Diesel Thermostat Upper Pipe Removal.
 

Good afternoon folks.
I am experiencing a small problem changing the thermostat upper pipe sealing ring.
I have removed the M6 bolt that secures the pipe flange to the thermostat body top section (Where the leak seems to be), also removed various fixings along the rigid turbo charge tube which seems to have a fair amount of movements now. The torx headed bolts have also been removed securing the pipe in question to manifold heat shied brackets ETC.
This flanged pipe refuses to move, is it a requirement to remove the thermostat body from the water pump to allow the tube to dislocate from the thermostat upper housing.
As you can guess, not done one of these yet, but getting frustrated that a small pipe is causing me some problem in getting car back running again before snow storms, force 12 gails and icy wind starts blessing me further !

Any constructive help and or advice will be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.
ROG.

I did mine last year and they are awkward but you don't have to remove the thermostat. I had to remove the top of the air filter housing so that I could get both arms squeezed down the back of the engine to reach the allen bolts. There are bolts both below and above the metal coolant pipe and if I remember even when removed I had to lever the pipe out of the hole and carefully prise it back in to line it up with the hole. The bruises on my arms lasted about a week but it cured the leak. I searched out an exploded view of the pipes to see what I was dealing with.

I was hoping that all the fixings were out in order to perform this surgery, but it may be that there is one or two lurking in the darkness preventing any movement in this small pipe, the charge pipe is all floppy but the small one seems rigidly in place. After all this messing about, I have opted for a replacement thermostat in the hope it's a 1 fix job, and that the pipe will yield without too much swearing once the stat bolts are removed !

You'll need to loosen the clamps for the air con pipes near the thermostat after removing the engine mount and jacking up the engine to fit the thermostat. I helped my mate with his mk 2 diesel as he was struggling to fit the new one a few weeks back and he was ready to throw it into the distance ! :D

Hi,if you need an extra pair of hands,give me a shout and I'll pop over from Northampton.Regards Ry...

Many thanks for the advice, I was hoping to do it with the least disturbia to other components, however as many repairs to these cars seem to require quite a process to perform for access to visible components. Namely thermostats, however I suspect this is likely to be easier than doing a KV6 thermostat.
This enjoyment will take place today in the hope for a leak free cooling system.

The 'stat is a piece of cake on a BMW though..........small tip John, I use a pair of miniature mole grips on the large hose clip on the 'stat housing, slide the released clip down the pipe, and allow it to remain in place throughout.

It's a tight job, and budget for a leisurely three hours when you do it.

A an aside, the o ring material formulation was changed, what colour is the replacement you have? the old ones were blue, and the new ones yellow.

The blue ones don't like OAT ;)

Have fun

Brian :D

Hi RY, will be performing the surgery this morning, as always - your welcome over !

Hi Brian, the seal that I got was from Ebay from the seller that sells the viton seals, not sure if this is equivalent to the superseded item you refer to, either way it will be fitted in the absence of anything else.
It would have been easier to keep topping up the coolant, but never giving up, but it is likely to take me ages to fix. They call me "The Snail" as not a speed machine anymore !

If it's Viton, it will be fine John.........anyway you can't be "The Snail" that's my moniker :D

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/29/b4...7aa130851c.jpg

Brian :D