Plastic thermostat housing claims another victim
03-31-2012, 06:25 PM
#1
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Plastic thermostat housing claims another victim
I went to the track today for opening day - nice and cool weather, pulled off a 13.0 followed by a 12.9 for the first time there this season. The odometer read 199,873 when I entered pit road to get to the staging lane.
Not quite 200,000 miles yet.
Decided to go for some more passes (and was going to hot lap the car to slow it down to 13.10 which was my dial in at the Mustang Collective race team). Did the burn out, pre-staged, brought the rpm's up and had just started to bump in to stage when the starter caught my attention and gave me the sign to turn it off.
Fluid was pouring out, lots of steam. Backed over the side so they could start cleaning up and popped the hood. It looked like intercooler fluid because it appeared to be green and not orange at first look (I use different color coolant so if there is a leak I can tell which system). Backed the car down the side and stayed to the edge to get back to the pit and pop the hood.
I turned power on so that the intercooler pump would run - nothing, no fluid at all, and the pump was running.
So started the car up - and there was the stream, shooting right out of the thermostat housing, and color was orange. To get to the housing on the Xcharger'd car I will have to pull the blower off because one of the mounting bolts is essentially under the blower. Had to tow the car home because the flow was too much to try to limp it home even after removing the thermostat itself to relieve the pressure.
Not quite 200,000 miles yet.
Decided to go for some more passes (and was going to hot lap the car to slow it down to 13.10 which was my dial in at the Mustang Collective race team). Did the burn out, pre-staged, brought the rpm's up and had just started to bump in to stage when the starter caught my attention and gave me the sign to turn it off.
Fluid was pouring out, lots of steam. Backed over the side so they could start cleaning up and popped the hood. It looked like intercooler fluid because it appeared to be green and not orange at first look (I use different color coolant so if there is a leak I can tell which system). Backed the car down the side and stayed to the edge to get back to the pit and pop the hood.
I turned power on so that the intercooler pump would run - nothing, no fluid at all, and the pump was running.
So started the car up - and there was the stream, shooting right out of the thermostat housing, and color was orange. To get to the housing on the Xcharger'd car I will have to pull the blower off because one of the mounting bolts is essentially under the blower. Had to tow the car home because the flow was too much to try to limp it home even after removing the thermostat itself to relieve the pressure.
hope everything turns out ok. 
04-01-2012, 09:19 AM
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I hope to start tear down today. I don't know if I can get the housing on a Sunday anywhere but will check.
With the blower it is more involved than a naturally aspirated set up. They can do the swap in less than an hour. I have to pull the blower off to get to one of the bolts though because the bolt is covered by the blower itself. If I can find the housing and swap it today, I don't know if I will need new gaskets for the reassembly of the blower though - more than likely I will so won't be able to get the car up and running again until I get the new gaskets from Explorer Express.
With the blower it is more involved than a naturally aspirated set up. They can do the swap in less than an hour. I have to pull the blower off to get to one of the bolts though because the bolt is covered by the blower itself. If I can find the housing and swap it today, I don't know if I will need new gaskets for the reassembly of the blower though - more than likely I will so won't be able to get the car up and running again until I get the new gaskets from Explorer Express.
04-01-2012, 10:39 AM
#4
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Its almost like Audi and VW putting plastic water pumps in their turbocharged cars that reach up to 100 - 180 fahrenheit. I know our cars aren't audis but how the hell do the people of this world put plastic (I don't care what grade its f****** plastic) in an engine that gets that hot. Obviously it would pay off to originally put less plastic parts which = more happy customers. Less pain in the ***. Good luck JimC this world needs to change.
04-01-2012, 11:18 AM
#5
Sorry to hear about this Jim...
When you call EE to order the gaskets, make sure you mention to Dave why you're doing it. I had him at least considering producing a metal of version of the lower housing during a phone conversation more than a year back, but he was uncertain if there was enough market interest.
When you call EE to order the gaskets, make sure you mention to Dave why you're doing it. I had him at least considering producing a metal of version of the lower housing during a phone conversation more than a year back, but he was uncertain if there was enough market interest.
04-01-2012, 02:19 PM
#6
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I just flushed my coolant at 160k and was debating replacing that housing as a preventative measure.
Weight savings and cost. The lighter the car the better gas mileage. Plastic is cheaper than using a light weight metal alloy and probably easier to produce. Makes the replacement part cheaper too but the cost of the plastic parts seems high to me considering they're are plastic but then again it is a petroleum product.
Thinking a little more about it I'd have to say the plastic may actually be the best option. Before going to plastic to replace the metal pieces both the cast parts and thin steel corroded and leaked over time. Maintenance is required, nothing will last forever.
Hey, Jim you might want to consider replacing that shrouded bolt with a nut and stud if will let you at it with the blower installed.
Thinking a little more about it I'd have to say the plastic may actually be the best option. Before going to plastic to replace the metal pieces both the cast parts and thin steel corroded and leaked over time. Maintenance is required, nothing will last forever.
Hey, Jim you might want to consider replacing that shrouded bolt with a nut and stud if will let you at it with the blower installed.
04-01-2012, 02:52 PM
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Guys I'm not really that upset about it. This piece lasted 199,880 miles on my car before it split - that is pretty good I think. And Ivanrad - it isn't like my car is anything like a stock set up! You can't buy it from Ford this way so they didn't design the part with my application in mind. The N/A cars can get to the part and replace it in less than an hour, it is those of us running the Xcharger that have to do some more work to get to it. But if we didn't have the Xcharger we wouldn't have that big smile every time we drive the car (right Paul?)
jimkaray - I don't think that a stud and nut would help. The problem bolt is back a ways and I couldn't even see it when I removed the thermostat and looked for the leaking.
jimkaray - I don't think that a stud and nut would help. The problem bolt is back a ways and I couldn't even see it when I removed the thermostat and looked for the leaking.
