CRD Thermostat Replacement Question
 

This is embarassing, I should know this, and maybe at one time I did but simply forgot, so help me out here please?

I am about to do a coolant flush and replacement with new Zerex G-05. I thought I would use the change to swap out the old themostat for the new one I have in my spares box. The new one has a new gasket of course. I have consulted the Service Manual (Section 7) and it does mention using a new gasket, but it doesn't mention whether it has to be cemented in place somehow or just used dry.
So if you have done this lately, or remember better than I, how do I treat the thermostat gasket (the one between the thermostat housing and the block), does it need something applied to it, or just torque it down as it comes out of the little plastic envelope?

Maybe I will find out when I remove the old one, and can see it it was held in place with something, but it will be too late to go and get something if I need it then. Maybe I go get some gasket sealant before I start?
Advice?

DOH!!
Search is my friend, it is mentioned in this old LOST thread. Apparently the gasket is applied dry....

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB...p?f=98&t=64568

If you disagree let me know...soon. I Don't know if I agree with the idea of greasing it though.

Install dry.
You could use a small/tiny spot of grease to hold it in place while you fit everything together if you really want to but not needed.
Grease and water/coolant don't always mix well so to save any grief IMO make the tiny spot of grease - tiny

Just did mine on the weekend.
The one on it was pretty well stuck on .
Had to get it off with a blade.
Mine thermostat didn't come with gasket.
Made a gasket from the cardboard on the high temp black silicone I bought.
Thin layer on each side. And all seems good so far. I even have a hot heater finally.
A bit back country but that's me. :)

Sent from my ZTE T84 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the info. I did the job today, while I was flushing and changing coolant. I still marvel at the absolute horrible job that someone did designing that thermostat solution for the CRD. How simple would it have been to have a removable top section and a drop in thermostat, like so many others going back decades. I know that some of the LOST guys came up with an inline thermostat, that sits in the hose path to the radiator; not great but way better than the stock design.
As usual, I did it the hard way, because I wanted to check out the intake hose bend and put some anti-chaff silicon tape on some of the hoses that rub a little. So that meant pulling the air box, the intake and turbo boost hose to the intercooler, and all those little hoses that dance around the thermostat and viscous heater. All good.

Note about that intake hose, from the air box neck to the turbo inlet: if your still running oil mist and blowby gases from the crank case ventilation puck into the inlet hose (an original pollution control design), then there is a good chance that oil will degrade the inlet hose over time. The inlet hose has been known to crack down at the 90 degree bend where it goes into the turbo. So performance issues result, the engine sucking in unfiltered air through the crack, and pushing recycled crankcase mist onto the intercooler where it pools and eventually shoots oil into ths engine intake manifold through the EGR flow control valve where it mixes with the recycled exhaust soot and produces CRD mud which coats the inside of the intake passages degrading performance over time; little stuff like that, so you can see it is important. A Provent prevents this problem, and others, by taking the blow-by crankcase gases through a filter and then the oil is separated out for collection, and the gases can be returned to the intake, or or just vented to atmo (which is what I have always done).