I have an '06 2.4 N/A. Getting the Ole --- temp. Reading. As the car is new to me and the obvious signs of past abuse...I decided to change the thermo,ECT sensor and the upper rad hose,do a super flush and fill with new dex cool(orange) the owner before me has green in it. Anyway,I gather all the parts and supplies to knock this job out and I run into this


The upper bolt in therm housing...
it's obviously cross threaded and it's tight. I have no idea what to do with this...it doesn't currently leak and it's my daily driver. If I continue with the repair I'm afraid I won't be able to get the proper bolt in there and tighten it down. I'm stuck without this car....any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

The good news is that both of those housings are removable, so worst case scenario you can pull them both off and run a tap through it. Best case scenario is to have new parts on hand and not have to worry about it because you're replacing it. Obviously, that's going to cost more.

Personally, I would just flush the system with distilled water a couple of times to remove as much of the green as possible, and then fill with Dexcool and move on. There's an engine coolant system drain plug on the bottom of the water pump housing. I've never actually used it, but I know it's there.

 

Thanks for the speedy reply....will do what I can with this. I don't understand people that do shoddy work. I appreciate the advice!