I dropped one of the bolts from the thermostat housing and it fell into an area on the front that I can not get it out without taking apart the entire front of the truck.

Does anyone know if the threaded hole at the top of the thermostat housing is deeper than the one on the bottom? I got a bolt exactly the same size as the one I had remaining and tried both in the hole. It slides all the way in but will not tighten up. I put a small plade screwdriver into the hole and it is about 1/4" deeper than the bolt is long.

Thanks all,
bnlfan

 

i dont know about the hole in the intake but the thermostat housing has 2 different size bolts because the top bolt hole in the housing is deeper than the lower one is.

 

Thank you Matt. That is where I am talking about.

I'm just now learning to be a mechanic and I don't have the proper part names down yet.

Thanks again,
bnlfan

 

Any idea how long it should be for the top one? I can't find it in my repair manual and the parts people can't tell me either.

 

not sure but if i remember correctly if you put both bolts in there correct holes in the housing they should both stick out the other end the same distance. do that to the bolt you have and measure how far it sticks out and measure the length of the hole for the other bolt and that should at least be close.

 

These bolts don't pass through. I guess I can stick a small screwdriver into the hole, mark it, and then measure it.

Thanks for you help.

 

dont pass through? how does it hold the housing to the engine

 

The thermostat housing that the top radiator hose attaches to removes from the motor. The portion it fastens to on the motor is the area I am talking about. The bolts do not pass all the way through there. They obviously do pass through the housing itself.

 

I just realized that if I am understanding you correctly, I can keep the housing off. Place the bolt into each threaded hole and measure.

I wasn't thinking of keeping the housing off to make the check.

 

yea thats what i was talking about

 

The thread pitch and size is 5/16-18.

 

Thank you.

It was nice to wake up this morning to find this response.