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Thermostat Housing Questions?

43K views 34 replies 18 participants last post by  sgidivil 
#1 ·
How's it going everyone?

So my Focus has finally developed the infamous thermostat housing crack with right around 78k miles on the car. Now I've searched and I've searched for any information, how-to's or what the best housing to buy for the SVT is and I've come up with almost nothing. Which, is surprising since this is something that pretty much everyone will have to do on their Focus. The only consensus I have found is to buy the Dorman housing, which, is what I did and it only cost $32 from Rock Auto. The OEM replacement from Ford is $68 and the one from CFM is $140, so those are out of the question.

What I'm hoping for is to find anyone who has an SVT and has had to replace their thermostat housing. My problem is that on the SVT the temp sensor is mounted in the plug hole on top of the housing where as the ZX3 temp sensor is mounted on the bottom plug hole (from what I've been able to find) or they don't have one altogether. The thing about this Dorman housing is that the slots for the temp sensor clip are in the bottom hole and neither hole is drilled for a sensor to be used. I called Dorman and they said this is the only one they have and that it is built to not use a temp sensor. Here's the thermostat housing so you can see what I'm talking about:




Now, I'm fine with extending the temp sensor wires so that it will reach the lower hole. On the SVT, there is just a metal plug there, which, is pointless as far as I can tell and has a poorly designed rubber o-ring that will also start to leak. Actually, I have already replaced that o-ring, so I have no problem with getting rid of the plug altogether. The question then is: do I try to drill out the hole myself so I can use the temp sensor or do I just go without a temp sensor altogether? If anyone has had to do this please help me out here.

One other question. I noticed as I was looking for the source of my antifreeze leak that there is a rubber tube just to the right of the exhaust manifold that runs under the thermostat housing toward the rear of the car that has a large crack in it. I have no idea what this hose is. The Hayne's book is worthless for the SVT and I went to my colleges library to access the Alldata, which, was also useless. I'm providing a picture, so if anyone can tell me what it is, that would be fantastic.



One thing for sure, I am going to try and take pictures as I do this and post a how-to on here, since amazingly there is not one, so that anyone who has to do this in the future will hopefully have an easier time. Anyway, here are a few more pictures of the Dorman Thermostat Housing:



Thanks everyone.
 
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#4 ·
Well that sucks. Thanks for the response though guys. It seems strange that I would need a thermostat housing from a Contour, but then car manufactures do like to reuse parts wherever they can. I'm guessing that I should be able to just google Tousley Ford for the number then? Is there anyone that would have it cheaper or am I looking at $130 regardless?

Thanks for the info on the pipe, a guy at Ford said it was likely a ventilation tube for the crank case, I just wanted to be sure. You guys think the crack in the PCV pipe is of major concern that should be replace ASAP or is that something I can hold off on for a while?

Anyway, thanks again.
 
#5 ·
ASAP.
It's causing an unmetered vacuum leak. Which will cause the car to run lean.

If you buy the Contour housing you'll also need a new temp sender. The Contour was a thread in vs the SVT's push in. So that's more money.

Best bet is to just buy a new SVT housing and be done with it. So long as the valve cover doesn't leak all over it, it will last a good while. And it's the cheapest route.
 
#6 ·
Trust me do not buy another svt housing. I went through 3 in a year, they suck. That freeze plug always leaks.

$130 is the housing, the. Bolts that put it together. The temp sensor, the water snout.

You can reuse your t stat if its fairly new, otherwise i would replace.

Then you go to a hardware store and go to the brass fitting section and ask someone for a 1/8" NPT fitting. This will screw into the freeze plug spot. Now that things screw in with Teflon, no more leaks.

Here's the thread

http://forums.focaljet.com/ford-svt-focus-headquarters/621238-who-wants-guinea-pig-stat-housing.html

The guy you wanna call is the guy that started the thread. Parts at 10% over cost.

You'll learn quickly that our svt HATES auto zone/oreilly/advance auto parts.

I know I did


And fix the pcv stuff asap! You can buy the grommet, hard line, elbow and vac line from pcv to Throttle body for about 50 from steve as well.


I just did both of these so that's why I'm telling you to get them, its gonna save you money, I bought the dorman housing and it went bad in 6 months



A TON of svt guys have upgraded to the housing.
 
#7 ·
Another recommendation here for the Contour housing. I got mine from Steve @ Tousley as well. I replaced it at like 70,000. I have over 135k now and no t-stat housing leaks.
 
#10 ·
Thank you so much for the replies guys, very helpful information and thank you jwill2489 for the link, don't know how I didn't find that in all of my searching, but that is exactly what I need. I swear, Ford must have given the SVT guys the smallest budget of any car they have done with the Focus. Maybe Ford just didn't think there was much of a market for the hot hatches in the States at the time.

It's interesting iminhell because my car was throwing an error code a few weeks back saying it was running rich. That engine code turned itself off, then a week later it came back saying it was running rich and lean, that too turned off after a day. Thought it might be the MAF sensor so I checked it and it was pretty dirty, but I wander if the crack in the PCV tube could be causing or contributing to that too. Unfortunately I can't afford both right now, so I think I will have to hold off on the thermostat housing for now and fix that PCV tube instead.

Thanks again everyone.
 
#11 ·
I feel your pain brother

I got my ars whooped for nearly a week by this dam housing. In the end i ended up with the zx3 thermostat and just drilled the bottom hole out with the apropriate size drill bit, I started small n drilled till I had the tightest fit... wrapped the sensor whole bottom part of the sensor, even were the clip slides over, in a shitload of plumbers tape, extended the wires to the sensor and hasnt leaked since. Be sure tho however not to tighten the three housing to head bolts to tight or you will mess the housing up....n for the other "usless" plug in the old thermostat went in my nut n bolt container for who knows what later down the road.. As far as that hose, I have no clue sorry, but wish u the best of luck with it.. Hope this helps
 
#14 ·
Nice. Good to know that I can do just the PCV elbow, but I guess I will have to inspect the entire thing before I buy anything. However, if I'm going to replace the thermostat housing, it's going to be doing it the best way possible, so I think I will definitely be going with the Contour housing. I was never really comfortable with the idea of drilling out the hole in the Dorman housing myself unless it was the only option. I can live with the leaking antifreeze for a while longer till I can afford the Contour housing, just have to keep an eye on the coolant level, but the PCV issue definitely needs to be resolved as soon as possible. Thanks again for the feedback.
 
#21 ·
For sure, I will definitely be calling Steve once I have the money to buy the housing. If you fallow the link to Focaljet that jwill2489 posted, it has all the info about the '98 vs '00 contour housing from Steve himself. I don't know for sure how the '00 stacks up against the '98 as far as stoutness, that would probably be something to ask Steve or just trying each one to see. But like others have said, the '00 has the small temp sensor hole, which, is closer in size to what is on the SVT.

Sniper Focus, I take it those are the part numbers for those items? If so, that is awesome and thank you, always tough to find the right part numbers for things on the SVT.
 
#22 ·
Steve owns a SVTF, tell him you have one and need a t-stat housing. He WILL know exactly what to send you. Trust me, he will not sell you a SVTF t-stat housing unless you specifically ask for that. Even then he might ask you why you would want that one specifically..
 
#24 ·
I hate to revive a 1yr old thread, but I wanted to comment on the coolant housing and a very inexpensive fix.

My housing has cracked TWICE on my current SVT and once on my previous 02 SVT.

However, the second time it cracked, I decided not to replace it, or upgrade to the $150+ Contour option that requires me to replace functional sensors with Contour-compatible ones.

The fracture point is the same every single time. Below where the thermostat retainer meets the housing, along an injection point. I wish I took pictures, but basically its a horizontal crack along the bottom freeze-plug fitting against the block.

Running some water through the housing in my sink I was able to clearly see this is where, and only where, the leak occurs. Very unwilling to give Ford more money at this stage for what is effectively a chronic design flaw spreading a decade of Focii (from the 98 1.8L-2.0L in UK to the 00-07 Zetec in the USA) I decided to repair it with JB Weld.

I lightly filed down and cleaned with alcohol any burrs or jags in the crack, then intentionally put some jags every few millimeters along the crack to aid weld rigitity, and lastly injected two-part JB Weld Plastic epoxy into the crack until I saw it seep into the housing near the freeze-plug hole. I cleaned up quickly with toothpicks and let it dry.

It's held for over a month in a very hot Chicago summer with constant 90's and AC use. No leaks. Cost: $6.00
 
#26 ·
That's not the normal location of the common break!
Usually the housing breaks around the large o-ring, that contacts the engine block.
This usually happens when oil runs down from the head (valve cover, VCT solinoid, etc.) and contacts the rubber o-ring causing the o-ring to swell and the plastic to break. I am well into 250,000km's with no housing issues, as I make sure that I have no oil leaks and I have also replaced the standard Butyl o-rings with Viton and also do not suffer any of the common o-ring leaks as well. The Viton o-rings cost me less than $5.00 for a package of each size and the time to replace. The Butyl o-rings would only last 2 years, like clockwork!
Steve is very knowledgable and his pricing is second to none, but the Contour housing upgrade is an over reaction in my book and the CF aluminum upgrade is a complete waste of money!
I don't know why you are suffering this break, but I would bet that something unique is causing it?
It's just my opinion, so take it as such...
Good luck...
 
#30 ·
Yeah almost 3 yrs running strong, the CFM "kit" is just the Contour housing from 99-00. You can probably get it cheaper through Village Ford or Autonation Ford.

Steve at Autonation (Tousley) said that he never really sold a Contour housing for an actual Contour, only for an upgrade for the Focus.
 
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