Thermostat Housing Leaking - SOHC

[mvanbogart]

I have a '00 Explorer with the SOHC 4.0.

I noticed leaking at the thermostat housing about a month ago. Where the neck meets the housing.

I repalced the O ring and thermostat a few weeks ago. The leak slowed way down but is still there. It does not seem to leak fast; it just annoying.

Questions are:
1. Does yours do this?
2. Do the necks have a history or developing cracks and leaking?
3. Any history of this?

Any help with this frustrating issue would be appreciated.

Thanks!
MVB

 

[mvanbogart]

Someone must know! Please!?!?

 

[Fusion213]

Maybe there is a small crack in your housing. The V8 housing of mine was made out of aluminum so when my friend overtorqued the bolts... well, it cracked in half. The housing shouldn't be cracked though, maybe it didn't seal properly, try putting it on again. Examine your housing for any cracks or maybe gashes on the surface.

 

[mikeh]

When I went to replace one of my sensors in the thermostat housing. I turned on the 3/4 socket and all it did was turn and never got loose. The little metal ring had broke in the plastic housing. Really torqued me off. It is incredibly easy to break that POS plastic housing. I would pull it out of there and give it a good look over.

mikeh

 

[99 Sport 4x4]

thermostat housing leak

I noticed mine doing the same thing, was it difficult to remove that housing to check it?

I am not too mechanically inclined so any advice would be helpful.

Did yours run hot? Mine hasn't.

Thanks

 

[mvanbogart]

Mine was not running hot and the peice was not hard to remove.

Take off the upper radiator hose and let the coolent drain. Then remove the housing with a 10mm wrench. Make sure it is cool when you do this.

The housing is a bit tricky to remove as it is crammed in there. I am buying a new upper housing this week as it continues to leak.

Small PITA.

 

[99 Sport 4x4]

I got a quote today to have mine repaired and it will cost around 98.00 with labor, antifreeze, gasket and thermostat. I did not want to attempt it.

I found out on the SOHC 4.0 the thermostat is "BIG" so the repair man said and the part alone cost $35.00 plus the other junk.

Hate to waste money on it but better safe than sorry.

I priced the housing with Ford and another parts place in case mine was cracked and it was about $65.00 just for it.

Keep me posted.

 

[99 Sport 4x4]

Oh, forgot to ask you how many miles do you have?

I just turned 47,000.

 

[mvanbogart]

47K too!

Mine goes into Ford tomorrow. Will keep you posted.

 

[jasonb]

this is easy to replace.. i just did mine today while on lunch break. my housing was not leaking but i will keep an eye on it. i don't know how much the housing would cost, but the thermostat should run you anywhere from $6 according to some on the board to what i paid which was $14. its a bit tricky to get down in there because of the cramped fit.. but you can get there. the screw on the back is the doozy. good luck if you go at it yourself.

i guess $98 isn't too bad if you don't want to do it yourself but i would hope they would do a complete flush while they are draining some fluid.

mvanbogart... i put a tad of sealant on both sides of the o-ring where it mates to the respective parts. this was recommended to me by many folks, but some have said they didn't do this and where fine.

 

[mvanbogart]

jasonb -

I thought of adding sealant but then decided Ford, in all of its wisdom, decided that the o-ring is the best sealing gasket out there. Guess not and now I wish I would have used some sealant.

Maybe I tightened it too much? Putting undue pressure on the outside corners and not enough in the middle. Anyone have the repair manual handy with torque specs?



Thanks for the info!

 

[99 Sport 4x4]

Well got it done, $92 for everything...the seal had gone bad but the housing was fine......does not leak any longer but the smell when they changed the freeze is still pretty strong on a hot motor....guess it will take a day or 2 to go away. He showed me the new stat it was a big one, not sure how the other reader got it so cheap?

Hopefully no more repairs!!!!!!:redexp:

 

[mvanbogart]

I got mine done too. The wife will be home in a few hours with the rig so I will see how it turns out. I also had my oil pressure sending unit replaced due to cold morning no-reads.

Update later........

 

[99 Sport 4x4]

you got pics of your ride?