thermostat replacement - CEG Archives

do you need a new gasket?

Yes....because it is cheap and good piece of mind.

wut temp is the cooler thermostate????when does (temp) the stock open up and let coolant cycle through engine and when does the cooler thermo open up and let coolant cycle????

Originally posted by CrispRide:
wut temp is the cooler thermostate????when does (temp) the stock open up and let coolant cycle through engine and when does the cooler thermo open up and let coolant cycle????

Stock thermo is 195 degrees.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
do you need a new gasket?

Yes , but its not like a standard paper glue it in gasket....its just a rubber O ring, no glue no paste no crap....real easy

It's so easy, I've done it on a break at work (and I work in an office and need to be clean).

Originally posted by D Davis:
It's so easy, I've done it on a break at work (and I work in an office and need to be clean).

It is too easy.

That is if you know where it is.

haynes manual says I need to drain the coolant first, is this true?

done. lost more coolant than I thought I would but it's cool because I got to add just water and that helped to changed my old 50/50 ratio to something better. driveway smells like fish now.

i recommend this for EVERYONE that owns a zetec to do. it's simple, quick, and easy to do. All you need is a flat head screwdriver, 8mm socket, extension, ratchet, lower temp thermostat (~$15), gasket ($3), and water. It ran on 'O' the whole way home tonite, usually it would be around the 'M' and sometimes higher.

one question though: this thermostat has no air bleed valve like stock. does that matter?

another observation: tonight, temp. in 80Fs.
on drive home from work, i had defroster on because of rain.
the whole way home the temp gauge sat right at bottom of the 'N' and as I came into my driveway, it was barely sitting in the NORMAL operating range area. it really helps a lot.

drill a small hole in it.

hm...

#1 If the temp is too low, the PCM will think the car
is in warmup mode and will rich the mixture all the time.
I had this when my temp. sensor went bad. Car ran like a
champ with MPG below 20... Not something healthy.

#2 I was told the hotter an engine is (i.e below warpage/
fluid boil limits of course) the more efficient it is,
that's why we don't run our engines at room temperature.
What's the truth about it ?

T.

1.it's still in normal range
2.untrue, that's why we want colder air and that's why nitrous is used

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
1.it's still in normal range
2.untrue, that's why we want colder air and that's why nitrous is used

Well nitrous is not necessarily colder....it burns A LOT more effiecient than "regular" air. Nitrous is an oxidizer.

burns more efficient and is colder... nitrous as well as CO2 are sometimes used just to cool intake, intercoolers,etc. but you already knew that hector.

Originally posted by tiv:

#2 I was told the hotter an engine is (i.e below warpage/
fluid boil limits of course) the more efficient it is,
that's why we don't run our engines at room temperature.
What's the truth about it ?

The peak operating temperature of an internal combustion engine running on unleaded fossil fuels (i.e. car engine) is 180 degrees F.
That number can fluctuate (between 160 and 190) depending on many factors, but as a general rule, 180 is the target.
180 degrees is not the combustion chamber temp, it is the overall temp of the engine itself.

With diesel engines, you would ideally want to build an engine with no cooling system at all, and let it run really hot. This has been done in the lab with advanced exotic materials, and it was more efficient.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
burns more efficient and is colder... nitrous as well as CO2 are sometimes used just to cool intake, intercoolers,etc. but you already knew that hector.

c02 is used to cool...not nitrous.

nitrous can be used and is used by some people to cool intake charges, intercoolers, etc.

hmm..ok question..

advantages to changing from 195 to a 180 thermostat ?
need to replace mine anyways, and was looking for one today and was told it would warp my heads?

planning to do flush and fill and thermo replacement, as well as replacing sryptine belt in the morning..so any help would be good..picked up the 195..will probally just use it, unless someone can justify the change.
the gauge ahs been hovering from the m to the top of the l..so time to start tring to fix that.
thanks all,
Michael

1998 Ford Contour 2.0 Zetec 64k miles

It isn't gonna warp your heads. Read all my posts in this topic and you'll see the justification. It's only $15 (or less if you can find it at a parts store) and if you don't like it, then you're not out a lotta money.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
It isn't gonna warp your heads. Read all my posts in this topic and you'll see the justification. It's only $15 (or less if you can find it at a parts store) and if you don't like it, then you're not out a lotta money.

Yeah I read all your posts in this topic.

better than your one smiley posts in most topics.

Stupid Q?

Can I just go to [insert Auto Parts store here] and ask for a 180 degree thermostat and a gasket, or will I need some sort of part information?

Originally posted by sigma:
Stupid Q?

Can I just go to [insert Auto Parts store here] and ask for a 180 degree thermostat and a gasket, or will I need some sort of part information?

I went to napa yesterday and got a 180 degree t-stat and a gasket. I told him what I wanted and he got it for me. Only cost me $8. I've only ran it for a few minutes but I can tell a difference.

Originally posted by sigma:
Stupid Q?

Can I just go to [insert Auto Parts store here] and ask for a 180 degree thermostat and a gasket, or will I need some sort of part information?

Most places list both the 192 and 180 degree thermostat for the Contour.
Just ask for the 180 degree one.

Well I hit up AutoZone, O'Reilly's, and PepBoys. None have one or can get one.

Napa and Carquest were closed. I'll go back tomorrow.

so i have 2 ?'s then. will i have to drain my fluids and where is the thermostat housing?

the coolant will drain onto your hand, engine, and driveway. Thermostat housing is on right side of engine block (looking from front of car) and has a big radiator house running into it. You remove the hose and three bolts. I just refilled my coolant with water, gave it a better ratio of water to antifreeze anyways.

I'm getting one in August.

I learned this the hard way. Buy it at autozone not from zxtuner.com Zxtuner also will rip you off on shipping sometimes. They charge what UPS charges but ship USPS if they can. They charged me $17 something for shipping and box said $5.50 when it got here. I don't wanna make a big fuss outta it because he's handling making the CF hood (eventually

Originally posted by LoCoChick:
I'm getting one in August.

Yep.

Got mine today.

7.99 at autozone
2.99 for O ring gasket

Part numbers:

thermostat - 809-180 4048+ this is on the top of the box
Felpro Gasket O Ring - 35284

Goes in tomorrow

NJoy
Rich

Originally posted by sosaudio1:
Got mine today.

7.99 at autozone
2.99 for O ring gasket

Part numbers:

thermostat - 809-180 4048+ this is on the top of the box
Felpro Gasket O Ring - 35284

Goes in tomorrow

NJoy
Rich

Have fun!

And thanks for the parts numbers... just replaced mine.

Here's a close up of the housing of the thermostat on my Zetec Cougar, it should be the same as yours. I also added a few things to make it easier to find on yours.

Number 1 is the coil pack, it's right above the housing. Num 2 is the first bolt on the valve cover closed to the housing. Three is the housing itself. It only has 3 bolts and two hoses to get off. The bolt just above the number 3 is not one of them. And 4 is the turbo, oh wait you guys don't have that.

Just a little visual to help the rest of you out. It is a real easy mod, hardest part is draining a gallon or so of fluid so you don't get a bunch of it running down the engine when you change the thermo.

Laters.