I have a 2001 Ranger XLT with the 4.0 and it started leaking coolant when its parked. I looked around and i believe its leaking outta the thermostat housing. Anyone here has had the same problem??? And where would i get this part. Its not at any parts store. Just the dealer??

 

rockato.com has them maybe it is just the seal or gasket

 

There's several gaskets that could be leaking. I'd get them all plus a new thermostat. Make sure you order a thermostat seal because the last time I replaced the thermostat on my 2.5, the thermostat seal was not included.

Thermostat Housing Gasket
Thermostat Seal
Water Outlet Gasket

 

I had a failing thermostat for quite a while, of course failing when the temps here were at their worst (winter in New England). Temperature of the cabin got tolerable by the time I got to work about 25 minutes later, but never in a position to take the coat off. The temperature gauge barely got off the deck, rising only slightly at a stoplight. But after doing the reading here, I took several bits of advice from several of the FTE members. Many thanks to those folks (I bumped your statuses appropriately). Here is my feedback -

• I bought an aftermarket thermostat, but took it back after reading here. The consensus seems to be that in the case of a thermostat, folks are best suited to get an OEM replacement from Ford

• I picked up a thermostat and a new gasket at the same time since I wasn't sure what to expect once I had the housing off

Removing/replacing the housing was the toughest part of the job. Two 8M bolts at 180 degrees, one more accessible than the other, the other really blind. I have a small mirror with an pivotable head on an extension, so I was able to get a socket on it and remove the bolt. Once I had the housing out, I cleaned it well with an old tooth brush and found the gasket to be in excellent condition. I still removed it and replaced it with the new one: call it a bit of PM. The old one is in my backup 'bin'. I dropped in the new thermostat, no issues there. I scrubbed the block with a bit of scotchbrite type material to remove any debris around the opening. Once clean, I returned the thermostat housing with new components to the engine and attached the righthand bolt as it is more accessible and visible handtight. Then, I gently rotated the housing to align the blind bolt's bolt hole and the engine block (which was almost dead on, believe it or not). I turned in the blind bolt by hand. Finally, I torqued down the two bolts and reconnected the hoses, and filled the radiator back up.

After a couple of short runs into town, the housing is dry and things appear normal again. The temperature gauge is now back in the middle and the heat is free flowing, although I won't need that again until this Fall. The whole job took me about two hours to do with basic tools. The most significant obstacle was the blind bolt which was hindered a bit by the AC tube running in front of the engine block. I was able to slide the extension in above the tube and used the mirror to align the socket with the head of the bolt.

About the only negative was that I broke the drain plug when turning it back in. Luckily, I'll have enough to back it out when I go to replace the hoses to the heatercore. Oddly enough, it appears that the hoses are deemed "obsolete" by Ford, so I'll have to go with aftermarket parts. My original hope was to replace everything at once and flush the system. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't perfect and I didn't want to run into any overheating conditions this Summer and the hoses all look pretty good nonetheless.

Bottomline: I've saved a bunch over the last few months reading up here, using the links folks have posted to other sites, and with the Haynes manual. It's good to have the shared experiences of others to get the confidence to tackle small to moderate jobs. The satisfaction of having done the repair yourself also goes a long way. Many thanks to the FTE community.

 

You should be able to find a replacement drain plug at the "Help" section of your auto parts store. They are held in place by ears that get expanded when the plug is screwed in all the way. A lot less expensive than replacing the whole radiator which was the default when plastic caps first came out.
tom

Sorry, I got my model mental 'pictures' mixed. The older ones had a snap-in retainer for the drain plug. I repaired mine using fishing line and epoxy when a 'mechanic' tightened it - when it was already tight. Then you could not get the individual part, and were forced to order a whole radiator, at least that was what I was told.
The newer ones have a white or black plug that should be easy to replace.
tom

 

As tom said autozone sells the FORD rad drain plug for $5. You can insert a scrwedriver into the broken plug to remove it

On the 2.5 if you don't have AC the tstat swap is a 20 minute job

 

Thanks guys. I ordered a replacement plug at Advance: just under $5.

I thought about using a screwdriver to work it out (first instinct), but I may have enough of the hexhead to use the wrench to get it out. At worst, I'll drill it out. Either way, it is cheaper than a new radiator.

My wife took it for a run today - no desperate call from the side of the road. No leaking, so the current plug is holding as it should.

Kevin

 

I replaced my thermostat at did a full flush at 50k just for piece of mind, i think i torqued the bolts to 25 ft lb. thats important for them to be even and no overtightened. The housing can warp or crack and leak. It's only $10 for a thermostat, and you have to pull it out anyways to do a good flush.

 

Thermostat
Removal & Installation

3.0L Engine

To Remove:

1. Partially drain the cooling system.
2. Remove the air cleaner outlet tube.
3. Remove the throttle body cover.
4. Remove the upper radiator hose from the thermostat outlet housing. Remove the alternator wiring pin-type retainer.
5. Remove the bolts, the thermostat outlet housing and the water thermostat.

CAUTION
Use care when scraping thermostat housing-to-gasket mating surfaces. Gouges in aluminum could form leak paths.
6. Discard the gasket and clean the sealing surfaces.

NOTE: Be sure the sealing surfaces are completely free of any gasket material.

To Install:

1. Clean the sealing surfaces and be sure they are completely free of any gasket material.
2. Install the water thermostat, the thermostat outlet housing, and bolts. Torque to 18 ft-lb (25 Nm).
3. Install the alternator wiring pin-type retainer. Install the upper radiator hose to the thermostat outlet housing.
4. Install the throttle body cover.
5. Install the air cleaner outlet tube.
6. Refill the cooling system.

Jimw411, You might want to check your torque specs to see if they agree with the above.
tom