thermostat question

[Venom SHO s7]

my sho kept going from cold to close to the red on the temp gauge after driving for less than 5 min. so im going to change the thermostat, ive checked at pep boys and they want 9$. now, ive heard that the ford one is better because it has a valve that lets air out of the system.. the local ford dealership wants 30$ is it worth paying more for the ford one.. or not? also.. is changing the thermostat difficult at all on the sho motor? thanks for any input

 

[BlackOnBlackATX]

i would highly recommend getting the one with the "jiggle valve" that lets air out. you can order it from midwestsho.com for the same price, but it also comes with a gasket and a new temp sending unit. or i would go to autozone or pepboys and get one, the one i got from autozone had the jiggle valve in it. personally, i just wouldnt give ford any money

it is not hard to replace at all. personally i would recommend siphoning about a gallon of coolant out of the radiator cap before you do it though because this will greatly reduce the amount of spillage when you replace it. with the proper socket though it will only take about 10 minutes to pull the old one out and put the new one in. just be sure not to overtighten those nuts when you put them back. you dont want to snap a stud on your thermostat housing.

 

[sdpatt]

It's much easier to drain the coolant from the radiator petcock on the bottom, driver side of the radiator. Fit a short length of hose on the drain spout to direct the fluid into a recovery bottle and keep it off the lower radiator bulkhead. Be careful with the torque on those nuts on the thermostat. The rubber seal around the thermostat's perimeter is the only seal needed - no sealant is to be used. Save the old one if the replacement is not equipped with one. The jiggle valves help refilling the system by venting the air trapped behind the closed thermostat.

 

[Zap]

I'd just like to add that I recently replaced my car's "aftermarket replacement" T-Stat with the FoMoCo original. The $10 special that I took out looked cheaply made in comparison to the Ford unit, which is made of different metal to prevent corrosion. Additionally, the jiggle valve FELL OUT of the aftermarket one. Finally, it looks ok, but was somehow not properly operating because the engine would not heat up properly. Now the engine runs at the bottom of the word NORMAL on the freeway, and heats up at most to the O-R area when idle. It works a LOT better than the old T-Stat ever did. In my experience, the Ford unit might actually be worth using. I decided to give it a shot.

~Chris