SO Glad I replaced my thermostat.

[AtTheDriveIn]

Yeah I'm being facetious.


So I previously posted about how a local mechanic tried porking me on R&Ring wheel bearings. Well I'm happy to report I replaced them myself and it was painless and easy! The hardest part of the whole job was finding a secure place to jack the truck up!


Well I wish I could say things went happily ever after but you see I'm supposed to be at work right now. Instead I'm at home pretty banged and bruised up from trying to replace the thermostat. After I got my truck back from the shop, it's been overheating. When I went to go pick it up, the battery was dead, three fuses were pulled from the cabin fuse panel, a relay that controlled the coolant fan was pulled and the truck was overheating. Apparently the mechanic at the car shop wasn't happy that I decided not to do business with them. I put the relay and fuses back to their proper place and I thought everything was hunky dory...Um nope...The truck overheated on me on my way to work and I managed to limp it back to PepBoys and purchase a new thermostat, gasket and coolant. The Manager of the PepBoys was quite amused at my story and said it's quite common of this mechanic to sabotage cars to try to make some extra cash. (How nice huh?)

I bought a new thermostat since the current one was stuck closed and would NOT circulate any coolant whatsoever. Funny, this truck never overheated until I brought it to that damned shop.

Anyways I replaced the thermostat, filled up the radiator and surprise! It's leaking coolant around the thermostat housing. I don't get it...I didn't over-tighten the bolts and I put the thermostat and gasket in there properly.

What gives? Oh and yes I will be reporting that shop to the BBB once I get my X back on the road here....UGH

 

[swshawaii]

Very common failure with the 4.0 SOHC. Upgrade to the newer lower thermostat housing and sensors.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239493

 

[AtTheDriveIn]

Very common failure with the 4.0 SOHC. Upgrade to the newer lower thermostat housing and sensors.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239493

Figures. I forgot things like these were the reason why I drove antique vehicles. While your idea is a great one, I think I'm going to get some gasket sealer tomorrow and clean the whole housing + bolt areas and seal it with that. I just really need this truck up and running in a hurry.

...Unbelievable. Just think some turd got a promotion/raise for that thermostat idea.

 

[swshawaii]

They almost always leak from the seams. The plastic lower housings are sonically welded and known to split. The earlier housings also had an issue with the threaded inserts fracturing when you loosen the sensors. Hopefully yours will hold up long term if you manage to to seal it. I used two part epoxy that worked for two weeks. Solution was a new housing. Good luck.

 

[kythri]

Very common failure with the 4.0 SOHC. Upgrade to the newer lower thermostat housing and sensors.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239493

Dumb question:

Why would you do this, instead of just buying a new lower housing for your year/make/model at the parts store and keep your existing sensors?

Seems that you'd save a fair chunk of change by doing so...

 

[swshawaii]

Actually a very good question. The sensor o-rings get flattened over time and don't seal properly. Every person here that attempted to reuse them had leaks, or at minimum weeping sensors. I needed my ST running that day and searched in vain
to find replacement o-rings without success. Ford dealer only sells the ECT sensors or temp gauge senders complete. After
further research I found these NAPA replacements that may possibly work. And I agree, OEM sensors are very overpriced.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...er-Dryer-Hose-O-Ring/_/R-TEM407105_0451843321

 

[AtTheDriveIn]

They almost always leak from the seams. The plastic lower housings are sonically welded and known to split. The earlier housings also had an issue with the threaded inserts fracturing when you loosen the sensors. Hopefully yours will hold up long term if you manage to to seal it. I used two part epoxy that worked for two weeks. Solution was a new housing. Good luck.

I don't get why making a gasket around it wouldn't work? Would the pressure of it just blow it out and make it leak?

I really just love how a piece of plastic that probably costs 20 cents to make is the reason why my vehicle isn't on the road right now.

 

[swshawaii]

Not the mating surfaces that leak, it's the housing SEAMS that split. Do a search, many failures.

 

[AtTheDriveIn]

Not the mating surfaces that leak, it's the housing SEAMS that split. Do a search, many failures.

Oh, and it's not visible because it's probably tiny hairline cracks right? Idk I might've gotten lucky and it might actually be leaking by the seams because it looked like I didn't put it together right. When I took the housing off, I had the gasket pinched in between the housing. I put gasket sealer on it and torqued the housing back down. I'm going to wait 24 hours for it to cure and pray for the best.

 

[swshawaii]

Understand you're trying to save money, but do you enjoy doing temporary fixes? Seriously, I hope it seals. Good luck.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=410392

 

[AtTheDriveIn]

Understand you're trying to save money, but do you enjoy doing temporary fixes? Seriously, I hope it seals. Good luck.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=410392

It depends on how long it lasts. Even though I'm 29, I'm very old-school and I refuse to throw parts at problems. Yep I bought cheap hubs and you definitely get what you pay for. But if I get 6 months out of those cheap hubs I'm happy. (Don't forget everything's made in China nowadays.) I don't want to drop a large sum of money on the thermostat housing until I can pinpoint exactly where it's leaking from (If it leaks.) and if a $3 tube of gasket sealer can seal the leak, I'm definitely happy. Man if I could get 2 weeks out of that fix, I'd be happy. But I'm a cynic and I know that within an hour I'll be coming back on here saying that it's leaking since that's just how my life goes lol.

 

[AtTheDriveIn]

I drove it today for an hour and there's no leaking whatsoever...Let's hope this actually lasts...

...Tomorrow, the passenger side wheel bearing!