Motorcraft Thermostat full of holes

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

Im going to post a picture of what I found later but the questions been bugging me all weekend. I replaced the thermostat in my 13 on Saturday because the car wouldnt warm up on the first cold day in florida (a brisk 50 degrees) I let the car idle for about 15 minutes and got in to an icebox, after driving for about 10 minutes the car finally put out some heat, I also noticed my temp gauge for the days leading up to that had been moving a lot for a factory glorified idiot light so i hooked up a scanner and watched the ECT directly. on the cold day it was reading 140 and refused to go any higher, on a normal 80 degree day it would kiss 200 degrees but if i came to a stop would drop back down to 170 180. I bought the car in September with a long list of recent repairs from a ford dealer due to the water pump being replaced, on the list was a thermostat so I was confused as to why it had already failed.

that's the back story, here's the strange part, I ordered a failsafe motorad 180 degree just to get the heat working again and did the deed on Saturday, when i pulled the old thermostat out, aside from it being wedged really good in the hole, hardest thermostat I've ever had to remove, I noticed it had holes allowing for fluid to pass through it in the closed position, 1 maybe 2 ive seen before but this had several, almost defeating the purpose of a thermostat, I checked the numbers and it was a motorcraft. Ill post pictures and part numbers later today but I was wondering if any one has seen or heard about this, considering these engines water pumps fail rate I cant help but think ford made a band-aid part to reduce the pressure in the system to prolong the life of the pump.

 

[BradM]

There is a small hole in the thermostat for helping bleed the system. I think it's called the jiggle pin. See mine.

 

[kryptto]

There is a small hole in the thermostat for helping bleed the system. I think it's called the jiggle pin. See mine.

Same as my OEM Ford. Looks just like yours Brad

 

[Ta2dResqr]

I'm going to guess that yours was a homemade mod to lower the temperatures. If you read the thread on SVTPerformance that Reische links to, they discuss this being a mod for the 4v Mustangs prior to Reische coming out with a properly designed thermostat.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

looks really clean for a home mod, the part number is 1X4E-8575-FB which comes back as several different fitments. The new ones I could find showed a rubber looking part over where the holes are on mine, maybe someone peeled off the rubber, maybe mines defective, maybe the rubber is floating around in the cooling system, or maybe someone took a lot of time to perfectly drill 7 holes. either way, the car is acting fine, not over heating, thermostat is opening as it should so I'm not super worried, I've just never seen this.

 

[BradM]

looks really clean for a home mod, the part number is 1X4E-8575-FB which comes back as several different fitments. The new ones I could find showed a rubber looking part over where the holes are on mine, maybe someone peeled off the rubber, maybe mines defective, maybe the rubber is floating around in the cooling system, or maybe someone took a lot of time to perfectly drill 7 holes. either way, the car is acting fine, not over heating, thermostat is opening as it should so I'm not super worried, I've just never seen this.

Agree that looks factory. And yes, there should be a rubber ring per this picture. https://www.ebay.com/itm/332092553391

 

[Texas Marauder]

That is the wrong thermostat. The correct part is 1X4Z-8575-B or Motorcraft RT-1253.

​

 

[kryptto]

That is the wrong thermostat. The correct part is 1X4Z-8575-B or Motorcraft RT-1253.

Is there anything that they did to that car that used approved Ford parts?

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

Is there anything that they did to that car that used approved Ford parts?

Not looking like it, she's in good hands now at least, reverse engineering every repair home base did to this poor thing.

But as for the thermostat @Texas Marauder , the broad fitment spec sheet for that part number lists 3.5l explorer police utility, flex, I think I saw ford 500 on the list, among others and it listed several other part numbers that are interchangeable, who knows. My main concern was if it was a tsb part because of the pump failures. Keeping Temps down and coolant flowing would keep pressures down to a degree. Next time someone pulls a motorcraft stocker need to peel that rubber back to see if there's holes.

 

[Texas Marauder]

The correct thermostat does not have that rubber and no holes other than the jiggle pin. Just because it fits doesn't mean it's right.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

The correct thermostat does not have that rubber and no holes other than the jiggle pin. Just because it fits doesn't mean it's right.

When I ordered mine motorcraft showed a 180 and a 192, i decided to go with a failsafe type but I couldn't agree more, right is right. It was wedged pretty good in there so it didn't really fit right either. makes me wonder what else the dealer did to this thing, on another thread about oil pressure i discovered the correct/incorrect oil filter was used for the oil change, it was correct in the sense that ford approves it but it used cheaper parts and didn't have a bypass, and it seems like they used the wrong weight oil too. brake hose has a full loop-d-loop, skid plates held on with zipties. its whole life it was serviced at ford dealers, down to oil changes and wiper blades. I'm just praying the tech that did the actual water pump itself isn't the same guy that did the thermostat and oil change. In small shops I'm sure it would be but in these big dealer service complexes wouldn't be surprised if it was 3 or more guys working on this thing.

 

[kryptto]

sorry to say - you will be uncovering more and more cheap fixes in my opinion.

 

[BradM]

The correct thermostat does not have that rubber and no holes other than the jiggle pin. Just because it fits doesn't mean it's right.

The picture I provided above is from a PI. It has the rubber.

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

sorry to say - you will be uncovering more and more cheap fixes in my opinion.

I'm afraid your right, but I love the car so I'll just make it right as I go

 

[Texas Marauder]

The picture I provided above is from a PI. It has the rubber.

The number I gave is also from a 2016 PI sedan. Was and is installed in it. No rubber disc.

After some research, it appears the thermostat with the rubber disc has been superseded by the 1X4Z-8575-B or Motorcraft RT-1253.

 

[Zpak]

Want to talk about butchers at ford dealers? I took in my Edge under warrantee for an oil pan leak. Guess they thought I’d never notice they cut out a section of the cross member to drop the pan and covered the wound with black RTV. You can’t find good help these days.

 

[Devin]

Ewww.

 

[Ta2dResqr]

Want to talk about butchers at ford dealers? I took in my Edge under warrantee for an oil pan leak. Guess they thought I’d never notice they cut out a section of the cross member to drop the pan and covered the wound with black RTV. You can’t find good help these days. View attachment 88681

Sounds like a good case for a totaled vehicle due to frame damage.

 

[kryptto]

Want to talk about butchers at ford dealers? I took in my Edge under warrantee for an oil pan leak. Guess they thought I’d never notice they cut out a section of the cross member to drop the pan and covered the wound with black RTV. You can’t find good help these days. View attachment 88681

Holy shiiiiit

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

Want to talk about butchers at ford dealers? I took in my Edge under warrantee for an oil pan leak. Guess they thought I’d never notice they cut out a section of the cross member to drop the pan and covered the wound with black RTV. You can’t find good help these days. View attachment 88681

Key word was warranty, that's definitely the winner of the hack award, I'm with @Ta2dResqr that's a good case for totaled vehicle or at least a lawsuit.