Explorer Exploded - Thermostat Help?

[Gina]

Well, my 94 finally exploded. He had been acting up a little lately...making an aweful clanging sound while accellerating up a hill, recently accompanied by a flashing Check Engine light.

So, I was driving home from Thanksgiving and something exploded, steaming coolant everywhere, HOT engine. :fire: My Dad came up the next day to replace the exploded part & refill coolant/water.

Now, the aweful clanging is GONE! Could it have been related? To me, it sounded more like a loose timing chain sound not some sort of exploding, overheating coolant problem.

Also, now my engine gets hot REALLY quick. By the time I get to work (4 miles on the freeway) the gauge is almost to H. A friend recommended that I replace my thermostat and I searched the forums and that looks like it may help. Sound good?

I've replaced a thermostat on a 96 Firebird before, but I was just wondering if you guys knew any quick guide links or had any personal experience tips for my 94 X. Any encouragement for me not to sell the X would be good too Thanks guys!

 

[Howard]

Sorry to hear about your x. The noise was probably air bubbles caused by boiling water. Changing the thermostat sounds good to me. Its very straight forward to do.

 

[stubborn1]

What was the exploded part that was replaced?

 

[Doug]

Hopefully there isn't something more serious wrong, sounds like it overheated pretty bad. put to change the t-stat follow the hose coming off the top of the radiator going to the motor, you'll see 3 bolts and the t-stat is right there.

 

[Jason94sport]

You also might not have enough coolant. When I flushed mine I filled it I thought to the max, but after driving it the gauge ran up quick to hot. I had to fill it alot more.

 

[TPLYNCH]

Was the clanging your water pump? If it was, hopefully you didn't lose any impeller parts into the engine, clogging coolant passages. Could also have cracked the heads when it overheated. Try giving the system a good flush, and may as well change the thermostat while you are at it.

 

[V8Exploder]

cross your fingers you didnt blow a head gasket or warp a head ....

 

[Glacier991]

Let me decipher all the good advice and caring comments above for you. The noise could have been several things. If it was the water pump it might have been an impeller hitting something. The impeller is cast and the fear expressed was it something had broken loose. However other than jamming the thermostat open there's little that could hurt. Also, filling a cooling system has gotten more difficult over the years... air gets trapped and you think it is full when it isn't. Often happens oon a drain and refill. Lastly... Explorer heads can be very sensitive to overheating. I'd not lay awake worrying, but keep an eye on things.... in maybe 5-10% of cases like yours problems can arise.

Bottom line... a flush might be a good idea and definitely a thermostat replacement. You should be fine.

yours...

 

[Crankcase]

What exploded?

 

[Glacier991]

I had an explosive hose burst (lower raditator) and I'd swear it was because the thermostat suddenly failed to a closed position.... no proof.... but man..POW!

 

[cifer]

I had the same exact problem. I was going to grandma's for christmas and all of a sudden I hear a pop and steam. I pulled over and found coolant all over the engine. Prior to that, my temp guage would go all the way to red while I was driving, but would eventually go down. Thought I had a bad sensor. After the incident, I changed the thermostat, and all was back to normal. It was an easy install, about 15 mins. Good luck!

 

[Glacier991]

Unfortunately, the 1st Gens have a belt tensioner RIGHT in the way, so it's not a 15 min job.... it's a PITA.

 

[savant]

I changed the thermostat on my 91 a few weeks ago. It's a snap, if you have a universal joint attachment for the ratchet that you're using, and about a 3-5 inch extension. One of the bolts is really hard to get to, it's behind a belt tensioner, and partially hidden behind the metal part of the hose the fits over the thermostat.

So just have an extension and universal joint handy for your 3/8ths ratchet, and it should only take 15-20 minutes to do the whole job.

 

[xmodster3o3]

It took me an hour to replace, damn bolt is hard to get to, I had troble getting it back on but it was worth it.

 

[mydland89]

I have no idea what FORD could be thinking when they "engineer" the position of certain parts on the engine. on my 99 ex, the thermostat is located under the intake black plastic thing..so you need a good socket set with a universal....why does FORD intentinally locate normal maintenance items under and behind stuff????

 

[mydland89]

I have no idea what FORD could be thinking when they "engineer" the position of certain parts on the engine. on my 99 ex, the thermostat is located under the intake black plastic thing..so you need a good socket set with a universal....why does FORD intentinally locate normal maintenance items under and behind stuff????

oh yeah, I also dropped the bolt that goes into the back corner and it fell in between the engine and intake it took me about 1/2 hour just to fish it back out with a magnet......that pissed me off....

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

just wait till you work on chevy's and dodges

lets put the battery in the fender so you have to take the wheel off and inner fender to get it out,

or lets put the battery underneath the windshield washer reservoir so you have to remove the reservoir, and sometimes even the airbox, plus the crossmember over the top of both

 

[Four0Sport]

im glad dodge puts batteries in their fenders and chevy hides them under support bars, relay boxes, washer resovoirs, air boxes, and radiator shrouds.. means i dont have to replace them at work, its a wonderful thing.

"Fast and Free battery and wiper installation.. on most vehicles"

 

[xmodster3o3]

I think they make it hard so people think they can't do it themselfs and just it to the dealer.

 

[goatman]

Had to change the therostat on my '94. Temp was running up in pretty short order. At the risk of insulting your inteligence, the thermostat fails to open. This keeps water from flowing. A simple test is to remove the thermostat and put it into a pot of boiling water. You will see the thermostat open if it's operating correctly.
You can do this job. Yes, one of the bolts is a little tuff to get at. Just take your time. Took me about fourty five minutes. That's including cleaning off the old sealant off the thermostat housing. Remember to use some permatex #2 or some RTV on both sides of the new gasket when re-assembling.
Oh yea, don't sell the "X". You'll miss it.