Thermostat housing leaking

[gnx547]

I poured new coolant into the radiator and after a few mins I notice coolant dripping behind the housing. I did put a new gasket and I also put some Indian head sealant to hold the gasket on the housing. The bolts are tight and I did clean the housing and base before I installed it. I don't know why it is leaking? Do I need to use regular rtv on the gasket or should I have installed the gasket dry or no gasket just rtv?

 

[DeepList]

You might want to check and make sure the housing itself doesn't have a crack in it.

 

[JKady]

Take a stone to it and make sure it's flat, also make sure the thermostat is sitting in the recess correctly, if it gets caught in between the housing and intake it will at best leak, at worst crack the housing.

 

[gnx547]

I checked the housing and there are no cracks and it is straight. I put on a new gasket along with some Permatex black rtv and so far it looks like there are no leaks. I will let it sit for a day and see if there are any more leaks. That Indian head gasket sealant is garbage.

 

[Twista]

4.6l thermostat change is so much better and easier than the five oh. I hate doing it on my 95 took me about 5.. 6 times to get it right without it leaking and it's never coming back out for any non problem reason.

I use Orange rtv I think