Thermostat housing

[Justin Loden]

Is it possible to crack the thermostat housing? I was changing out the gauge sensor and as I was tightening it down I heard a small pop. I thought is was just the nut tightening. After I filled it up with coolant though I noticed the housing was leaking. It was not doing this before. It's leaking from behind where the sensor screws in. I used plumbers tape on the sensor and I can tell that it's not coming from the sensor. I literally didn't touch anything else though. Any ideas?

 

[zoomlater]

Did you torque it to a certain number, it looks like the sensor is suppose to be torqued betweem 12 to 17 ft/lbs. The thermostat housing nuts are only 5 to 7 ft/lbs. I had not heard of one cracking, I would have thought it would have stripped if you over tightened it