Remove Hose: Thermostat Housing to Radiator

[tf95ZR1]

I'm switching out my radiator and today joined the busted up knuckles club.
I have everything removed from the radiator but the hose from the thermostat housing to radiator tank.
I have moved the hose clamps and used a screw driver to break the seal of the hoses to their respective nipples.
(Calm down). I can lift the radiator out of the bottom support and rotate it slightly, but I can't get it off the hose.
I ran out of time to finish the job tonight. I don't want to have to take the housing off or apart and DEFINITELY don't want to break it.
Recommendations? Just keep at it and it will give up the ghost? Experiences? TIA

[tomtom72]

I use my T-stat housing as my drain point when I service my cooling system every two yrs, and I have yet to find a way to get that short hose off without splitting the stat housing...okay I could cut the hose but that's extreme.

I don't think there is a way to get the hose off intact without splitting the housing. Just be aware that the reinstall steps are exactly the reverse of the removal process. I'm not trying to be a wise guy either.

loosen hose clamps because you want the rad out, then :
1.) remove the two bolts that mount the right half of the stat housing to the frame. The rearward bolt is above the swaybar mount(?) so a swivel 13mm is most helpful, the fwd bolt is in plain sight. I know something is in the way
2) the left side of the stat housing is mounted to the cross member that carries the rack(?) and need not be disturbed unless you have a lift.
3) There are three bolts ( 13mm ?) that hold the halves of the stat housing together. The top bolts hold the housing to the mount bracket so now you know why you have to do the frame bolts first. Remove all. Now you can get the stat housing half from the hose and pull the hose off the rad.

Install: you could try to mount the bracket back on the frame first, I would suggest please don't do that. Put the short rad hose on w/clamps but don't tighten the clamps or put the clamps on either nipple. Once the short hose is on both the rad & the stat half, put the T-stat back in place and put the two halves together with the bracket in place on the right half of the stat housing & tighten those bolts up. Make sure the rear part of the frame bracket is up & over the sway bar mount(?). Then put the frame bolts back in & tight the bracket down. Position the hose clamps and then tighten them and that's it.

A note about the bolt bosses in the stat housing. They are not blind holes, they are threaded all the way out the back sides of the left half of the housing. The reason for doing the frame bolts last, and or removing the bracket from the frame first is so that there is no stress caused miss-alignment of the bolts that hold the two halves together. JMHO, but it's easier to work with the right half of the housing than reach over to get the left half's mounting bolt. If you have a lift that is probably a moot point. I work on the ground so this works for me. If you do have alignment issues and strip out the first few threads no big deal. Just get the right half out of the way and do a re-tap of the hole(s) and you could get longer bolts at the auto parts store in the help section if needs be. Usually the stripping issue never comes up unless you try to leave the frame bracket on the frame. Ask me how I know!


Tom

[PhillipsLT5]

Glad to see you are moving forward
Replace T Stat while its out
See Marcs homepage for related T Stat problems, so you get the right one
As usual some GREAT info here from the others

[Captain A]

You can do the job without removing the them. housing. When I replaced my radiator, I removed the 2 bolts holding the them. housing hanger to the frame and also removed the bolt holding the hose down from the hose in front of the transmission cooler. You may want to loosen the trans radiator to make it easier to get to this hanger bolt. This should give you enough room to work with. It is not a lot of play but enough. After talking to Marc Haibeck, I decided not to take apart the therm. housing because it can cause a major mess and also if the engine develops an air bubble when refilling the engine you can burn up the motor in minutes. It took me 3 hrs to remove everything and a couple of hrs to put it back. I wish I had used someone to help me when putting the radiator back but was able to do it by myself in a few hrs.

[RHanselman]

C'mon Ted, it's like pulling teeth!

[tf95ZR1]

Originally Posted by RHanselman

C'mon Ted, it's like pulling teeth!

Yeah, I'll just bring some pliers home from the office!
And PULL!