is this possible???

[crazymind]

on my 99 4.0 sohc i was changin my coolant temp sensors and the on on the passanger side was just spinning. after taking it off to get a closer look it looks like the brass on the inside stripped out the plastic. what i am wondering is, is it possible to get a hold of the fitting and keep it from moving, or do i have to get a whole new thermostat housing?

 

[BubbaFL]

Very common problem. You'll have to replace the lower housing, and the sensors if you can't get them out.

Search a bit, there are some threads on how to upgrade to a newer style lower housing.

 

[crazymind]

i was afraid of that but thank you sir its much appreciated

 

[apolo607]

I just did mine and had same issue

I just did mine a couple of weeks ago and had same issue. In the inside, there is a brass nut holding the sensor thread, it looks that some plastic of the housing it broke, and allowed the sensor to spin together with the nut.

It looks that is is necesary to break the plastic carefully, in order to be able to hold the nut and get free the sensor without any damage.

I broke my sensor trying to get it free from the housing. Then I took a couple of days more in order to find the correct sensor If I had knew this since beginning, probably I had extract more carefully my sensor in order to avoid breaking it. It is not a hard job but I guess the threadlocker in the sensor thread is doing the tricky part.

Luckly for you, I found my broken sensor and the nut (the one that make us nuts: lol), maybe these pic will help you to understand what it is inside.

 

[crazymind]

i saw the nut from the bottem because i have the housing off to see what was the problem. But what your saying is that i have to break so of the plastic off so i can get a hold of it? if so what do you put threw the hole to grasp it? its only about an inch in diamiter. ive tried needle nose but cant seem to hold onto it.

For the upgraded all i could find was to use a third gen. does that mean all or is there certian years that i have to have? sorry for all the questions my mounty is my dd and as of right now i dont have a car because of it so im just trying to get this figured out asap