on a 73 swinger........


car is overheating. With radiator cap off it it does not look like water is circulating. I am assuming the thermostat is bad. Here is the problem.......I have been able to loosen the top bolt with 3 days of pb blaster, but the bottom bolt is being very stubborn. Anybody have any suggestions on removing that bolt before I snap it off, or is there a check to see is thermostat is bad without removing it from housing?

Water pump is not noisy or have any play when twisting fan.

Keep working with PB blaster on that lower bolt regardless. Eventually you will want to take it out. Most likely the thermostat is stuck. There are other tricks, but keep the PB blaster working for a bit more. It is not a disaster if you twist it off. Of course it is a pain, but you can drill and extract, or drill and tap, or drill and heli coil if it comes to that. Don't be too afraid of it.



Sam

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do you have air tool access? I think this would assist in removing without breaking the bolt---Also tapping the bolt with a hammer will sometimes assist in the rust/corrosion loosening up-- take your time & it will come loose. Lawrence

Clean the threads of the bolt you did get out and put it back in. Run the engine until it gets nice and warm and then try the second one. If whomever assembled it last put loctite on it, heat helps break the bond.