DansZJ

Hey guys,
took my 06 V6 to the shop the other day when I smelled coolant after a drive. I looked under the hood and I assumed it was coming out of the water pump. Turns out it is the t-stat housing. The shop wanted $450 to replace it and the temp sensor. A little steep for me and I can do the work so I paid for the diagnosis and brought it home.
I was going to get parts at the local auto parts store, but they don't stock them. Best options I found are Rock Auto, great prices but I didn't find all Motorcraft parts. The other option I found was fordpartsguy on eBay. They have a kit with all ford parts for about $90 shipped. That's much cheaper than may local dealer so this seems like the best way to go, financially and part brand wise.
What do you guys think?
Also, I am not losing much coolant at this point so I am wondering if I can get away with driving the Stang this week while waiting for parts. 5 mile drive each way. I don't know how quickly these plastic parts give out once they start leaking. Any point in adding Ford's stop leak pellets for insurance this week?

MoneyShot

subscribing

im losing coolant from somewhere. its got to be either the thermostat housing or water pump. also fun fact my odometer just hit 60,000 =(

Nuke

Don't use any type of coolant stop-leak type of additive. It'll plate out on things you DON'T want it sticking to. Just keep an eye on it untill you get the new parts.

Nice Pony

Get the one from Rockauto for 32.79. It is a Motorcraft part, click on the "info" button, and a lot less money. You do not need to change the temperature sensor. Just go to your local hardware store and find a O-ring to replace the stock one since Ford does not sell that by itself. I found one that fit just a bit tighter then the stock one which is a good thing since the plastic housing can swell over time and then the stock O-ring starts to leak.

!!DO NOT PUT STOP LEAK PLELETS IN YOUR SYSTEM!!

tx_zstang

Lol, seems like this is getting to be a common topic in the 4.0 threads!

Nice Pony

Yeah, as these car get older you will see more of this POS part failing unfortunately.

bmasek89

Advanced auto sells the tstat o ring, bought one this weekend, replacing my thermostat next weekend hoping to resolve my p0128 code, coolant below tstat regulating temp.. Hope that fixes it. They also sell the housing gasket.

tx_zstang

Yeah I bought a 180 t-stat and o-ring from advance, for the 4.0L when I had it.

Nice Pony

The O-Ring I was referring to was the one that goes on the temperature sender. Does Advance also have that one?

MoneyShot

so rockauto sells the thermostat, the thermostat housing, the thermostat housing gasket, and the thermostat seal. Is the housing the part failing? they are cheap so would I be better buying all of them? also, n00b question, how does the thermostat go into the housing? I have never seen one like this but I have only changed them on older cars.