Torque setting for thermostat housing

[Trev_]

Hi,
I have a 2005 2.0DI 100PS RHD FWD SWB Transit van and I got the torque setting for the three bolts for the thermostat housing from:

https://workshop-manuals.com/ford/trans ... q-di_(puma)_diesel-2.0l_duratorq-tdci_(puma)_diesel-2.0l_duratorq-tddi_(puma)_diesel/

and it says they should be 10 Nm (bottom image) however when I tried to tighten them up two of the encapsulated nuts became loose and I had to remove the entire housing to get it apart by removing the encapsulated nuts and replacing them with standard nut/bolt combinations (as a temporary fix).

I have a replacement housing, but I am wondering if the 10 Nm is correct as it seems to be a bit high for nuts encapsulated in plastic (or was my thermostat housing possibly previously damaged or degraded by age).

I've checked my torque wrench and by using mass, distance and gravity (F=ma, with gravity a=9.81) to calculate the approximate torque I'm getting (taking into account the mass of the torque wrench) when set to 10 Nm and I appear getting very close to the correct measurement so it looks like the torque wrench is OK.

Has anyone else had the same problem or should I assume that thermostat housing was bad.

Best regards
Trev

[twin--turbo]

10nm is nothing, it's nipped tight with a small ratchet. I assume most people don't even bother with a torque wrench as getting an accurate one that low is expensive. Usualy it's tightern down till it lands and then a nip up.

TT

[Trev_]

Hi,
After taking it off I noticed that it says on the housing 8-11 Nm so it should have been OK.
I guess the reason it wasn't much more than finger tight when I initially removed the thermostat was because someone had already knackered it and somehow managed to loosen it again, it must have happened years ago as the rubber had perished on the thermostat that I changed.
Considering all the other bodges that I'm having to fix on the van I shouldn't have been surprised to find something else.
Best Regards
Trev