2.7 engine thermostat housing leak 01 Sebring
#71
09-20-2011, 02:50 PM
If you live in a mostly warm climate you can just delete your thermostat.
but take the o ring off the thermostat and put it back to seal it.
but take the o ring off the thermostat and put it back to seal it.
#72
09-20-2011, 08:29 PM
Not a good idea to leave the t-stat out. The computer expects the car to warm up in a certain amount of time. If it doesn't, it'll set an error code. A slow warm-up will also negatively affect your fuel economy.
#73
10-06-2011, 02:43 PM
I'd had intermittent heat last winter and assumed it was an electrical problem something to do with the blend door.
Turns out it was this exact problem, with the water outlet housing, which resulted in a coolant loss and hot water not flowing into the heater core.
I replaced this water outlet housing this week. It was a giant pain to do, but it's now done. I removed the front crossmember, which turns out was the easy part. I loosened the intake manifold enough to get a gear wrench on the back bolt and it took me a while to jockey the old one out due to it hanging up somehow probably on the bend in the back of the pipe toward the rear of the engine.
When I put the new one in, it went right up against the intake manifold bracket on the back of the engine. It took some jockeying to get it around the bracket but finally did and buttoned up the whole front part of the engine, leaving connecting the water hose on the back for last.
I go to put the hose on and realize it went around the WRONG side of the bracket. Since everything else was done, there was no way I was going to take everything apart again to fix it. I got the hose back on and all seems to be good now.
What a pain, but at least it's done now!
Turns out it was this exact problem, with the water outlet housing, which resulted in a coolant loss and hot water not flowing into the heater core.
I replaced this water outlet housing this week. It was a giant pain to do, but it's now done. I removed the front crossmember, which turns out was the easy part. I loosened the intake manifold enough to get a gear wrench on the back bolt and it took me a while to jockey the old one out due to it hanging up somehow probably on the bend in the back of the pipe toward the rear of the engine.
When I put the new one in, it went right up against the intake manifold bracket on the back of the engine. It took some jockeying to get it around the bracket but finally did and buttoned up the whole front part of the engine, leaving connecting the water hose on the back for last.
I go to put the hose on and realize it went around the WRONG side of the bracket. Since everything else was done, there was no way I was going to take everything apart again to fix it. I got the hose back on and all seems to be good now.
What a pain, but at least it's done now!
#74
10-07-2011, 09:57 PM
Guess what..car didn't have a bad head gasket $1800 job!
Took it to my sons mechanic...he said he would check it out
for free, Good price. What the heck...why not...before I sold it for almost
nothing. He aced out the over heating problem....bad pressure cap
on the expansion tank...cost to fix...$10
I noticed the upper hose didn't seem to have pressure when hot.
Without pressure the antifreeze will boil but not hot enough to
turn on the fans. When I put the air on..the fans went on automatically
and it stopped boiling. Put 140 miles on it today with no air on and the
car ran perfect! The key here was the antifreeze was boiling (rumbling around) and NOT bubbling...
that would be a bad gasket if it was bubbling!
Took it to my sons mechanic...he said he would check it out
for free, Good price. What the heck...why not...before I sold it for almost
nothing. He aced out the over heating problem....bad pressure cap
on the expansion tank...cost to fix...$10
I noticed the upper hose didn't seem to have pressure when hot.
Without pressure the antifreeze will boil but not hot enough to
turn on the fans. When I put the air on..the fans went on automatically
and it stopped boiling. Put 140 miles on it today with no air on and the
car ran perfect! The key here was the antifreeze was boiling (rumbling around) and NOT bubbling...
that would be a bad gasket if it was bubbling!
#75
10-08-2011, 10:18 PM
quick question i hope someone can help me out with before i go to the part store tomorrow. I am short on money but dont want to bandaid fix the water outlet (confirmed leak) i noticed that autozone sells the part with out the sensor for 22 bucks...thats easy i can afford that...my question is will the sensor thats in my current housing fit and work in the new one? i have had no problems but low coolant levels and intermittent heat at an idle. So i know nothing has gotten bad yet (just dont want it to get to that point) I dont want to get the part then have the old part ripped off and find that i cant use the new part that i bought considering i live about 20 miles from the part store and not to keen on having to drive the car that far to pick up the part in the first place, but i need to fix it tomrrow since work is a 60 miles round trip drive and i dont want anything blowing apart. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated. Thank You
#76
10-09-2011, 08:12 AM
I've fix minor parts most of my life and did replace the water outlet on my 2001 sebring convert. I choose to buy the complete unit with the sensor but I don't see why you can't just unscrew the old one and use it. The reason I change the whole unit was I read in a post that that is a very important sensor and if it goes bad major engine damage can happen. So I had just enough money to cover the entire unit. I would get a new sensor if the car is old at a later date.
Big problem changing the water outlet is one screw under the manifold in the front on the right. You have to loosen all the screws on the top of the manifold (about 6) then pry up the manifold up on the left side about a half inch. If you check this thread out they show you a special ratchet that is 8mm to use to turn that screw..it costs about $12 in Lowes however I couldn't get it to break the seal on the screw because it was to short (6") and dificult to get on the screw head. I was starting top cause damage to the head. So I went and bought a long 1/4 inch handle 10 or 12 inch (not sur) but the longer the better. Then I bought a 1/4 inch tip for it that allowed a 90 degree swivel. Then I bought an 8mm socket for it. I was able to get the socket on straight and with the leverage the screw seal broke easy. Mind you I had to also have some thing under the manifold holding it up a little to get to the scew! Better to have someone with you so you have three arms! Once the sel was broke I think I was able to get my fingers in there and take it out by hand. But the parts to do this didn't come cheap. I may have spent about $25 to $30 for the three pieces. I didn't have any of the parts
it all went together well and is working fine. But that one screw is a reall pain to get out. That was my experience. Also check your pressure cap. I was told I had a bad head gasket $1800 job that caused the over heating that may have pooped the top off of the water outlet. I wasn't getting water pressure. Check the upper radiator hose when hot (with a glove) and make sure it's firm and has pressure. If it's soft I would get a new radiator cap first...that was my problem...only $10 dollars for the good one with the relief lever on it. I got a round using the car by leaving the air on all the time. The fans stay on all the time. Without water pressure from the bad cap the fans would not turn on and I would over heat. Hope this helps.
Big problem changing the water outlet is one screw under the manifold in the front on the right. You have to loosen all the screws on the top of the manifold (about 6) then pry up the manifold up on the left side about a half inch. If you check this thread out they show you a special ratchet that is 8mm to use to turn that screw..it costs about $12 in Lowes however I couldn't get it to break the seal on the screw because it was to short (6") and dificult to get on the screw head. I was starting top cause damage to the head. So I went and bought a long 1/4 inch handle 10 or 12 inch (not sur) but the longer the better. Then I bought a 1/4 inch tip for it that allowed a 90 degree swivel. Then I bought an 8mm socket for it. I was able to get the socket on straight and with the leverage the screw seal broke easy. Mind you I had to also have some thing under the manifold holding it up a little to get to the scew! Better to have someone with you so you have three arms! Once the sel was broke I think I was able to get my fingers in there and take it out by hand. But the parts to do this didn't come cheap. I may have spent about $25 to $30 for the three pieces. I didn't have any of the parts
it all went together well and is working fine. But that one screw is a reall pain to get out. That was my experience. Also check your pressure cap. I was told I had a bad head gasket $1800 job that caused the over heating that may have pooped the top off of the water outlet. I wasn't getting water pressure. Check the upper radiator hose when hot (with a glove) and make sure it's firm and has pressure. If it's soft I would get a new radiator cap first...that was my problem...only $10 dollars for the good one with the relief lever on it. I got a round using the car by leaving the air on all the time. The fans stay on all the time. Without water pressure from the bad cap the fans would not turn on and I would over heat. Hope this helps.
#77
10-09-2011, 11:11 AM
Tailspin606 - I installed the water outlet on my 2002 Sebring. I got the part from AutoZone (online). It came with the sensor installed. I thought I had ordered it without the sensor, but it worked out well that it came with it. I was not able to remove the old sensor from the water outlet. When I did get it removed the brass mounting ring spun out with it. The sensor was "welded" to that mounting ring and I could not get it loose even in a vise. I would recommend getting the water outlet WITH the sensor installed.
#78
10-09-2011, 01:31 PM
thank you. I am about to go get all the parts i need now...may not be changing it until late this evening (everyones work schedules and only running car) I will definitly see if they can test my rad cap while im at it, since i did squeeze the upper radiator hose last night and it had a good bit of give to it... so i will replace leaking water outlet and the rad cap. Thank you guys so much. I will let you know what happens
#79
10-09-2011, 06:23 PM
Ok got everything changed over after a little scare. I could not find one of the racheting pivot head wrenches so i had to resort to loosening the intake manifold and prying it up. Got that done and started working on pulling the old water outlet off... a bit of a scare when antifreeze started flying everywhere (didnt have enough drained out i guess) and i thought that a tiny bit of antifreeze went do into the engine by way of the opened intake manifold. Cleaned up what i could with papertowels...Put everything back together and ran it... It blows way more heat that I ever knew this car to blow. I had wondows down and was still sweating with the heat fan turned to the second setting. Just trying to blow out bubbles bleeding the system and burn the excess anitfreeze off the engine where it spilled. I dont think anything actually got into the engine...(engine is still running tip top) but we will see considering i had just done an oil change 2 days prior. I have not ran it enough to kick on the fans yets so i am hoping everything still goes well there.... we will find out when i take it to work tomrrow. So far so good
#80
10-10-2011, 08:46 AM
Sounds good! In the manual on the 2001 it says there is a special procedure for adding antifreeze on the 2.7 engine...but it left it there! lol
What I found out was on top of the water outlet there is a brass valve. This is a bleeder and removes air from the system. I was told on old water outlets leave it alone and just add more anti freeze when the car cools down, bringing it up to the mark on the expansion tank where the fluid should be when cold. Like Tailspin606 said
the same thing can happen on the bleeder valve...the whole brass fitting can turn in the plastic and then you have to replace the water outlet again! But since mine was a brand new outlet I through caution to the wind and after the car warmed up I gently opened it with an 8mm rachet (pretty sure it was 8mm) just a bit and when the system had pressure. I put an ski glove on and opened it a little more by hand. It turned very easily. Finally anti freeze started coming out and I closed it by hand and then gently gave it an extra little tightening with the ratchet (very little). I think this is the special procedure they mention. But as the part ages it's probably best to leave it alone because if the brass fitting starts to turn the water outlet may leak and would have to be replaced again...so I'm taking that advice if I need to add fluid in the future I'm not touching that bleeder valve! Also as I mentioned, if the cap is bad and you start to over heat and the fans arn't turning on you can put the air on and at least in my car the fans come right on and stay on. You can still use the center button and put it up on warm if it's cold out! I ran my car for days like that until I found out the cap was bad and I had no pressure.
What I found out was on top of the water outlet there is a brass valve. This is a bleeder and removes air from the system. I was told on old water outlets leave it alone and just add more anti freeze when the car cools down, bringing it up to the mark on the expansion tank where the fluid should be when cold. Like Tailspin606 said
the same thing can happen on the bleeder valve...the whole brass fitting can turn in the plastic and then you have to replace the water outlet again! But since mine was a brand new outlet I through caution to the wind and after the car warmed up I gently opened it with an 8mm rachet (pretty sure it was 8mm) just a bit and when the system had pressure. I put an ski glove on and opened it a little more by hand. It turned very easily. Finally anti freeze started coming out and I closed it by hand and then gently gave it an extra little tightening with the ratchet (very little). I think this is the special procedure they mention. But as the part ages it's probably best to leave it alone because if the brass fitting starts to turn the water outlet may leak and would have to be replaced again...so I'm taking that advice if I need to add fluid in the future I'm not touching that bleeder valve! Also as I mentioned, if the cap is bad and you start to over heat and the fans arn't turning on you can put the air on and at least in my car the fans come right on and stay on. You can still use the center button and put it up on warm if it's cold out! I ran my car for days like that until I found out the cap was bad and I had no pressure.