thermostat housing

[BHayes82]

Hey guys I got a problem with a coolant leak in my 1998 nissan altima. I just bought the car used. I pressure tested it and saw coolant coming from two hoses and I snugged and positioned them better and seemed to do the trick. It held 13 lbs for 5 minutes. Next morning I come out and coolant leak again. I then realized the coolant leak was coming from the thermostat housing contraption. My t stat was acting up anyway so i replaced it hoping that would do the trick. It didnt. I cleaned both mating surfaces good, and had a good solid bead of gasket made. Anyway I need to know what the two small hoses that go into the housing are for and if anyone knows the sizes? Im going to take off the whole housing assembly and replace all the hoses. Hopefully Im not getting in too deep because I am an amateur at best. Thanks for the help!

[Timothy S]

The Thermostat housing/ water distribution box has three hoses comming into it on the back. one carries coolant from the head through the pipe under the intake manifold. the other two hoses go to the the heater core in the dashbord. There is also a large elbow hose in front going to the water pump pipe.