T Stat and I’ve never used any tube sealant, only the gasket, and the top rubber O ring. Always used OEM T Stat.
RevISK
SILVER Star
Ah, looks gooey. Just making sure you didn’t apply FIPG to the inside gasket(s).
What do you mean by inside gaskets? I did apply to both sides of the upper and the lower thermostat and thermostat housing gasket. Two gaskets total. Can you please clarify what you talk about? Did I screw something up?
RevISK
SILVER Star
The only place, if anywhere, to put any gasket making goop/FIPG is on the mating surfaces on the T Stat housing. If you put any inside, you most certainly have distributed that stuff throughout your system. Go back and read this thread from the beginning, it shows the steps to take very succinctly.
I've added some punctuation to better understand the data:
Within 10 minutes of starting it top left of radiator 220°, top right 230°, bottom radiator and hoses cold.
thermostat housing 266° block drain 170° sending unit 210° .
If the top of the radiator is that hot, and the bottom cold, there is very little flow through the radiator. If there was flow, and the fan wasn't functioning, the bottom would be much hotter.
Rag left behind in radiator or block?
The weep hole dripping from the water pump only signifies that the shaft seal is shot and the bearing is on it's way to failure.
I agree that the next diagnostic step is to remove the thermostat.
Within 10 minutes of starting it top left of radiator 220°, top right 230°, bottom radiator and hoses cold.
thermostat housing 266° block drain 170° sending unit 210° .
If the top of the radiator is that hot, and the bottom cold, there is very little flow through the radiator. If there was flow, and the fan wasn't functioning, the bottom would be much hotter.
Rag left behind in radiator or block?
The weep hole dripping from the water pump only signifies that the shaft seal is shot and the bearing is on it's way to failure.
I agree that the next diagnostic step is to remove the thermostat.
Okay thank you. I did and I drained and flushed and back flushed everything four more times. Put it back together with no thermostat ran it shows overheating. Still not service. Really overheating though. I'm showing my laser thermometer top of the radiator 227° f. Bottom of the radiator 200° f. Thermostat housing 238 block drain 215 sending unit 250 top of the driver side of the head. Average 170 passenger side block below the spark plug section average 150°. I'm going to leave it inclined. Let it cool down. Hook everything up perfect again. Drive it and see what happens again with no thermostat. Thermostat installed all the hoses fuel pressurized about the same as it did with the two thermostats. No real change there. Just don't work. I guess I'll just remove the top radiator hose. Start it and see if wire just starts shooting out. I guess I don't know
RevISK
SILVER Star
You undoubtably have that stuff in all kinds of nooks and crannies. I'm not sure what to tell you at this point, maybe A ThermoCure treatment. At least we located a probable cause.
Thank you. Nothing was left behind the radiator or on the block. I just ran it for over a half an hour burping and burping and burping with just distilled water and no thermostat and now it is running fine it seems for now. So I guess I'll just run with no thermostat for now until I make sure there's no issue. Then reinstall the thermostat again and see what happens. Thanks for the punctuation. I talk to text and I'm Cajun so doesn't work out too good for me
Not sure how I could have any of the black sealant throughout my cooling system. I just put a thin film on the gasket, set it on there and it stuck. There was no chunks or pieces that were left behind to fall off nor were there any pieces that was pulled off. So I should be good to go in theory.
John McVicker
SILVER Star
I’m not sure if this is even possible …but I’m going to ask…is it possible that you have the fan on backwards. Thus the fan is not pulling air thru the radiator.
Any chance you can post up some pictures of your situation? I’d like to see the condition of your fan.
Any chance you can post up some pictures of your situation? I’d like to see the condition of your fan.
