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I saw your post on replacing Thermostat. My 2006 tripped a code and it showed bad thermostat. I want to use the Jag replacement, and do the work myself. You mentioned a few tips to be attentive to. I would love a bit more detail.
So now I realize why my 2007 wasn't heating up...it wasn't the 40 degree F temps. This motocraft thermostat for a Ford Thunderbird looks about the same, size and spec too.
So here's the Motorcraft RT1163 Thermostat. 192 Degrees and looks identical to the AM OEM part. Even manufactured in the UK. I'm willing to bet the inner plastic bag is what comes in the AM box. $27.99.
I referenced a 2005 Ford Thunderbird V8
I'm assuming that AM charges $60.00 for the box it comes in...
Finally got around to replacing the thermostat yesterday. Had some other parts to order from the UK, so I ended up using a factory part, and not the Motorcraft, but they appear identical.
Sure enough, the gasket on the old thermostat was off the unit and keeping the thermostat from closing.
Instructions here were spot on, but I didn't need to shave the housing stud close to the head.
This is a great thread but in these cases above it seems most issues is trying to get the temp to reach operating temp versus my case is my temp always is at mid point and or it just overheats. Since my issue is that the car overheats occasionally would this also mean my thermostat is also bad? Should I just replace the thermostat since mine is an 2007 V8 4.3 and seems to fall in range with all these others above? I'm in SoCal so our weather normally is at the 80s or 90s...
I have a similar question/situation to you? I loive where it is normally warm above 20C all the time (in winter we do see say8C)
I let my car idle in the garage for about 5-7 mins before i take it out, on long highway driving if its cold the gauge does drop to say the 7h30 - 8 oclock position but i feel a cool engine is better than a hot engine.
In my opinion your car will not improve its cooling by fitting a new thermostat because more than likely its opening all the way?
telum and irish can comment with authority on this.
"In my opinion your car will not improve its cooling by fitting a new thermostat because more than likely its opening all the way?"
You're right--No improvement in cooling. However, when I had this same problem the engine would take a long, long time to warm-up and then never reach the middle of the gauge--both these things are to be expected with the Thermostat locked open.
It doesn't surprise me that the Motorcraft Thermostat is identical to the Jag and Aston units since at that time Ford owned both Marks.
I hadn't read this thread until tonight when I was looking for an existing thread to post something I had written up in the fall. To all the folk that posted earlier about Jag and Ford t-stats - you are correct. But there's more to this issue than finding a cheaper AM replacement. Read on - Sorry it's a tad long I wrote it originally on a 2 hour flight and had time to kill.
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now. I realize there are already DIY’s on here for the thermostat and a coolant flush but while I was flushing the coolant this past fall thought I’d inspect the thermostat and sure enough the rubber ring was starting to roll up meaning my thermostat would be a little bit open ALL the time. Late in the summer season I noted my normal operating temperature drop a couple of degrees while driving ( I drive using OBD Fusion to monitor certain engine characteristics (PID’s) like coolant temp and oil temp etc.) so it caught my eye and was on my to do list for autumn. It was thanks to Rich’s thread on the thermostat DIY where he described the rubber seal jamming the thermostat from closing properly that caught my eye and raised suspicions. – Thanks Redpants.
Anyway, once I had removed the thermostat I knew had seen this thermostat before – it the same design (and possibly the exact same) of an older thermostat design used in late 80’s & 90’s Ford trucks. These vehicles also had the issue with jamming thermostats. Worse yet some of the big engine Ford trucks had the rubber seal come off completely & sucked right into engine water passages, blocking coolant flow and giving eternal overheating conditions. The problem with this thermostat design was it used molded 1/32” rubber nibs all around the edge to hold the seal in place. After time and stress by thermal cycles the nibs would tear and the seal would start to roll off – See picture below. If you caught it before it rolled off completely & got sucked in that was a bonus. The telltale sign when half off was an engine that couldn’t maintain op temp. For the ones that got sucked in – coolant circulation and overheat issues were the symptoms.
Subsequently, Ford (Motorcraft) came out with an improved design that reduced the two part dam to a single piece such that there is no rubber to separate or roll off. The new thermostat design is a solid rubberized piece that can’t separate and jam the thermostat open. It also cannot come off and be sucked in. My replacement did not come from AM – I would not risk putting this same design back in the car. Not sure if I were to buy one today would I get the same old design but I was not prepared to take that risk.
The original AM OE thermostat in my vantage is designed to start opening somewhere between 86-90 Celsius. The Ford replacement that I put in its place is designed to open at 88C (+/- 2C) so it is the exact same spec. It is also the exact same design (less the improved dam) and also fits perfectly, as it should since it is the newer version of the one it is replacing.
I bought the improved design thermostat from a Ford dealer for $22.95 – which is about right for its materials and complexity. You would pay 4-5 times that for an electronically mapped thermostat such as in a BMW. This isn’t that – it’s a standard mechanical spring activated thermostat that has been used for decades. No idea what AML charges for a thermostat? I saw one AM parts source list it for $165 and near fell of my chair laughing.
In this case though it's not about the price or the source: If you are replacing this thermostat because it failed do you really want to install the same inferior thermostat?
Last edited by BMW-North; 01-16-2017 at 11:40 PM.
Reason: Spelling
A lesson from this write up is if you see your temperature is not coming up to the normal point then get your thermostat changed soon, before the rubber comes completely off and to be sucked off into the water passage.
I hadn't read this thread until tonight when I was looking for an existing thread to post something I had written up in the fall. To all the folk that posted earlier about Jag and Ford t-stats - you are correct. But there's more to this issue than finding a cheaper AM replacement. Read on - Sorry it's a tad long I wrote it originally on a 2 hour flight and had time to kill.
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now. I realize there are already DIY’s on here for the thermostat and a coolant flush but while I was flushing the coolant this past fall thought I’d inspect the thermostat and sure enough the rubber ring was starting to roll up meaning my thermostat would be a little bit open ALL the time. Late in the summer season I noted my normal operating temperature drop a couple of degrees while driving ( I drive using OBD Fusion to monitor certain engine characteristics (PID’s) like coolant temp and oil temp etc.) so it caught my eye and was on my to do list for autumn. It was thanks to Rich’s thread on the thermostat DIY where he described the rubber seal jamming the thermostat from closing properly that caught my eye and raised suspicions. – Thanks Redpants.
Anyway, once I had removed the thermostat I knew had seen this thermostat before – it the same design (and possibly the exact same) of an older thermostat design used in late 80’s & 90’s Ford trucks. These vehicles also had the issue with jamming thermostats. Worse yet some of the big engine Ford trucks had the rubber seal come off completely & sucked right into engine water passages, blocking coolant flow and giving eternal overheating conditions. The problem with this thermostat design was it used molded 1/32” rubber nibs all around the edge to hold the seal in place. After time and stress by thermal cycles the nibs would tear and the seal would start to roll off – See picture below. If you caught it before it rolled off completely & got sucked in that was a bonus. The telltale sign when half off was an engine that couldn’t maintain op temp. For the ones that got sucked in – coolant circulation and overheat issues were the symptoms.
Subsequently, Ford (Motorcraft) came out with an improved design that reduced the two part dam to a single piece such that there is no rubber to separate or roll off. The new thermostat design is a solid rubberized piece that can’t separate and jam the thermostat open. It also cannot come off and be sucked in. My replacement did not come from AM – I would not risk putting this same design back in the car. Not sure if I were to buy one today would I get the same old design but I was not prepared to take that risk.
The original AM OE thermostat in my vantage is designed to start opening somewhere between 86-90 Celsius. The Ford replacement that I put in its place is designed to open at 88C (+/- 2C) so it is the exact same spec. It is also the exact same design (less the improved dam) and also fits perfectly, as it should since it is the newer version of the one it is replacing.
I bought the improved design thermostat from a Ford dealer for $22.95 – which is about right for its materials and complexity. You would pay 4-5 times that for an electronically mapped thermostat such as in a BMW. This isn’t that – it’s a standard mechanical spring activated thermostat that has been used for decades. No idea what AML charges for a thermostat? I saw one AM parts source list it for $165 and near fell of my chair laughing.
In this case though it's not about the price or the source: If you are replacing this thermostat because it failed do you really want to install the same inferior thermostat?
Did you get a new housing O ring with the Tstat or does it come as a separate part ? Whats the motorcraft part number of the Oring ?
Tks .
Did you get a new housing O ring with the Tstat or does it come as a separate part ? Whats the motorcraft part number of the Oring ?
Tks .
No o ring in the thermostat package. Do you get one in the AM package?
I keep a large drawer of o-rings. It's full of various size, thickness and materials for working on cars so I just matched the o-ring size and thickness up - even though the old one didn't look flattened - should have measured it and posted that info.
No o ring in the thermostat package. Do you get one in the AM package?
I keep a large drawer of o-rings. It's full of various size, thickness and materials for working on cars so I just matched the o-ring size and thickness up - even though the old one didn't look flattened - should have measured it and posted that info.
So yeah I need to get this done as when its cold out my thermostat only goes to about one tick short of where the proper position should be
this RT1163 is the correct one, yes? (nothing changed with the thermostat for the 4.7L motor, correct?)
i changed mine out just a few months ago. couldn't find an alternative for the o-ring so bought an AM one. turns out i didn't need it. worked just fine using the old one. the car was a 2007 model with 11,000 miles on it. i suspect the previous owner never drove it enough to notice the gauge was low when driving on the freeway in cool weather. or, more likely, never DID drive in cool weather at speed.
03-04-2015, 07:30 AM
