Hello all, I do have a Mitsubishi Minicab 2001, and I had to change the thermostat. Now, Im not sure how should I torque the 12mm bolts (2 bolts) to secure the cap in place. Any of you have this info ? thanks in advance.
No idea on exact spec, just use a small wrench with your not strong hand and choke up on it. Snug it all down and then just give a tiny bit of torque to it.
thanks for your reply. I was talking to a mechanic here and he told me not to overtight these bolts as they can break and you dont want that. This is why Im paranoying right now. I do have a torque wrench and have torqued them down to 6ft/pnds.... I do have a leak and Im afraid to torque it more. I havent changed the gasket, simply used the same one... the mating surface on the thermostat housing was clean... So I said, I will give it a try. So its leaking a bit.... I might remote the thermostat cap this weekend and put some gasket silicone so to seal it better. I have seen many different specs for these bolts... going from 7ft/pnds to 30 ft/pnds.
Totally, I understand the paranoia but having the touch and feeling out torque will only come with experience so you'll have to just get after it. OK so first, does the thermostat housing rely on a gasket or does it ask for silicone gasket to be applied? A silicone / caulk style fix is not ideal and should just be considered temporary. If it relies on a gasket, is it new? Here is another way to look at it, If your mating surfaces are flush, your gasket is new, and you are still leaking, then you must be up against a bolt toque issue. If you're leaking but maybe your gasket is old or perhaps the mating surface was compromised then you'd have to focus on other possible reasons for the leak. You paranoia won't allow you to over-do it, you'll know if you are going too crazy. Like I mentioned, small wrench, choke up, and just ease into it. I usually grab the head of the ratchet with my weak hand and snug it all down. Then I will work my way up the ratchet handle and just apply slightly more pressure. You could also consider using a screw driver style socket, without the handle of a ratchet you won't be able to put too much toque into it anyway.
Thermostat housing bolts on my 1995 U42T were 1.2 kgf*m. Can't imagine it's much higher than that if it's aluminum.
