Marc D Everlove
New Member
- Joined
- December 9, 2018
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- California
- City, State
- Lomita
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- Eddie Bauer 2000 Explorer
I recently did my intake manifold gaskets and while I was there, I replaced the stupid leaking upper thermostat housing. It had been leaking around the gasket for some time and with coolant at $20 per now, I figured it was a good $15 investment.
All said and done, I buttoned it all up and everything looked pretty good (except the one upper manifold bolt, which are now no longer made, I snapped because the specs said 60 inch pounds rather than 60 ft pounds, but I digress. However, if you have a spare, I would love to buy it from you and save the trip to the bone yard). HOWEVER, after about a week, the lower thermostat housing blew out the 'weld' at the seam and gave up the ghost.
So I had to replace the lower housing. Bummer. So, off with the upper manifold and tear out the old housing and replace with a new. Looking at the old housing, I noticed that there were two sensors and many of the replacement parts only had one. After investigating, I found that the old threaded type sensors I had were prone to leaking, particularly when inserted in a new housing & there was a newer clip in type that solved the leak problem...
Being the cheap ******* that I am, I elected to give the old sensors a whirl. Seriously bad idea. After another week of cooling system bliss ... all of a sudden... overheat. I can see that it is coming from the thermostat housing, but cannot see where, although I suspect the sensors. There are many threads regarding this, but I wanted to put a few questions together so it save future knuckleheads like me a little time.
Cheers!
All said and done, I buttoned it all up and everything looked pretty good (except the one upper manifold bolt, which are now no longer made, I snapped because the specs said 60 inch pounds rather than 60 ft pounds, but I digress. However, if you have a spare, I would love to buy it from you and save the trip to the bone yard). HOWEVER, after about a week, the lower thermostat housing blew out the 'weld' at the seam and gave up the ghost.
So I had to replace the lower housing. Bummer. So, off with the upper manifold and tear out the old housing and replace with a new. Looking at the old housing, I noticed that there were two sensors and many of the replacement parts only had one. After investigating, I found that the old threaded type sensors I had were prone to leaking, particularly when inserted in a new housing & there was a newer clip in type that solved the leak problem...
Being the cheap ******* that I am, I elected to give the old sensors a whirl. Seriously bad idea. After another week of cooling system bliss ... all of a sudden... overheat. I can see that it is coming from the thermostat housing, but cannot see where, although I suspect the sensors. There are many threads regarding this, but I wanted to put a few questions together so it save future knuckleheads like me a little time.
- Are the old, threaded temp harnesses compatible with the newer clip in sensors?
- Some housings only have one sensor port & the other is plugged. Mine has two sensors, I presume that I need both, but if not, one less place to leak right?
- Is it worth it to upgrade to the clip in sensors
- If I must use the threaded sensors, what is the best way to keep them from leaking?
- Why are some housings $30 and others $100? They pretty much appear the same.
- Is it possible to check for leaks before I tear everything down? I cannot really see where it is leaking, due to all of the steam. I put an inspection mirror back there, but it just fogged up immediately and was useless. I assume it is the sensors because there are so many posts complaining about them.
- Does anybody else agree that engineers should be forced to work on the things they design? I mean really, that third bolt in back of the upper housing? Who designed that?
- Why is it that when you replace one thing in the cooling system, another breaks? Seriously, this seems to be the way of it... I imagine it is due to increased pressure and old parts, but FFFFFUUUUuuuuuu...
Cheers!
