Cracked T-stat housing

[Kidd7]

I've been looking on craigslist and have seen a few Mountaineers with a cracked t-stat housing for sale. Is this a common problem? Whats the fix? A new intake?
Also, can anyone address the differences between the 2nd and 3rd generation Mountaineers?
My goal is to replace my 2nd gen and use it as a parts truck, mine is rusted pretty bad from spending its life in Ohio. Thank you.

 

[swshawaii]

One of the most common failures with the 4.0L SOHC engine. Search "lower thermostat housing" in the 1995-01 sub forum.

How To Replace the Upper and Lower Thermostat Housing on a Ford 4.0L V6 SOHC Engine
http://bengrosser.com/howto/fordthermostat/

 

[Kidd7]

What about on the V8s? The Mountaineer I saw today is a 2002 V8.

 

[swshawaii]

Plastic housing on the V6 SOHC only. The 5.0L V8 is definitely the preferred engine for MANY reasons. Search.

 

[koda2000]

Plastic housing on the V6 SOHC only. The 5.0L V8 is definitely the preferred engine for MANY reasons. Search.

I second that opinion. the engine and the transmissions on the V8's are much better and less problem prone.

 

[RomeovilleIL]

The 2002 4.6L is a 3rd gen truck. The engine is completely different from the 5.0 v8 used in the second gens. Check the 3rd gen forum.

 

[swshawaii]

HUGE difference between Gen 2 & 3, thanks Romeoville.

Great site to compare up to four vehicles side-by-side.
http://www.cars.com/go/compare/index.jsp

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Explorer/

 

[drdoom]

The Ford eExplorer page on Wikipedia explains the differences pretty well.

 

[MarkZ28]

The 4.6 had a very common problem of the plastic intake cracking and losing coolant out the crossover in the front of the engine. If its cracked theres a replacement intake with aluminum crossover to prevent cracking. They switched to an aluminum intake later.

 

[koda2000]

FYI, I'd stay away from the 2002 Explorer/Mountaineer. carcomplaints.com rated it "worst of the worst"s. they were known to have transmission problems.