Hello, I have a 97 civic 4 door Lx with the NON-Vtec single overhead cam engine.

I did a radiator flush on it and replaced the Thermostat a couple of days ago, and now I cannot get the thermostat housing to not leak.

I re-used the rubber seal that goes around the thermostat, and I tightened it until it stopped leaking, then tightened it a bit more (dont have the torque specs if there is any)

I can get it to not leak, but as soon as I drive, It starts leaking again.

So, what am I doing wrong?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hungrymonkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I re-used the rubber seal that goes around the thermostat,
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Try a new gasket.

 

It isnt a gasket, and when I asked for a new one there was not a listing for it at Knechts.

But I fixed it, the T-stat housing has two notches with a round beveled area in between them.

the rubber seal has two tabs on it, and the push pin looking thing on the Tstat goes in the beveled area.

The reason It was leaking was due to the rubber tabs were not letting it seal fully.

once I removed the housing completely I could see that the tabs were supposed to go into the notches.
Originally I thought they were to keep the rubber seal aligned in the groove to assist with installation.