Saturday I was driving down the highway and the the engine started overheating. Pulled over and popped the hood and coolant was everywhere, along with white smoke form it all starting to burn off. Had it towed to the shop as to not risk any further damage. They did a pressure test and it turns out the lower coolant thermostat housing was shot. So they replaced the upper and lower housing and all the corresponding parts jsut to try and avoid any future issues. They also said it was a common problem with fords of this era(2005 V6) since they used a lot of plastic aprts in the cooling and intake systems.

Anyone else ever had this happen?

 

The shop is right. Frequent problem with the 4.0L and plenty of folks here have been through the same thing.

 

Is that problem only with the 4.0L?

 

Yup... I've replace countless thermostat housing on the 4.0... Sure i have a lot more to replace too.

 

Really, that seems to be the only recurring drivetrain problem that's pretty common. Other than that, the 4.0L is a solid reliable powerplant (I have multiple friends that are well past 200K mi without major incident).

 

Wow that's good

 

is there a better replacement part out there? my wifes V6 might be good to replace before it goes...knowing her, she'd drive it home

(my 85 camaro she drove home about 5 miles on the highway one day, when I got home she said the car didnt have any power, wouldnt go over 50... i took it down the street, here the governor gear stripped and it was stuck in first gear... that poor thing had to be screaming for mercy on the highway...)

 

There isn't any aftermarket replacement, just the OEM is available.

But it seems to be luck of the draw on how long it lasts. Mine was fine up until 199,800 miles. Then it let go at the track just as I was lining up for a pass. (But I do recall now smelling coolant when I pulled in the garage that week so that may have been a sign it was on its way out.)

Others have replaced it multiple times in a short time frame.

It is an easy to replace part, unless you have the XCharger. One of the bolts is trapped under the blower so I had to remove the blower to get to it. Once I had the blower off it was less than a half hour job to fix it.

 

Yeah, it would be great if someone released a cast aluminum replacement.

As it is, I roll with a spare housing tucked into the spare tire well on long road trips "just in case".

 

Right? I was talking to the guy at the shop about that. Seems like a company could really profit off that since it's such an issue.

Good to know I can most likely expect this to happen again

 

Yeah, the stock lower is around $35-$45. I'd gladly pay $100 for one in aluminum if someone would develop one.

 

mine just went
$ 400 +

 

That's not funny but it is funny

 

How much did the repairs cost?