2002 2003 2004 2005 Ford Thunderbird Thermostat Housing Water Pumps

[biddle]

Does anyone have any concerns about leaving a degas bottle cap a little loose?

Obviously, you are not supposed to do this. Ideally, you fix your cooling system and restoring it to operating condition. Ask your mechanic.

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[doug7740]

Good info here, and many thanks to Biddle for posting sources for parts and pictures.

My 03 with 84K sprung a coolant leak behind the water pump. Not sure exactly what part yet. When the system is under pressure it leaks, if I leave the degas bottle cap loose it doesn't leak. In the short term until I investigate what part I need, is it OK to drive with that cap loose? I assume the boiling temperature will go down. I did drive it around town that way, some stops and restarts. Ambient air temp in the 70s. Temp gauge in middle like normal.

Does anyone have any concerns about leaving a degas bottle cap a little loose?

Why would you just leave the degas bottle cap loose instead of repairing the coolant leak properly?

The thermostat housing (3) leaks where it connects to the coolant outlet pipe (15). This is very common, replace the thermostat housing.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[jneuenburg]

Why would you just leave the degas bottle cap loose instead of repairing the coolant leak properly?

The thermostat housing (3) leaks where it connects to the coolant outlet pipe (15). This is very common, replace the thermostat housing.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

View attachment 33412View attachment 33413

Leaving the cap loose was to be temporary until I can find the parts and schedule the car to be down. I just wanted to know if it is harmful.

So the red arrow is supposed to be pointing to the thermostat housing #3, not to #15 joins with #23? Does #3 crack? Sounds like it's not a gasket problem. Does #15 fail and for that matter, the #23 pipe? I'll buy all ahead of time if I can find them, to avoid more downtime waiting for parts.

 

[doug7740]

The red arrow is pointing to the thermostat housing #3 and it leaks where it joins to the coolant outlet pipe #15. Since the thermostat housing is made of plastic it could crack, but most times it distorts and leaks at the O-ring seal. All you need is the thermostat housing assembly, which includes the thermostat, and 2 O-ring seals. I purchased mine from NAPA.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[jneuenburg]

The red arrow is pointing to the thermostat housing #3 and it leaks where it joins to the coolant outlet pipe #15. Since the thermostat housing is made of plastic it could crack, but most times it distorts and leaks at the O-ring seal. All you need is the thermostat housing assembly, which includes the thermostat, and 2 O-ring seals. I purchased mine from NAPA.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

I took a close look. My leak shows on #23 at the pipe to mounting flange area. Right now the car is on a slight slope toward the passenger side. When I spray water and then compressed air to dry the area, the coolant is coming from the driver side which I can't see. So the base of #23 is cracked or coolant could be coming downhill from #15 on the driver side, hits the flange and comes around where I can see it.

I am thinking of buying all three parts. I see the #3 and #15 can be bought as an assembly. Assuming only aftermarket is available and this comes with a thermostat, do people have better luck with Ford thermostats if they can find them?

I read there is a big o-ring at the #15/#23 joint. Is that available? I saw a PN online somewhere that says it's PN W707299-5300. I don't know who sells it.

 

[vegasbird]

Hi all. First time posting. Inherited my Dad's 04, which he bought new. 89k, spent first 19 years in Vegas. Desert climate is great for everything but paint and rubber/plastic. Now in Pa for the last 2. Did plugs/coils, serp belt, fresh fluids. Ran fantastic all last year. This spring, noticing temp gauge creeping north. Last time out got pretty hot, just below full H. When I shut it down, lost maybe a pint of coolant on the floor from what seemed the rear of the motor. Tried to get it to do it again, no luck. Is there an overflow from the plastic tank? Can't really see anything from underneath. Planning on doing therm housing and dccv. Am I missing something?

 

[TbirdClay]

Originally would run fine and control temperature perfectly unless the ac was on full blast. Spent a couple thousand getting a new hydraulic pump actuator which the mechanic said should the be the problem, still overheating. Mechanic said to get a new radiator and thermostat because mine was showing blockage and not opening properly. Still overheating. Appears to be holding temperature on short drives and while idle, but long drives and it begins to just lose control and the temperature will slowly rise.

 

[biddle]

Originally would run fine and control temperature perfectly unless the ac was on full blast. Spent a couple thousand getting a new hydraulic pump actuator which the mechanic said should the be the problem, still overheating. Mechanic said to get a new radiator and thermostat because mine was showing blockage and not opening properly. Still overheating. Appears to be holding temperature on short drives and while idle, but long drives and it begins to just lose control and the temperature will slowly rise.

Sounds like you need a new mechanic. There are a number of things that can cause a car to overheat as seen here. Sounds like the guessing game is the current troubleshooting method. This topic has been discussed a lot so you can use the search page and read posts in this thread for various causes of overheating.

 

[jeffedup]

I search every Blog, troubleshooter page, info, manual, etc. I could find to try to fix the overheating problem that seems inherent with these birds. The solution I've come up with involves a lot of other people's ideas conglomerated into one. I take no credit here.

Here's what I decided to do:

Flush cooling system. Mine was totally clean. Not a drop of rust or corrosion.

Fill with 50/50 coolant, distilled water while car is off. Filling as much as possible in Radiator and overflow container.

Reinstall cap on radiator.

Start car.

Turn on heater, full blast, high heat.

Idle car.

Watch level in overflow. When it goes down add more coolant and try to keep minimum 50% antifreeze. The higher proportion of antifreeze the higher the boiling point of coolant. Read directions on coolant container. My opinion is to increase to 75/25 coolant to water since these cars run hot. It should raise boiling temp. to 265. READ DIRECTIONS ON CONTAINER.

When coolant level in overflow stops going down, put on a glove and squeeze the hose to the left of the radiator. Continue doing so. You should see bubbles coming up in OFC and you should see level of coolant go down in OFC. You are purging the air from the system. Put in more coolant. Keep the level where you can see it even though it's above MAX fill line. You have to see if the air is being purged.

When bubbles stop, run idle up to 2k for a few minutes.

Check coolant level.

Squeeze hose to see if air will come out.

Run car for 15 minutes with OFC cap off.

Turn off car.

PUT ADDITIONAL"o" RING IN OFC CAP!!!!!

Put cap on, let engine cool.

After engine completely cools check coolant level in OFC. If it is below MAX line add more.

With cap on OFC squeeze hose. If bubbles show up repeat steps.

It worked for me after struggling for a month and having the 'Bird overheat and get me stuck three times trying all different solutions. This finally worked. No more "bubbling" in OFC that looks like the coolant is boiling. No more overheating.

I hope it works for you.

Using more coolant than water increases the density of the mixture and actually decreases the fluids ability to dissipate heat. The most important way to increase the boiling point of the mix is to keep it under pressure. By keeping it pressurized, enough water can be used in the mix to properly shed heat while not boiling. There's a fine balance between enough coolant to raise boiling point and pressure to also raise the boiling point. Too much coolant and it won't boil, but it will overheat.