Cooling System Failure

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LQ1906

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When it rains it pours....so in addition to all that is wrong on the LS the cooling system failed yesterday while driving home from church. Car overheated, smoke everywhere and went into failsafe mode and got engine coolant light and msg that stated "reduce engine power". Mechanic says I need complete thermostat housing. I'm on Ford parts giant. How many pieces make up the thermostat housing??? Yes I do intend on doing a complete overhaul but not today. Just need to get it running and will do that in a month or two....have other pressing priorities.

Does anyone use Dorman for the housing pieces minus the degas tank which I know should be Motorcraft only?
 
LQ1906 said:
... Yes I do intend on doing a complete overhaul but not today. Just need to get it running and will do that in a month or two....have other pressing priorities.

Does anyone use Dorman for the housing pieces minus the degas tank which I know should be Motorcraft only?
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Frankly, you are just never going to get there. The LS doesn't care about your problems. The reality of what you need to do is not altered by your other circumstances. Replace just part of it, and you'll be back in there next week, having to pay for coolant all over again, labor to remove the new parts to get to the rest of the old parts to replace and so on.
This is what you need to do. Don't say you haven't seen it before.
GenII LS8 Cooling System Overhaul

Yes, others have tried the Dorman housing parts too. One has said that it was okay and he will update us as time goes by. Others have had to replace them with the correct Ford parts after having constant marginal overheating.

BTW, "coolant light" would imply a low coolant light, which the LS does not have. It does have a high temperature warning light.

It's three pieces if you count the thermostat, but don't count the fill cap and the inlet tube. It's five if you do count all of that. You will also need gaskets.
You can get some parts diagrams here: Official Ford Parts Site | Buy Motorcraft & OEM Ford Parts Online | FordParts.com
 
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I agree Joe....crazy thing is I just talked to Lincoln Parts guy at the dealer and he said he would go aftermarket over Ford OEM since he said the thermostat housing from Ford comes in several parts which add up to about $250 and others such as Dorman have it all in one....smh Decisions....Decisions.... :(
 
Eventually, aftermarket or Jaguar will probably be the only choices.
 
well i can tell you from my own and other people on here's experience, OEM is the only way to go unless not available. too many time the aftermarket parts just don't fit or even work out of the box, then if you get lucky and they do actually fit or work, they usually break shortly after anyways. also for a lot of LS parts, Dorman is complete sh!t and shouldn't be used at all. if the price if these parts are too much, then you really should just get rid of the car now before it gets real expensive


also as for only replacing the parts you (think you) need, you will be extremely lucky if one or a bunch more parts don't fall to pieces when you start doing the work, then you car will just sit there while you wait even longer for the other parts to come in, so if you don't need the LS back up and running quickly, then I guess you can go that route. keep in mind, when it breaks down again in a week or two (hell, maybe just a day or two) every time your car overheats again, you risk doing more damage and having the repair bill climb higher and higher...

#BuyOnceCryOnce
 
Yes it's frustrating and what's ironic is I know everyone on here recommends changing everything all at once but I know damn well Lincoln wasn't doing this when these cars were under warranty or Fords ESP (extended warranty) program which I used to have. Service Departments only changed what was broken and sent you on your way. I couldn't even imagine what Lincoln would charge for a complete change out....Upwards of $3000. These remind me of the BMWs who also had the same cooling system bullsh*t parts. Since my car has relatively low miles its crazy that I would be dealing with this and Im just at 80,000 miles. And to think I gave up the Mark VIII for this LS. It's a love/hate relationship. I will readily admit I'm stubborn as hell but maybe this car will be the one to break that. Lol
 
At least the LS, unlike the BMWs that you indicate, doesn't usually blow an engine when the parts fail.
 
thats not "ironic"... warranties only ever replace what is broken, they always want to fix the actual problem for as cheap as possible. they never replace parts as a form of preventative maintenance... they would rather replace what they absolutely need to and then roll the dice that you would make it to the end of your term before needing the rest of it done so that then it will be on your dime, not theirs.

the problem is that all of the pieces are made of the same material, therefore all of the pieces have the same lifespan, when one completely fails, all of the others have already started. its not just a miles driven thing either, its also a lot about time. so even if your car only had 20k miles on it, at best an LS is at least 11-12 years old, at worst, it could be 17-18 years old.



also worth nothing... the coolant parts tend to last upwards of 10 years and (usually) over 100k miles. so the dealer would never be doing this under warranty. hence why you said "which I used to have"
 
I would heed the advice of replacing all of the plastic while you are in there. Don't skimp out and replace only part of it or you will regret it.

About a year ago, my thermostat housing started seeping fluid at the parting seam. I ordered all of the plastic, new thermostat, new hoses and a new serpentine belt.
Yes it wasn't cheap, but the car was just over 12 years old and had 115k miles. What I has failed to do was order the plastic inlet tube that goes down under the intake but didn't realize that until I had the car torn down on a Saturday. Knowing that it would be Tuesday at the earliest that I would be able to get that piece, and since that part hadn't failed, I decided to go ahead and do the job anyway with the intention of replacing that part at a later date.

Well as the saying goes, "out of site...out of mind", and I am paying the price now.

Last Wednesday on the way home from work, that last original piece failed and it failed big time. I was able to make it to a local service station that I pass on my way but not before the temp gauge pegged itself and the temperature idiot light came on. Steam and coolant was everywhere. My week was already full dealing with my wife hitting a deer with her Mountaineer so I just threw up my hands and had the service station replace it. Picked it up on Friday along with a bill for $230.

On Sunday I started cleaning up the mess that was left under there and noticed a couple of fresh drips. Turns out the water pump is now seeping coolant from the weep hole. Not sure if it was coincidence or maybe the engine overheating just pushed it to that point, but with the car now 13+ years old and 130k miles, it's probably not too surprising that it needs a new pump as well.
 
BCA said:
...Turns out the water pump is now seeping coolant from the weep hole. ...
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On the plus side, the water pump is fairly easy to change. Note that the gasket for the pump does come with the pump from Ford.
 
joegr said:
On the plus side, the water pump is fairly easy to change. Note that the gasket for the pump does come with the pump from Ford.
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Yes, and it's a factory metal gasket too, not the cheaper a paper gasket like many of the aftermarket pumps come with.

I considered going through AutoZone or O'Reilly's, but then that little guy on my shoulder named "piece of mind" convinced me to order the Motorcraft pump.
It is a new pump, not re-manufactured and has all the same markings on it that the production pump has except for the date code of course.
 
I just heard back from my local Lincoln dealer and they don't have all the parts that I need. Looking at 7-10 days to get everything in. I'm pissed because car has been out of service for 3 days and I need a car ASAP. My new MKZ is being used right now by my girlfriend so I've been driving a rental. Their calling around to a few other dealers within the Tri-State area that could possibly have the part so that I have it no later than tomorrow.
 
Do some online searching of the parts numbers. Alot of the bigger Ford parts guys compete for online business, and many times do free 2nd day fedex etc. One I regularly use is powerstroke plus. They are out of Georgia I think.
 
1LoudLS said:
well i can tell you from my own and other people on here's experience, OEM is the only way to go unless not available. too many time the aftermarket parts just don't fit or even work out of the box, then if you get lucky and they do actually fit or work, they usually break shortly after anyways. also for a lot of LS parts, Dorman is complete sh!t and shouldn't be used at all.
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+100 !!!!
 
LQ,

You really need to do it all at once... with as many factory parts as can be found. Rock Auto sells some of the Motorcraft stuff. Factory parts are the best way to go... but the most expensive.

Rebuild it all at once with OEM parts... or piece it in with aftermarket parts, over, and over, and over.

Ask yourself... "How many times do I want to work on this"?
 
04_Sport_LS said:
LQ,

You really need to do it all at once... with as many factory parts as can be found. Rock Auto sells some of the Motorcraft stuff. Factory parts are the best way to go... but the most expensive.

Rebuild it all at once with OEM parts... or piece it in with aftermarket parts, over, and over, and over.

Ask yourself... "How many times do I want to work on this"?
Click to expand...

Hey so here's the update

The car has been at Lincoln since Wednesday....they gave me a deal as it needed so much work and since I've been doing business with them since 2008....They gave me a price of $1200.

1. R&R Thermostat Housing
2. R&R L/R Valve Cover Gaskets
3. R&R EGR Valve
4. R&R Mass Airflow Sensor
5. Install new coil covers/cowl wiper piece
6. Program new Key
7. R&R Fuel Door Release
8. The Works Package

All in for someone who doesn't have a inkling on how to repair cars nor has any tools to work on them....I would say that's not too bad as it would have been much cheaper if I didnt have the Thermostat assembly fail on Sunday.

I know that I have to change all the other cooling system parts and it is a priority within the next 60 days but I need to rejevenute the cash flow first as this car has cost me $1600 already in repairs since October and still have to get solenoid block done.
 
There are a few parts behind and around the thermostat housing that should be replaced at the same time as the T stat housing. You can pay the labor once while they are in there... or pay it again at a later date when they have to go back in.

After seeing some of your other threads,,, it's not so much the parts that are killing you... it's the labor!!!
 
04_Sport_LS said:
There are a few parts behind and around the thermostat housing that should be replaced at the same time as the T stat housing. You can pay the labor once while they are in there... or pay it again at a later date when they have to go back in.

After seeing some of your other threads,,, it's not so much the parts that are killing you... it's the labor!!!
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Cheaper to do it now. For some of those parts, nearly 100% of the labor will have to be repeated.
 
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