4.0 SOHC plastic thermostat housing | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

4.0 SOHC plastic thermostat housing

snookered

New Member
Joined
December 17, 2008
Messages
6
Reaction score
2
City, State
Louisiana
Year, Model & Trim Level
1998 Explorer XLT (FREE!)
JOEZ33-
"Work in progress update: I received the RH144 lower housing. It should work fine, and uses TWO sensors just like the original- however they are a "push in" style sensor instead of the original "screw in" sensors. This means I gotta buy two new sensors.

Here's a breakdown of the parts needed to make this all work. RH144 (lower housing) $37, RG-614 (lower seal) $5, SW6146 (temp switch) $19, DY1004 (temp sensor) $22, sensor locking clips $7 each, and your old thermostat will drop right into the new housing.

By doing this it will be upgraded to a 2002 Sport trac version of the coolant housing. My old one is starting to leak around the metal sleeve that holds the threads which the threaded sensors screw into. The upgraded one no longer uses threads, and eliminates that possibility of leaks.

Again remember- I have NOT completed this modification yet, but am committed to following through. I'll keep posted on any new information."

"ALL FINISHED

It worked out perfectly. Cost me about $100 instead of 300. Now I'm also upgraded to the new style design which should last even longer than the original.

Just so everyone knows, DO NOT use the RH165 outlet/upper half it will NOT fit. It has the wrong angle and the hose will not line up. What you have to do is pop the brass bushings out of the old upper outlet so that it will fit on the new lower housing. The new lower housing has the alignment bushings protruding upward and into the upper half. It fits perfectly, if you want a new top half then buy one for the old style 1998 and then pop the bushings out.

Basically to recap, the stock lower housing was cracked and FORD only sells it as a huge Friking assembly with all kinds of unneeded parts like the sensors, upper half, thermostat and charges over $300 for it, AFTER they order it and mark it up 100% like all stealerships. They really need to sell the 1998 lower half by itself just like the one I bought.

My answer to ford was to buy just the new style lower half for $37, ONLINE and not at a stealership. Then I transferred the existing thermostat, upper half and upper seal from the old to the new housing. The new RH144 lower housing uses o-ring style push in temp sensors. This forced me to buy two new sensors. The new sensors don't screw in, they push in and use a metal spring clip to hold them in.

Those metal clips are only sold at the dealer, which is why they cost $7.00 each! They are basically about 1/4 the size of a paper clip and made of spring steel. All they do is slide into a slot that holds the temp sensors from popping out. They look like something you'd find in the "Help" section of the parts store for 50 cents."
**********************************************************

I think this fix is worthy of being a sticky. Moderators?

Part from dealership- $300+

JOEZ33 repair- $100

Quotes taken from http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174531&page=2
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Well my vote is obviously for adding this as a sticky. There have been numerous posts questioning this repair, since this part is now starting to break on all of our late 90's SOHC engines. So far every post I've seen ends up with someone buying a used junkyard thermostat housing that's just waiting to fail.

I'm all for upgrading to new design improvements, especially while saving $200 at the same time/only paying 1/3 of the expected cost.

Mine's still working great, made a few trips to the keys so far with no problems.
 






part number please

I like this idea, and I only lack the friggin' clips. My local "stealership" doesn't know of any clips. Or so they say... Did you order these from the dealer? If so, do you have the part no. or can you find one? Not too pleased with Ford at the moment as I am sure you weren't. Any help is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.
 






That's a very good upgrade, well done.
 






I like this idea, and I only lack the friggin' clips. My local "stealership" doesn't know of any clips. Or so they say... Did you order these from the dealer? If so, do you have the part no. or can you find one? Not too pleased with Ford at the moment as I am sure you weren't. Any help is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.


I ended up getting the switch from the dealer since I needed to get the retaining clips there. The dealer cross-referenced the numbers I gave her and came up with these - also available at: http://www.directfordparts.com/

Part Number: XS2Z10884AA SENDER ASSY - WATER $20.12
(Part number 3F1Z10884AA was superceded by part number XS2Z10884AA.)

Part Number: W706800S303 Cooling - Radiator and components - Temp sensor - Clip - 4.0 liter 2005 - 2008 $4.14

Switch looks like this

Note the tab on the top, right of center. The grey sensor has the tab in the middle. That prevents you from crossing cables and plugging them in wrong.

I have it back together now, drove it 50 miles with no coolent leaks. :)
But I did have a check engine light this morning. PO171 and PO174 codes (too lean), so I now must have an air leak somewhere. :(

Yoopergonzo
 






Here's the Ford part # for the metal clip that EACH push-in sensor requires:

Ford part# (qty=1 / $7.00) : W706800-S303 ("Retainer" F AR-52-AA)

The clip looks similar to the outline of an upside down Guinness Beer Mug !
 






I just completed upgrading my '98 Explorer 4.0L SOHC and it works great! I have had a slow leak for the past six months and replaced hoses, thermostat and water inlet housing with no luck. I was able to see a visible crack between the sensor mounts thanks to JOEZ33 post.

The hardest thing to get was the clip. If I knew what it looked like beforehand I would have bent some paper clips and saved the freight charges. It looks like you could form a "U" roughly 1/2" across and the bend the ends to keep it in place.

Thanks JOEZ33!!
 






Just did mine last week, so far so good! :thumbsup:

Joe
 






Can anyone possibly find a picture or a rough MS pain diagram of the retainer clip? The dealership told me this morning that all the parts would be available for pickup tomorrow when I paid for them. Then an hour later I get a call saying they are on back order so I canceled them since my truck is a DD.

I was going to do the paper-clip trick instead of waiting a week.


Thank-you in advance,

Tim :roll:
 






The clip kind of looks like this:

| . . . . |
| . . . . |
| . . . . |
\ . . . ./
.|____|

Ignore periods... wouldn't format without them...

Or this picture:

http://www.monarchycatering.com/products/images/guinness-beer-glass-12-tulip-500ml-l.jpg

Before you put the housing in the truck, play with a paper clip and the sensors. The slot in the sensor and openings in the housing just needs support on both sides to keep it in place. The base of the "mug" lets you easily pull it out with a screwdriver tip once installed.

So they're still not in stock... I bet all the mechanics are using paper clips instead of ordering the part!
 






Check to see if it's not the same clip as used in two other places, meaning any SOHC will have them. The sensor on top of the left VC behind the oil fill cap has the steel clip I'm talking about, that would be easy to get from any salvage yard SOHC. The other clip identical to it is on the crank sensor, to the right side of the balancer, which you won't get to easily.
 

Attachments

  • Clip for sensor.JPG
    Clip for sensor.JPG
    29 KB · Views: 16,681






all you guys that has that plug and clamp sensors lucky you those thermostat housing dont cost as much as those factory sealed bolt type like the one i got just for the lower thermostat housing cost me 345 scrips but it was worth every bit of it labor took me about 4 HRs
 






I appreciate the quick replies, I'll see how it goes tomorrow when the sensors come in.

Thanks again.
 






Alright so, the paper-clips seem to work (pictures coming soon) however I have the older upper housing and from what I have read you are suppose to pop the bushings out of the upper? I just want to make sure because the lower has bushings that stick out... Also what tool did you use to pop the bushings out of the top housing?


Thank-you,

Tim
 






Alright so, the paper-clips seem to work (pictures coming soon) however I have the older upper housing and from what I have read you are suppose to pop the bushings out of the upper? I just want to make sure because the lower has bushings that stick out... Also what tool did you use to pop the bushings out of the top housing?


Thank-you,

Tim

When i did mine i popped the bushings out of the upper, then the upper fits on lower perfectly. I guess it really wouldn't matter though. I used a small socket and a hammer to push mine out.
 






I ended up using a drill bit and my cordless to get the bushings out. damn plastic almost melted though. :p:

Alright, so I am on my way to finishing all that. Thanks again. :D
 






Check to see if it's not the same clip as used in two other places, meaning any SOHC will have them. The sensor on top of the left VC behind the oil fill cap has the steel clip I'm talking about, that would be easy to get from any salvage yard SOHC. The other clip identical to it is on the crank sensor, to the right side of the balancer, which you won't get to easily.

They are not the same clips as these, although they do work in the same manner.
 






Ok, eventful day. :rolleyes:

I ended up putting everything together (was changing alternator at the same time) and ended up stripping and breaking the serpentine belt tensioner.

So, pictures are postponed until I know that they actually work... may end up just ordering the clips to be on the safe side if I have to wait for the tensioner. :roll:
 






You can use a tensioner from a parts store, just call a couple of stores first. Don't settle for the cheapest, the tensioner needs to be a high quality part.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





I ended up using a drill bit and my cordless to get the bushings out. damn plastic almost melted though. :p:
I pulled the metal sleeves out of the new lower housing, pretty easy.

Joe
 






Back
Top