Cooper, Racerguy, and Herrington,

You three have eased my mind. I thought that my Aerostar had turned into a blast furnace. I was getting ready to install a small fire extinguisher in the front cabin on the passenger floor side, due to that heat. I think I'll still do it, but not for the engine compartment heat. Again, thanks for the knowledge.

Also, I've got to say that this machine is a very nice piece of engineering. I still love my old Peugeot 505 DL & S wagons, but this XLT (shorty) Aerostar is a serious cruiser. As I was crawling underneath it and looking at the FRAME (looks like a truck frame!), I realized that I'm not dealing with an econobox. Nice design. Everything down there, the fairly huge 21 gallon fuel tank, the design of the exhaust, drive train, it all looks like it built very solid.

I'm glad I bought this machine.

Also, Copper, the tranny pan nut-brazed thing...Great idea! I'll do that next time I drop the pan for another flush. I believe my Purolator kit had a "corky gasket"...you're right about that. I put some "blue" gasket fixer on the pan to hold on the gasket...it seemed to hold it straight...but that cork was very unsatisfactory, you're right. I'll do better than that next time.

Thermostat. Okay, I'll stay with the hot one. The cold idea was an uneducated idea on keeping the engine bay cooler. Thanks for the correction on that bad therory.

I'm sure I'll have more questions. I really appreciate all your help. I hope I can be of some assistance to you folks too.

Sincerely,
Tim Grimes
Knoxville, TN
95 Aerostar XLT 3.0L
115,000
Green exterior
tan interior