spewing coolant below thermostat

[XtremeRanger]

its actually 60-70 bucks and the ect sensor has a clip that holds it to the housing....its easy to unclip and put it on the new housing

AH that must be y they are $60.....the one for my moms 98 SOHC was $200 at a discount and it came with 2 sensors and a new thermosts....I hope they are $60, i think i may have to replace theone on my GF's....

 

[gijoecam]

went fine man. just cleaned off lower housing area and put a little gasket glue. i had to reuse the therm gasket and worked just fine. Just make sure the upper house is getting hot. That way you know its opening up the thermostat. the coolant i had said i could mix with either red or green coolant. good luck. its pretty easy and i'm no pro. Oh and theirs a little seaper on the top of the therm where the wire plugs in. it will leak a little at times. Its supposed to. Mine just did in beginning.

It's NOT supposed to leak any coolant. EVER!! It's a closed system.

 

[John McIntyre]

Leaking Thermostat housing.

Ford made a bad design with the thermostat housing and how it connects to the top of the motor. Using a small O ring and then bolting the plastic housing to the top of the motor is goofy. IT leaks. I am in the process of fabricating a thick hard rubber gasket for this and hopefully this will solve the problem.

 

[gijoecam]

Ford made a bad design with the thermostat housing and how it connects to the top of the motor. Using a small O ring and then bolting the plastic housing to the top of the motor is goofy. IT leaks. I am in the process of fabricating a thick hard rubber gasket for this and hopefully this will solve the problem.

Why is that a bad design, exactly? There's an x-ring (double-lipped o-ring) that seals it to the block and that seal works fabulously. It's about $5 from any Ford dealer. Why take the time to fabricate something Ford's already made several million of successfully??

 

[fordbluefamily]

Unless your talking about the housing top where you put in the thermostat. Those can take a day or two to dry up completely after opening it. I find that by driving through a few heat cycles, then tighten it again, it will stop.

 

[gijoecam]

Unless your talking about the housing top where you put in the thermostat. Those can take a day or two to dry up completely after opening it. I find that by driving through a few heat cycles, then tighten it again, it will stop.

Every time you open it, you need to replace the o-ring. (That's just a conventional round o-ring) That's why the Motorcraft thermostats come with a new o-ring seal for the housing halves.

-Joe

 

[XtremeRanger]

Just an update to this post for anone that does a search.

The housing for the 02^ V6 SOHC is $60 from rockauto.com.... its called the "lower thermostat housing" and yes it is a motorcraft part.....

 

[clarks2001]

Picture?

I have a pic of said item. I have to get mine done soon lol
So the sensor is that thing with the wires coming out of the top i am assuming. Is it a simple pinch and pull thing or do i need to use a socket to get that part the plastic thing is attached to unscrewed? Is the lower housing simple to replace or as easy as changing the thermostat?
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr32/clarks2001/DSC02887.jpg

 

[John McIntyre]

I have a pic of said item. I have to get mine done soon lol
So the sensor is that thing with the wires coming out of the top i am assuming. Is it a simple pinch and pull thing or do i need to use a socket to get that part the plastic thing is attached to unscrewed? Is the lower housing simple to replace or as easy as changing the thermostat?
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr32/clarks2001/DSC02887.jpg

 

[John McIntyre]

The Picture looks similar to mine, but not the exact same. The sensors you show look the same as mine. The just press in and are held with a little retaining clip only. When I put in the new lower housing unit the senors I put in were not as tight a fit as the old unit and I reordered another lower unit thinking it was a bad design or factory flaw. The 2nd new one came the exact same as the first new one. So, I used a lot of gasket making goop on and around the hole where the sensors go in and pressed them in and put in the retaing clip and went with it. It has worked so far. The whole thing is a crapy design if you ask me and I would like to kick fords ass for doing it that way. I had to remove the plastic intake manifold to get underthere to service it -same as if I had to replace the thermostate. I would not buy another ranger just for this.

 

[clarks2001]

From what I see from what a ranger thermostat housing, it doesnt look the same as the one I have. I am going to get one from rockauto and go to pepboys or something to see if they will install it for me

 

[XtremeRanger]

I have a pic of said item. I have to get mine done soon lol
So the sensor is that thing with the wires coming out of the top i am assuming. Is it a simple pinch and pull thing or do i need to use a socket to get that part the plastic thing is attached to unscrewed? Is the lower housing simple to replace or as easy as changing the thermostat?
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/rr32/clarks2001/DSC02887.jpg

Correct the sensor is what is plugged in.... pinch and pull it off and then there is a lil clip thing that actually holds that sensor in...pull it off and the sensor comes right out.....NOW, when you get the new housing you will have to buy another sensor because the o-ring on the sensor wont seal correctly.....it'll be loose, the O-ring has conformed to the old housing.....they are like $10 at parts store....

Yes replacing the housing is just as simple.....just 3 more bolts...i could change it in less them a minute(not including coolant drain).....its so easy a caveman can do it.....(hides under the desk)......when you install it make sure the o-ring is on the bottom of the housing....and it is seated correctly.....and torque it down correctly....I think its like 81 inlbs?...

 

[XtremeRanger]

The Picture looks similar to mine, but not the exact same. The sensors you show look the same as mine. The just press in and are held with a little retaining clip only. When I put in the new lower housing unit the senors I put in were not as tight a fit as the old unit and I reordered another lower unit thinking it was a bad design or factory flaw. The 2nd new one came the exact same as the first new one. So, I used a lot of gasket making goop on and around the hole where the sensors go in and pressed them in and put in the retaing clip and went with it. It has worked so far. The whole thing is a crapy design if you ask me and I would like to kick fords ass for doing it that way. I had to remove the plastic intake manifold to get underthere to service it -same as if I had to replace the thermostate. I would not buy another ranger just for this.

No, you just needed a new sensor, the o-ring had conformed to the old housing.........

And yea, you are correct, the older SOHC and the newer SOHC housings are different. Ive done both. My Moms 99 Mounty and my GF's 02. Both within 2 weeks............The 99 Housing had a screw in sensor and the 02 had a clip in sensor, not sure what year they went to the clip in sensor.....01 or 02 apparently.....

 

[clarks2001]

Whats the sensors part name? I think i will just order the sensor on rockauto when i order the housing and get the o-rings and gasket (if applicable) at pep boys

 

[XtremeRanger]

Whats the sensors part name? I think i will just order the sensor on rockauto when i order the housing and get the o-rings and gasket (if applicable) at pep boys

LoL...the coolant temp sensor.....the new one will come with an Oring on it and the housing will come with the Seal on it as well....

 

[clarks2001]

I am not too familiar with all the underhood stuff on my X so thats why I asked. So the lower housing comes with a seal to the intake manifold and the sensor has its own? So all i have to get is the thermostat and thermostat and an o ring for it (ill probably get the thermostat at pep boys or something)

 

[XtremeRanger]

I am not too familiar with all the underhood stuff on my X so thats why I asked. So the lower housing comes with a seal to the intake manifold and the sensor has its own? So all i have to get is the thermostat and thermostat and an o ring for it (ill probably get the thermostat at pep boys or something)

exactly

 

[CDW6212R]

Ask for a Failsafe thermostat, if they ever fail they fail open and not closed. Thus you can still drive the truck, because the engine doesn't get hurt by the thermostat. The brand was Motorad, Murray bought them. O'Reilly's sells them, and they cost about the same as Ford's, about $25.

 

[fordbluefamily]

Fair warning. If you do get a Motorad failsafe, watch it closely for failing... The 180 Stats have a history of sticking open under normal summer driving temps. Not something I would trust since most people dont realize its stuck open and drive with crappy fuel mileage and dont notice until winter time when the heat doesn't work well. Personally, I would not risk it and go with a normal Stat.

 

[CDW6212R]

The temperature where the Failsafe would lock open should be far higher than a normal heat range. I've had two lock open due to hitting 270, and 282 degrees. So the point is lower than those peaks, but it should be far above normal temps.

The point is that they don't "stick" open, which implies a defective design. They have locking pins which will permanently lock the thermostat open when a certain maximum temperature is reached. I have reused one of mine by carefully unlocking the pins, but it wasn't easy. I just didn't want to wait for O'Reilly's to special order one, they had stopped carrying it.

The stock 195 rated thermostat works fine, mine have kept the engine running 185-195 most of the time. I have an electric fan that comes on at about 190, so the thermostat is actually trying to get the temps under 190.

I will have a 180 in my 347 soon, since learning that the ideal temps with low wear is 175-185 degrees.