So I have a 5sfe GT and I pulled off the thermostat housing and the gasket ripped so I'm going to need a new one. Ran to oreilly, autozone, and pepboys and they all came out with the water outlet gasket only. Not the thermostat housing gasket. What is it really called? I mean I'm pretty sure I got it right? Thermostat housing gasket.....I searched on trademotion.com and it has a ipb of the cooling system but it doesn't show the piece I need. Makes me wander if the 5sfe really does need a gasket for the thermostat housing or not? Nope I'm not talking about the thermostat gasket either. It's a paper material gasket. Any ideas?



This post has been edited by ILoveMySilly97: Mar 12, 2013 - 10:31 PM

I never used one on mine back when I had my 93 celica and it never leaked. The rubber ring around the thermostat itself is supposed to do the job of sealing I believe.

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Yea that's what I kind of thought so too. I know when I first got this car and changed the thermostat housing and thermostat. It didn't have the thermostat housing gasket but it had the thermostat gasket. But when I had bought the new thermostat housing. Autozone recommended me to buy the thermostat housing gasket for it also. Funny thing is now AutoZone can't find the part number or brand....And the aftermarket thermostat housing I have is cast iron btw. Don't know if that'll be why I'd need a gasket versus the stock plastic thermostat housing one? That thermostat housing gasket that I had installed fit perfectly too....

This post has been edited by ILoveMySilly97: Mar 12, 2013 - 11:18 PM

i had that problem with my friends camry with the 5s. ended up buying the housing from autozone. and the housing came with a gasket. it was 22$ if i remember correctly. but with his car. it DID leak without the gasket. try the dealer? but i think its going to be same price as the housing so just buy that. and if you didnt get the old housing not too long ago maybe its under warranty and u can ask them for a new one, and get the gasket that way?

If Toyota says it didn't come with a gasket...

Having changed thermostat on a couple different variants of the 5SFE, and none required the housing to have a gasket. If properly installed, the gasket on the thermostat provides the seal.

Ill give that a try then. If it still leaks then I'll just get cardboard and make a cutout gasket.

never heard of it. toyota stopped using paper in the 80s. theres only a thermostat rubber gasket, such thermostat housing gasket otherwise would be steel and go between the water pump main piece and the block, or otherwise between the water pump main piece and the impeller cover

I installed the thermostat housing with the thermostat and its not leaking. But bad news....i had some nasty looking white/brownish stuff along the rim of the old thermostat gasket......now i think i know why I've had issues with my cooling system. Bad headgasket. Well my plan is to drive it until the engine dies and get an engine swap.

Unless you're seeing oil in the coolant or vice versa, I wouldn't worry too much about the head gasket. That corrosion could be from rust in the coolant system, cheap coolant, mineral deposits from using tap water instead of diluted water. You could be driving a very long time before your motor gives up.

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Yeap. That's why plan is to drive it until it dies. While I'm going to save money for a future engine swap.