2001 explorer overheating

[guywithaford]

my explorer just started almost overheating, it nearly redlines, holds for a minute or two, then the temp will drop and hold then nearly redline.
when i park i can hear bubbling or boiling around the t-stat housing.
any ideas as to what might be going on?
is it possible to check the T-stat or water pump with out removing them?
how difficult is it to change the t-stat? the water pump?

concurrent with this issue the transmission(auto) started shifting very hard from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd. never has the transmission felt this way. i checked the fluid and it is ok. could this be related to the overheating?
i noticed them both on the same day. could they be related?

any help would be great, it is my sole source of transportation and it has been great for the entire 132k miles. i have worked on previous vehichles so i feel comfortable tackling a t-stat. water pump hmm? just depends i guess.

thanks
chris

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! It sounds like you have a jammed thermostat. Replace the thermostat, then replace the transmission fluid, and filter once you are sure that the overheating problem is fixed.

 

[scucci]

when the explorer overheats it goes into limp home mode. This includes low power, sluggish performance and delayed-harsh shifting, high idle speeds.

As brooklynBay said, replace the thermostat. Then see if all the other symptoms go away.

Scucci