thermostat installation order

[hcooperrn]

Fought an overheating issue over the weekend; in the driveway, with a diy adapter feeding water straight from garden hose into the intake line, temp steadily climbed every time. Took it to the lake and backed it in, started it up, perfect, ran it hard for 20 minutes, actually a little on the cool side.

New impeller (checked 4 times), new thermostat (twice), temps confirmed by IR gun, no junk in the trans cooler strainer, good flow out the FAE.

In looking at a parts diagram this morning, I finally noticed something different. When I replaced my thermostat, it was installed just like a car; directly against the intake manifold. The white spacer (I have a spare already) is crammed up inside the thermostat housing. I guess I assumed this was correct, but according the diagram on PerfProTech, it looks like the thermostat should be up inside the housing? Meaning that water coming up through the block can go out through the diverter plastic?

Just looking to the collective wisdom here; what is the proper installation order??? Thanks!

[hcooperrn]

Kept digging and think I answered my own question; it was installed wrong. The correct installation top down is housing, thermostat, gasket, sleeve, gasket to intake, right?

I think it also makes sense as to why I'm running so cool, it was only getting to about 120*, because it was simply free-flowing through the top of the housing out instead of running into the t-stat and more going back to the engine.

Hopefully this will make it run right on the fake a lake as well with a stable temp, I would think that a hose should be enough of a supply, I don't have terrible water pressure and it was flowing out of the exhaust well.