The torque specs in the manual seem high for the thermostat housing. Are they correct?
NO!! Both the factory service manuals as well as the Hypertech documentation are INCORRECT with regards to the thermostat housing bolt torque. If you follow the incorrect specs (which are 3 times more torque than what is correct), you will either strip the threads out of the soft aluminum waterpump, or you will break the heads off of the tiny 5mm bolts! The manual states that they are supposed to take 21 ft-lbs of torque, which is far to high for the size and material of the bolts. The correct specification for torque on the thermostat housing bolts (as found in the ’96 Y-car (Corvette) service manual) is 10 n/m or 89 in-lbs, which would be 7.42 ft-lbs. Back to the index…
