1996 Explorer XLT 4.0L cooling system issues. | Ford Explorer Forums

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1996 Explorer XLT 4.0L cooling system issues.

hasoan

Member
Joined
September 17, 2009
Messages
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City, State
Westerville, Ohio
Year, Model & Trim Level
1996 Ford Explorer XLT 4L
Hello all, I have looked into this site and read quite a bit, but not posted much.

I finally think I might as well just ask. I'll be as brief as possible with the background:

- Engine overheated mid December. turned on heat, which helped enough to get home (about half a mile)

- reservoir was spilling over. after cooling, reservoir was completely empty.

- figuring i was due for a flush and fill anyway, I took car to a shop without analyzing the situation further. (my first and biggest mistake!)

- shop ultimately replaced the water pump, thermostat, fan clutch, and hoses.

- car still overheated after i got it back, but not as bad. now it was just occasional spikes followed by suddenly cooling way down. In addition, the hoses would leak in a few spots seemingly only when overheating.

- I eventually found the hose to the heater control valve was going in the wrong side of the HCV. switched it and tightened a few loose hose clamps.

So, here's where i'm at now:

- If i run the car without heat on, it will get up to mid-guage temperature and more or less stay there.

- If I turn on the heat at that point, the temperature drops for a few minutes to about 20-25 percent, then slowly rises until about 80 percent. then it suddenly drops down to cool again.

- Leaks seem to be minimal now, but i am concerned about a small pool of coolant that sometimes appears on top of the RH intake manifold. there is also a tiny sporadic leak where the water pump gasket should be, but that I think is not as much of a worry.

-----------------------
Yes, I found other people with similar issues on here, but most of them never come back and tell people what the problem ended up being. And yes, I have tried every method I could find to bleed the system (cap off, cap half-way, jack-up the front), and think that my effort has been sufficient unless there is a SERIOUS design flaw in this vehicle. My only current thoughts at the moment are 1) restricted radiator and/or heater core, or 2) thermostat opening too slow. the new thermo is a stant 195 with jiggle pin. I removed an tested it and it does work, but maybe poorly designed...

So here i am, wondering what to attempt next. Any suggestions? Anything is welcome, even telling me I bled the system wrong the like 20 times I tried :)
 






Just a follow up:
I have not really done anything to fix this issue except avoiding using the heater. However, the strange thing is that warmer weather has decreased the overheating!

As of now my two main suspects are a partially clogged heater core, and/or a slow or too high temp thermostat (although it is the factory listed 195, but not motorcraft)

Anyway, I'll update this if I ever fix it ;)
 






On my 1996 the metal tube coming from the thermostat housing, had deteriorated and had a few pin hole leaks. This left coolant on top of water pump and it looked like it was coming from intake. I ordered a replacement from RockAuto, but the tube they had did not have the correct o.d. for the radiator hose. So then I re-welded the tube and the leak is no longer there. Check your tube.
 






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