[SRMobile]

I've had a leak coming from a round the thermostat housing for over a year now. It's a minor inconvenience but I have to top up every 2 to 3 weeks depending on how fast I drive.

The car has been going so well, I'd like to finaly fix this problem.

I've tried to locate a reasonably priced thermostat housing, but all local scrap yards no longer have Escort parts available. I've done some digging and found a picture and it looks like it may not be made of plastic like I initialy thought.

If that's the case, could it be possible it's just a gasket ?

Is this a comon problem ?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SRMobile]

Thermostat housings on the '92 1.9L engines are aluminum...I can't imagine that the '96 1.9L engines are any different...so you probably just need a new gasket unless the housing itself is cracked or warped...might as well replace the thermostat while you're at it...

be careful when attempting the repair or be prepared...the lower bolt holding the housing to the head likes to snap off

Wow thanks for that last bit of information. Maybe spraying some sort of liquid wrench type of product will help ?

If it does break off, is it hard to get the rest of the bolt out ?

 

[SRMobile]

I have seen new thermostat housing on NAPA's website. Having said that, I'd prefer one off of a newer Escort, like a 1997 and relocate the two temperature sensors into the housing instead of that stupid tube.

Use this:

Along with the heater hose for a 1997 as well. You might have to splice the wiring for the sensors, but if you know how to solder, that's not a big deal.

I just checked the Canadian napa and they don't list it

Is the 97 housing a direct bolt up? I'm not that great with soldering, I can do some basic mechanic tasks so I'm very limited.

Thanks for the suggestion though, if I really can't locate what I need at a resonable price, I'll start looking at that for a replacement.

On another note, perhaps I should have asked this in my original post.

How long does it take to change a housing out?

 

[SRMobile]

If it does break off, is it hard to get the rest of the bolt out ?

It can be a time-consuming royal pain-in-the-a$$ that, if done wrong, will completely mess up the head or require you to pull the head and take it to a machine shop to get the broken bolt out...

Alright well that possibility is making me think twice about taking this project on. I have some mechanic ability but if that bolt broke I'd be SOL and I've just looked through the comon problem sticky and that bolt is listed there. Theres a good chance this will happen to me, so I guess I might turn to a mechanic which is what I was trying to avoid.

Thanks for the help guys!