Greetings all. I have a 2000 Ford Focus that I recently inherited with 92K on it. Everything works fine except the car will not get up to temp. Easy right, new thermostat and problem solved. Well, I could've only been so lucky. Since I've had the car I replaced all three motor mounts (passenger side, dog bone, & trans mount) because the car vibrated terribly and put brakes on the car. I am a seasoned "backyard mechanic" and have done head gaskets, replaced tranny's, etc but am not a seasoned pro. Those bigger R&R tasks usually take me a couple of days because I'm a perfectionist, do everything by the service manual and also clean everything I take apart. There's a little background about me so you know i'm not a bumbling idiot.
When I changed the thermostat out (had to remove air cleaner box, battery tray, ignition mount, etc) I was surprised to find the housing was made of plastic. I replaced the thermostat with a Stant 45990 "Super Stat" since my car had the letter "P" for the 5th and 8th VIN digits. Well, in my opinion the 45990 did not fit very well into the housing. It was pretty loose actually. The factory thermostat fit very tightly into the housing. And... with the 45990 installed my cooling issue was NOT solved. The car still barely gets to the bottom range of the temp gauge while driving. If I let it sit and idle it will get up to normal temp but does not hold once you start driving. It is not leaking anywhere and the housing seemed ok.
Thus I figure, 1 of 2 things is going on. The factory thermostat really was bad and the loose fit of the new "Super Stat" is allowing too much water to go by or my thermostat housing has somehow become warped over time and is not allowing the thermostat to seat properly. To the best of my knowledge it's a mechanical system and there are no electronic servos or PWM devices regulating coolant flow so my problem has to be at the thermostat. Anyone have any experience with this particular issue? My next step is to return the thermostat and replace the whole housing.
Thanks in advance for your time and knowledge!
When I changed the thermostat out (had to remove air cleaner box, battery tray, ignition mount, etc) I was surprised to find the housing was made of plastic. I replaced the thermostat with a Stant 45990 "Super Stat" since my car had the letter "P" for the 5th and 8th VIN digits. Well, in my opinion the 45990 did not fit very well into the housing. It was pretty loose actually. The factory thermostat fit very tightly into the housing. And... with the 45990 installed my cooling issue was NOT solved. The car still barely gets to the bottom range of the temp gauge while driving. If I let it sit and idle it will get up to normal temp but does not hold once you start driving. It is not leaking anywhere and the housing seemed ok.
Thus I figure, 1 of 2 things is going on. The factory thermostat really was bad and the loose fit of the new "Super Stat" is allowing too much water to go by or my thermostat housing has somehow become warped over time and is not allowing the thermostat to seat properly. To the best of my knowledge it's a mechanical system and there are no electronic servos or PWM devices regulating coolant flow so my problem has to be at the thermostat. Anyone have any experience with this particular issue? My next step is to return the thermostat and replace the whole housing.
Thanks in advance for your time and knowledge!