1997 Explorer V6 EFI Cooling Heating Issue

[mwimmer]

Hello All,

Love this forum! I recently bought a 1997 Explorer for my daughter. During my initial drive I noticed the engine would not warm up. The needle would barely get to C. After reading hear I found that they have thermostat issues. I replaced the thermostat and gauge sensor. I also noticed a leak in the radiator and replaced that too. It ran great and the engine would heat up just fine. It would however not heat up in park, or when I drove home from my local mountain where all of the driving is downhill coasting in low gears. Now I am back to square one. The engine will not heat up. The check engine light also came on last night. Don't have the code yet as I don't live close to an AutoZone. Any ideas with this information?

Thanks in advance,

Matt

 

[mwimmer]

Well I have it working again. I read the code and it said the problem was either low coolant, bad thermostat or a bad sensor. I topped off the coolant and that did not fix the problem. Went ahead and replaced the sensor and thermostat again and it seemed to work fine. Not sure why they were bad? I may have the same problem in a month or so. Hope not. Maybe I'll replace the hoses, they seem a bit squishy. How would I know if I had a bad water pump? Any suggestions out there?

Thanks,

Matt