chapsdeva
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- April 27, 2008
- Messages
- 166
- Reaction score
- 1
- City, State
- Richmond, Va
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2015 Limited
My back was finally feeling well enough yesterday to change out the thermostat and hoses since I've been tired of no heat for the past few months. Got the Motorcraft stat from the dealer thinking they'd give me the correct part. OF COURSE that turned out to be false!!! Dealer gave me the wrong thermostat and since it was a Sunday I had to go to the local parts store to get one...which was correct. This is the second straight time that I've gotten parts for the Ex that have been wrong (Was given the wrong brake pads last time)!!!!!
Anyway...a buddy and I got the new stat in with no problems, but then the fun began. I somehow cut the small hose that attaches to the stat housing too short (How I did this I don't know as I used the old hose as a template). We were able to get the new hose on, but it just barely fits. Also, they need to shoot the Ford engineer who decided where to place the trans cooling lines. It was the biggest pain in the butt to get the old lower radiator hose off and the new one on with the trans lines blocking access to get your arm in there. I was getting so frustrated that I finally said "I'm done" and had my buddy do it. (Of course he got the new hose on in 5 minutes that I had been trying to do for 30!!). We got everything buttoned up, filled it with coolant and started it up..fully expecting a leak at the thermostat housing hose due to my brilliant fillet job. Lo and behold, she didn't leak and the temp guage finally reads normal and I have heat!!
However, the fun doesn't end there. After warming up the truck I shut it down and did some clean up. Went to restart the truck and it wouldn't start. Cranked fine but wouldn't fire. We had noticed there was quite a bit of corrosion on the negative battery terminal when we had disconnected it. I removed the cable, cleaned it some more and restarted the truck. She fired right up. Seems weird to me that this was the cause (may not be the more that I think about it), but I'm happy she started.
Heading back to the dealer today in my newly heated Ex to get my money back. God I love working on cars.....
Anyway...a buddy and I got the new stat in with no problems, but then the fun began. I somehow cut the small hose that attaches to the stat housing too short (How I did this I don't know as I used the old hose as a template). We were able to get the new hose on, but it just barely fits. Also, they need to shoot the Ford engineer who decided where to place the trans cooling lines. It was the biggest pain in the butt to get the old lower radiator hose off and the new one on with the trans lines blocking access to get your arm in there. I was getting so frustrated that I finally said "I'm done" and had my buddy do it. (Of course he got the new hose on in 5 minutes that I had been trying to do for 30!!). We got everything buttoned up, filled it with coolant and started it up..fully expecting a leak at the thermostat housing hose due to my brilliant fillet job. Lo and behold, she didn't leak and the temp guage finally reads normal and I have heat!!
However, the fun doesn't end there. After warming up the truck I shut it down and did some clean up. Went to restart the truck and it wouldn't start. Cranked fine but wouldn't fire. We had noticed there was quite a bit of corrosion on the negative battery terminal when we had disconnected it. I removed the cable, cleaned it some more and restarted the truck. She fired right up. Seems weird to me that this was the cause (may not be the more that I think about it), but I'm happy she started.
Heading back to the dealer today in my newly heated Ex to get my money back. God I love working on cars.....
