Thermostat bad?

daivd z

Registered User
My car has been dripping out coolant from somewhere. I though it was from the waterpump because the gasket had poped out in one section so I cut it off and put some sealer on it. I get done driving it and there is a puddle of coolant on the water pump again and i see there is some on the bottom of the thermostat housing above it. Well the reason why im thinkin my thermostat might be out is because it will drive around with the temp before the N but when i get on it, it will go up to the N and when i get off again it will go back to half way between N and the blue part. The heater also blows cold air sometime then it will go back to hot? any ideas on whats up?
 
The gasket for the thermostat housing is a very common spot for leakage. Replace the gasket with the proper thermostat gasket from Ford. The ones you will get from most aftermarket auto store is for the n/a 3.8 and that one will leak in a SC. Check very carefully and make sure the housing gasket surface is perfectly flat. People will warp the housing by overtightening and unless it's straightened out it will not seal. Also, I think your fluctuating temp and heater blowing cold air is because of air pockets in the system. If your leak is big enough you can suck air into the system after you run the car and it's cooling down. John
 
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If you pulled off a loose piece of the water pump gasket and just stuffed some sealant into the space - it isn't going to make it. So check and make sure where the leak is coming from. You can put a small inspection mirror under the thermostat housing to check that leak, but most likely you are going to have to remove the pump. Pulling it off isn't too bad except you have to get to the 2 bolts on the power steering bracket - which means using a special puller to get the pulley off first or remove the other steering pump bolts to be able to swing the pump out of the way.
 
Don't use a thermostat gasket for a 5.0 either. It looks identical but it is slightly larger and will leak badly.
 
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