Can someone please tell me what goes on the engine block first?

The gasket or the Tstat?

The Haynes book shows the gasket goes in first on a 3.9L 95 Dakota but I did not notice any gasket material under the original Tstat when I removed it.

I know the Tstat goes in first on my Ford.

If the gasket goes in first, it is hard to center the Tstat because the gasket fills in the indention in the engine block.

 

The t stat goes on first on your dakota also. Thats how I have been doing it anyway. Theres a little indent that you had mentions that it falls right into, then I normally smear a little gasket maker around it with my fingers and drop the gasket inplace. Then I put the houseing back on and bolt the whole works in place.

 

Thanks erock92kota!

That's exactly what I thought. The doggone Haynes book shows the opposite in the pics (even shows the indention) and it gives no instruction. I know some vehicles are different but on those vehicles the indention is probably in the goose neck.

 

I made my tstat gasket out of a cereal box. Just trace the housing, mark where the bolt holes need to be, and use a hole punch for the holes. When you install it use a little gasket cement/sealer on both sides and bolt the housing in place. It works great, mine has been on my truck for 60,000 miles, doesn't leak at all! And it's cheap! Sucks, this one of only a select few gaskets you can make out of a cereal box, most of the other gaskets need to hold way more pressure than a tstat. I did this with my dakota, my acclaim, and my sundance (8,6,&4 cylinder respectively).

 

I have made many a gasket with cereal boxes. Throttle body gaskets, t-stat gaskets. I wouldnt do that on like an exhaust manifold or something like that, but its work really good on other things.