4.0 SOHC plastic thermostat housing | Page 3 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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4.0 SOHC plastic thermostat housing

Hello, I have an issue with the housing thermostat, the first one (original ) it has a huge leak so I replaced, but over of a year the new starting with a small leak and big leak, so I decide to buy a new one from different vendor but now started the leak again! so now I don't know where can I buy it from or where should I buy.... any body can help me.

Thanks in advance.

Where is it leaking from? I ordered an aftermarket replacement housing for mine about 2 months ago on ebay n its worked fine for me with no leaks. I recommend you use #2 Permatex non-hardening sealant on the o-rings n seals and that should help it seal better and prevent any leaks. Make sure the surface/block of the engine is clean when you reinstall the part and I would use a little bit of sealant on there as well. You can use a Scotchbrite pad or sandpaper to clean the surface. Hope this helps
 



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I, too, ordered an aftermarket housing for my '98 SOHC and did the swap a few wks ago. So far, all is well. Saved myself a boatload of money as the local shop diagnosed the leak as being an external leak from a blown headgasket. Did notice the previous one was not the original...so, I'm guessing this is the third one in the 150K miles on the truck.

I ordered a spare O-ring gasket ahead of receiving the replacement t-stat housing...but, the housing came with one that fit better than the one I bought. It was thick enough and pliable enough that I didn't think gasket sealer was necessary. Hope I don't come to regret that this winter when it's too cold to work on it.

While on the subject of replacing these, I found on my truck that it was going to be near impossible to remove the housing without removing the Upper Intake and either the Lower intake or alternator & alternator mtg bracket on the front of the block that hid the clips that secured the smaller wiring harness that ran snugly across the top of the housing. The former so I could gently lift the housing straight up without breaking off the three plastic tabs on the bottom of the old housing and having to fish them out of the block. The latter so I could gain enough slack in the wiring harness in order to lift the housing upwards. With this stuff out of the way, it was easy to position the new t-stat housing and the bottom gasket evenly on the block before tightening down the three securing bolts. No chance of the gasket getting slightly misaligned under the housing.
 






I can't attached the picture to show you where, and I can't explain, normally the housing works very well the 10 or 12 months pass that time start the leak, did you buy with any special specification?
 












Just did this job. Two hours, $100, not too bad. Make sure you get the RG-614 gasket.

Also, the DORMAN sensor clips worked perfectly at a fraction of the cost of the Ford ones.
 






So much for mine not leaking after I thought I had solved my leakage problem with a new Four Seasons t-stat housing. It started to leak again after just 2 wks. Went with the Motorcraft lower housing this time and reused the original style top cover. Just got back from a 175 mile trip and no sign of leakage or pooling in the valley on top of the engine. Hopefully, this time it will stick and I can focus on other projects that need to be done before the cold weather arrives.

For those of you who might be tempted to buy the Four Seasons (or, Dorman for that matter) housing ass'y, don't waste your time or money.
 






I think my 98 sohc is showing that problem, the truck was givin to me in such good shape that its my project truck. mostly front end, brakes, I put a gasket kit in the tranny 179k and it started shifting fine. but I saw what I think is a slow leak from the cooling sys. thank you guys and gals for these great posts. it helps this new guy figure these little problems out and thanks to you,make it easyer.
 






As you've read in the post before yours, do the RH144 upgrade from the OP. Follow the instructions linked
in post #24 to the letter, and be aware of the 89 inch/lb. (7-8 ft/lbs.) torque spec for both OEM housings.
 






Sorry to bring back an old post but our 99 Sport leaks some coolant on the ground when the weather is cold & I have to pressure test the cooling system to see if the lower housing is where it is leaking from. I did find that Rock Auto now has a complete upper & lower housing, thermostat, & the sensors all together & you just have to bolt it on the engine & hook up the hoses. Here is the link; https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6755504&cc=1354542&jsn=552&jsn=552
 






OK, thanks to this thread, I did this with the RH144 water manifold. Success.

1997 XLT AWD (4.0L sohc)


Some things:

1) I couldn't for the life of me, find a new motorcraft water neck, so I re-used my old one. Anyone have any idea what part number it is. Reading it off the part itself identifies it, but no place I could find sells it.

2) Dorman makes the retainer clips in a pack of two for about $9.

3) That wire bundle for the cam sensor runs so tight over the plastic water manifold, it's a *****. If I ever have to do this again, I'll cut the two wires and flay them out of the way, and put them together again with insulated spade connectors...Not ideal. But bad enough I might take my chances.

-Peter
 






That wire harness IS a *****. I didn't even mess with trying to work around it without removing the alternator, alternator mtg brkt and tensioner so I could release the retaining clip from the front of the block to allow some slack. My fear by not going about it this way was that it would be extremely risky lifting that lower t-stat housing straight up and out without breaking off one or two or three of the plastic tabs on the bottom of the housing and have them fall into the block.

Anyway, congrats on a good job! Saved yourself a few hundred bucks!
 






Well...after successfully swapping my t-stat housing to the upgraded Motorcraft style just over 2 yrs and 30K miles ago, it's developed another significant leak somewhere around the new housing (not the hoses) now that it has gotten colder outside (naturally...sigh). I've just about had it with this issue. After a failed initial attempt with a Four Seasons housing (didn't know any better at the time), I really thought this would be my last time having to mess with it. Why can't Ford (or, anyone else for that matter) make a freakin' housing that doesn't leak? Now, with sub-zero temps forecast for the end of the week, a busy schedule beforehand and no heated garage to work in, I may just pull the battery and let it sit until Spring. Sheesh....

Thanks for letting me rant!!!
 






Stay warm there, it's natural for every annoying job to happen when it's bitter cold out. I just brought home another SE Mark VII yesterday. It looks great, but has lots of gremlins. For a 53k mile car I was hoping to not have to do much to it, the radiator is bad evidently I see today(1.5 gallons of coolant is gone after adding it yesterday). It's not very cold here yet, but my work truck(SOHC 4.0) is first to do in my garage.

Have fun there, even a used T-stat housing from a 2002+ model might be better than the aftermarket brands.
 






I usually get 3 to 4 years out of Dorman ones. At 30 bucks each its worth it. Luckily it's a quick job on the latter gen you don't have to pull the intake to get at it.
 






Quote: "You don't need to pull the intake to get at it."

I'm not convinced of that. Possibly the top half could be removed with a lot of patience; although I tried getting a wrench on the rearward bolt of that and couldn't get a good grip on it...let alone try to re-torque it. If the entire housing needs to be replaced, I found there was no way to lift that up and off without removing the upper intake and loosening the wiring pigtail that ran snugly over the top of the housing. In order to do that, I had to also remove the alternator, alternator mtg bracket and tensioner pulley to release the retaining clip on the front of the block to gain some slack. Anyway, I suppose I'll play it safe and buy another Motorcraft RF144 lower housing to install as long as I'm in there.
 






If I have to do this job again, I’m cutting the cam sensor wires, and soldering them back together with an extension in their length.

-Peter
 






Yeah...I thought about doing that at the time: but, then figured it wasn't necessary as this would be the last time I'd have to deal with it before the truck eventually self-destructed (afterall, it is a SOHC). Should have followed my initial hunch.....
 






Wow, you're giving me inspiration on doing my SOHC valvetrain again. I hadn't touched it since I did that in 2006 the first time, 75k miles ago. I hope it doesn't fight me much this time either, I replaced all of the rubber parts in front, WP too. I guess it's time to do it all again.
 









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Did this job yesterday, so thanks to all for the write-ups and tips. My #1 suggestion?

If you have the crankcase wire over the top of the thermo housing, then go ahead and remove the alternator, idler pulley, tensioner, and alternator bracket. It's pretty quick to remove them, relatively, and with all that gone it makes it much easier to access the housing itself anyway, as well as access the CKPS plug.

I made the mistake of watching videos rather than coming here first, and none of the videos I found had the wire running over the housing.
 






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