I am going to try and run some head sealer in this 2009 Toyota Corolla. Have oil drained, will replace with new. Drained radiator, Will replace with distilled water. Have thermostat neck off exposing thermostat. The thermostat seals with a rubber seal fitted around the circumference. I want to run the sealer with the thermostat out so heat is quicker and flow is better. But how will the neck seal to the engine without that rubber that goes around the thermostat. That is the only thing currently sealing the neck.

TY

Not an expert, but I think you can use RTV instead of a gasket on the neck. Just Google RTV to seal thermostat

Or buy some gasket material and add as many layers as you need to create a seal.

Post a pic for better advice.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2024 10:10PM by Speedy.

Quote
Microman
... I want to run the sealer with the thermostat out so heat is quicker and flow is better. But how will the neck seal to the engine without that rubber that goes around the thermostat. That is the only thing currently sealing the neck.

TY

Just run it with a thermostat installed. It will not heat up quicker or flow better with it out. Instead it will take longer for the core section of the cooling system in the block to each operating temperature.

This fallacy of taking the thermostat out has been going around for a long time, and it has been disproven often.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2024 11:12PM by JoeH.

I'd call the sealant company and ask if what you want to do is necessary in the first place. Probably not, is my guess.

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If the purpose is to warm up the engine more quickly, removing the thermostat will have the opposite effect. If it's to get the heater to put out heat more quickly, it will have the same effect. Cooling passages in most engines have a bypass so that when the thermostat is closed when the engine is cold, coolant is directed around the hottest part of the head and into the heater core if the heater is on. Without the thermostat, this re-direction of the coolant won't happen.

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Not a huge fan of this kind of repair but I have been there. Ideally do NOT introduce RTV into a cooling system at all.

If you are trying to get the engine and rad to heat up quicker you should consider putting some cardboard in front of the rad. You can also use duct tape but it's a bitch to get off on a car.

How many rounds (miles) on a 2009 Toyota that it smoked a head gasket?

Quote
Microman
I am going to try and run some head sealer in this 2009 Toyota Corolla. Have oil drained, will replace with new. Drained radiator, Will replace with distilled water. Have thermostat neck off exposing thermostat. The thermostat seals with a rubber seal fitted around the circumference. I want to run the sealer with the thermostat out so heat is quicker and flow is better. But how will the neck seal to the engine without that rubber that goes around the thermostat. That is the only thing currently sealing the neck.

TY

The thermostat has a specific purpose. It's to let the engine heat up to operating temperature quickly and maintain that temperature for efficient performance. Removing it is not worth the degraded performance.

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Ed (modelamac)

Trying to figure out some people is like trying to smell the number 9.

I want to run the sealer with the thermostat out so heat is quicker and flow is better.


As everybody mentioned, this is a mistake.

Besides keeping the cooling system operating at a given temperature, the thermostat does indeed keep coolant from flowing until it gets up to temperature.

No thermostat means no control of coolant temperature, and much longer warm up times for engine and heater.

Using a thermostat that opens at a higher temperature would do what you want, but the car will run hotter once up to temperature, which might have disadvantages, such as emissions control.

Also, water is a poor coolant and has less of a temperature range than coolant, so you may run into overheating problems.

Removing it not only degrades performance, as mentioned, but does the opposite, as mentioned, of what you are trying to do.

And 'flow' is only better if the the thermostat is stuck closed or partially closed in the first place.

Increasing 'flow' won't get you anything in a street car.

Layers of gasket material are better than risking RTV in the cooling system, as mention.

Putting cardboard in the front of the radiator will work if a little inconvenient.

I read in a car mag about a mod that used electric fans and a switch to manually control them as well as their built-in sensors.

They're usually thermostatically controlled in a factory installation, but leaving them off longer might get thing hotter more quickly.

Are you trying to increase cabin temperature more quickly, or get the engine up to operating temperature more quickly?

Removing the thermostat won't accomplish either.

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Don’t think the op is talking about leaving the thermostat out and driving around like that but only while putting the stop leak in and letting it do its job. Probably a bad idea to start with since that stuff does a job on the heater core but to each his own.

Don’t think the op is talking about leaving the thermostat out and driving around like that


Hm.

The subject line does say 'temporarily'.

I missed that.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Pulled the thermostat, and the gasket or rubber ring stayed in the engine. I then placed the neck back in place. All that's left is to fill with new oil. Radiator filled with Distilled H2O. Pour the Steele Seal, and let it do its thing. Charged the battery last night for an hour, so it will start. No I don't plan on leaving the thermostat out. Just for the process of last ditch effort to see if I can get the car to go a few miles, before we part ways. Heater core is bypassed, as well. Will give it a go today.