2.3L ('83-'97) Replacing OEM Thermostat Housing 1990 with newer style 1992 +


Nubs

Forum Member

Joined
Apr 20, 2022
Messages
14
Points
101
City
Texas
Vehicle Year
1990
Transmission
Manual
Hi Y'all! My 1990 Ranger 2.3L SOHC 5 spd, has just about had it with the thermostat housing being worn out, and I for the life of me cannot find a suitable replacement for it. The newer style is plentiful to find and brand new of course, so my question is what do I need to do or change to be able to use the newer style thermostat housing / Water Outlet with the 1990 engine?

The 1990 I have has the Spark Plug coils on on the left and right hand sides, whereas the newer style has them both on the right hand side next to each other. Would I be able to source the brackets, make a harness to move the left hand side coil over to the right hand side as the later years do, and with some heater hose re-routing, and wiring harness extension and be able to use the newer style of Thermostat Housing?

What all parts would I need to get this to happen? Would the new style even fit without hitting the timing cover? I tried to fit a newer style one on there in desperation, but it hit the coil bracket on the right hand side, and the heater hose outlet on the newer style one wasn't even close to the old OEM one. Because at this point, I'm not too sure how much longer my truck's original one is going to last. Gurus, tinkerers, and other people please chime in, I could use all the advice I can get, because my last resort is to have one fabricated up, which costs a whole hell of a lot more than a four seasons one from RockAuto. Thoughts and insights super appreciated!!

Kind Regards,
Nubs
 
It's been so dang long since I've had the stock setup on my '90... but I just did a T stat housing on my '97 last year so that's more fresh... even if you used the '97 setup the main difference is there's a temp sensor in the heater core tube but it comes with a plug for that so you would be able to seal it up and hook things up more how it used to be. If memory serves the heater hose goes around the coil pack mounted on the front of the passenger side, I remember bending a tube on mine but it could have been from the turbo side... I'll try to look at my '90 and '97 tomorrow to see if things would interchange easy enough...
 

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