joekd
Member
- Joined
- May 13, 2003
- Messages
- 28
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- CT
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2005 XLT
Changed the thermostat and did a coolant change today in the wife's 2005 4.0 Explorer XLT
Was nervous about it when I realized that the setup had no radiator cap and the thermostat housing was composite but I have to say this was the easiest job I have ever done
The drain "plug" was actually a little valve, loosened it up and there was the spigot that the coolant came out of, left it draining into a bucket and walked away for about an hour to do some work around the house. Came back, closed the valve and ready for the thermostat.
Three 8mm bolts and the housing came right off. Was worried about stripped threads but all 3 bolts had nice metal threaded inserts which also help you to guide the thermostat housing in place. Thermostat popped right out, put in the new one with a new gasket and tightened things up.
Filled the reservoir and left it running with the cap off until it was warm, closed it up and drove out to run errands, came back and checked it for air. Done.
Now that the truck heats up normal (has been running at 160 since we bought the truck) hopefully we will see some decent MPG out of this thing.
Next step is to finish a 3" intake to replace the stock hose from the TB to the airbox. I run a small intake business on the side and was going to go all out with a K&N cone and aluminum heatshield but since my concern with this is MPG and not power I think I will stick to a K&N panel in the OEM airbox with the snorkel removed
I still have my OEM airbox from my 4.6L Mustang already with a K&N filter though so I may get creative and see if that fits in the Explorer
Was nervous about it when I realized that the setup had no radiator cap and the thermostat housing was composite but I have to say this was the easiest job I have ever done
The drain "plug" was actually a little valve, loosened it up and there was the spigot that the coolant came out of, left it draining into a bucket and walked away for about an hour to do some work around the house. Came back, closed the valve and ready for the thermostat.
Three 8mm bolts and the housing came right off. Was worried about stripped threads but all 3 bolts had nice metal threaded inserts which also help you to guide the thermostat housing in place. Thermostat popped right out, put in the new one with a new gasket and tightened things up.
Filled the reservoir and left it running with the cap off until it was warm, closed it up and drove out to run errands, came back and checked it for air. Done.
Now that the truck heats up normal (has been running at 160 since we bought the truck) hopefully we will see some decent MPG out of this thing.
Next step is to finish a 3" intake to replace the stock hose from the TB to the airbox. I run a small intake business on the side and was going to go all out with a K&N cone and aluminum heatshield but since my concern with this is MPG and not power I think I will stick to a K&N panel in the OEM airbox with the snorkel removed
I still have my OEM airbox from my 4.6L Mustang already with a K&N filter though so I may get creative and see if that fits in the Explorer
