Clean very good. Sylicone seal the hell out of it.  Wait a day,
your done.  I've had standard Vanagon plastic housings warp so bad
that they leak. Tried the above trick, and saved money. Only problem
is the next time you need to get in there, you need to wait a day,
again.

            Eric                   86-VW4x4
            vw4x4@fyi.net          86-SS Syncro
            Pittsburgh, PA USA     1936-Chrysler
                                   92-Jetta GWC
            www.fyi.net/~vw4x4/vw4x4.htm

On Tue, 2 Sep 2003, lauterba wrote:

> My thermostat is leaking around the seal where the upper and lower thermostat housings meet.  I put thermostat in with engine out of the van.  I think that I put O-ring on wrong side of the thermostat and/or did not put sealant on the mating surfaces between the two housings.  Engine is 1.9L WBX with S&S headers.
>
> It looks like I can get to thermostat from below if I remove the oil filter.  Is the following order of work steps appropriate?
>
> Remove large hose from thermostat housing and let system drain
> Remove oil filter
> Remove bolts holding thermostat housing together
> Remove lower portion and put O-ring in right place
> Put sealant around mating surface
> Reassemble
> Put oil filter back on
> Refill and bleed cooling system
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
>
> John Lauterbach
> Macon, GA
> '84 7-passenger
>