Temperature Issue on new to me Explorer

[Badaxe]

First time post here, so a hello and looking for direction. I acquired my mom's 2001 AWD 5.0 (202K miles) at the first of the year and very grateful for the many previous forums for resources to get it where it is today. Trying to get it ready to be for my college kid to be on his own and get at least another 5-10 years out of it.

Background to date: Mom did regular oil changes and drove it like a sweet old lady (every receipt available), but due to budget most major maintenance was put off. Flew down to El Paso and spent a day rebuilding the front end and replacing brakes and shocks at all four corners before getting it aligned and driving back to Denver. Ran well, cruise control worked, and averaged 16 mpg. List of things done so far-

• new all terrains- this thing was a tank in the foot of snow we had last month
• new touch screen stereo w/bluetooth and backup camera, cheap new speakers
• Had a misfire so replaced what tuned out to be the original plugs, wires and coils- runs much better now
• replaced hazy headlights, smoking turn signal switch, and crusty cruise buttons, magnet reset of oil pressure gauge
• savage yard rear wiper, front wiper cowl, overhead computer, driver side window (etched scratches from years of sand)

Current issue is the heating or lack of. The engine does not warm up. The highway drive home the needle stayed mid gauge or just under. Now a thirty minute drive to work and the temp gauge will barely get over the "C" and wearing a coat in the truck is still needed. Engine-wise I've done both temp sensors and Tstat but no resolution. Coolant is full and fan clutch free wheels with a hard push. I don't know if it should spin more freely or if low engine temp is reason for heater issue. As far as passenger cabin heat goes Mom said she stopped hearing the blend door recently, but it always got nice and toasty before.

 

[Badaxe]

First time post here, so a hello and looking for direction. I acquired my mom's 2001 AWD 5.0 (202K miles) at the first of the year and very grateful for the many previous forums for resources to get it where it is today. Trying to get it ready to be for my college kid to be on his own and get at least another 5-10 years out of it.

Background to date: Mom did regular oil changes and drove it like a sweet old lady (every receipt available), but due to budget most major maintenance was put off. Flew down to El Paso and spent a day rebuilding the front end and replacing brakes and shocks at all four corners before getting it aligned and driving back to Denver. Ran well, cruise control worked, and averaged 16 mpg. List of things done so far-

• new all terrains- this thing was a tank in the foot of snow we had last month
• new touch screen stereo w/bluetooth and backup camera, cheap new speakers
• Had a misfire so replaced what tuned out to be the original plugs, wires and coils- runs much better now
• replaced hazy headlights, smoking turn signal switch, and crusty cruise buttons, magnet reset of oil pressure gauge
• savage yard rear wiper, front wiper cowl, overhead computer, driver side window (etched scratches from years of sand)

Current issue is the heating or lack of. The engine does not warm up. The highway drive home the needle stayed mid gauge or just under. Now a thirty minute drive to work and the temp gauge will barely get over the "C" and wearing a coat in the truck is still needed. Engine-wise I've done both temp sensors and Tstat but no resolution. Coolant is full and fan clutch free wheels with a hard push. I don't know if it should spin more freely or if low engine temp is reason for heater issue. As far as passenger cabin heat goes Mom said she stopped hearing the blend door recently, but it always got nice and toasty before.

 

[Mbrooks420]

First suspect would be stuck open thermostat.

 

[Pete Deering]

View attachment 439212

1. DId you purge the air out of the system?
2. Can you or did you measure the temperature of the coolant hose or coolant?
3. Does your scan tool, display the coolant Temperature?
4. if your coolant is up too 195+or-, then check the blend door.
4a. There is a heater control valve. Check too see if its working.
5. If not, then It your thermostat.

 

[DintDobbs]

Interesting, this issue of the engine temp reading just under or around 'C' started occurring on both of my Explorers. The '99 I noticed it quite a while back (a year-ish) and the '00 it started happening after a particularly brutal beach run that saw the engine temp toward the middle and higher end of the gauge.

Not sure what the deal with your heater is, if it's related or not - my '00 blend door acts up, but the heaters in both of my trucks work just fine, and the engines seem to be running at normal temp despite the low gauge. If it makes a difference to you, I rarely recirculate the cabin air, so if you notice an issue there, just use the "vent" position rather than recirculating, and see if that affects the heater output. That could at least give you a hint as to whether the engine isn't warming up, or if the heat is simply being kept out of the cabin.

 

[donalds]

Stuck open thermostat is my vote

 

[sehaare]

First time post here, so a hello and looking for direction. I acquired my mom's 2001 AWD 5.0 (202K miles) at the first of the year and very grateful for the many previous forums for resources to get it where it is today. Trying to get it ready to be for my college kid to be on his own and get at least another 5-10 years out of it.

Background to date: Mom did regular oil changes and drove it like a sweet old lady (every receipt available), but due to budget most major maintenance was put off. Flew down to El Paso and spent a day rebuilding the front end and replacing brakes and shocks at all four corners before getting it aligned and driving back to Denver. Ran well, cruise control worked, and averaged 16 mpg. List of things done so far-

• new all terrains- this thing was a tank in the foot of snow we had last month
• new touch screen stereo w/bluetooth and backup camera, cheap new speakers
• Had a misfire so replaced what tuned out to be the original plugs, wires and coils- runs much better now
• replaced hazy headlights, smoking turn signal switch, and crusty cruise buttons, magnet reset of oil pressure gauge
• savage yard rear wiper, front wiper cowl, overhead computer, driver side window (etched scratches from years of sand)

Current issue is the heating or lack of. The engine does not warm up. The highway drive home the needle stayed mid gauge or just under. Now a thirty minute drive to work and the temp gauge will barely get over the "C" and wearing a coat in the truck is still needed. Engine-wise I've done both temp sensors and Tstat but no resolution. Coolant is full and fan clutch free wheels with a hard push. I don't know if it should spin more freely or if low engine temp is reason for heater issue. As far as passenger cabin heat goes Mom said she stopped hearing the blend door recently, but it always got nice and toasty before.

yep the symptoms indicate a stuck open thermostat.

 

[Turdle]

Possible clogged heater core. Feel if both heater hoses at firewall are hot to touch after driving about 15 minutes for warm up.

 

[Tony H]

You did the Tstat, still could be bad. Gotta mount them with little hole facing up to help air bleed... but.. If you didn't add enough coolant then temp gauge sensor will not read coolant temp and heat from coolant won't get to heater core. Since you have both issues, I'd make sure coolant is bleed and you have enough in the radiator.

 

[Badaxe]

All hoses lukewarm. At my own fault- I ordered a 195* stat, they handed me a box, and I installed it. Well was tracking down where I bought (Oreilys and Autozone get equal attention based on convenience and pricing) the thermostat I installed a couple weeks ago. And turns out they sold me a 160*. We'll see whatI figure out this afternoon. Thanks for the advice.

 

[DintDobbs]

@Badaxe Well, good on you for figuring it out!

 

[Badaxe]

Yep that did the trick. Amazing what happens with proper parts. But man what a ef'en pain in the arse that thermostat job is.