Soooo, today I swapped the radiator and the thermostat in the ‘97 4.0. There was a crack in the plastic head of the radiator, and it never got hot, I assumed the former owner had removed the thermostat. When I opened it up, I found out the thermostat was just frozen open.
I was disappointed there were no gaskets with the new 190 thermostat. So I went to the right trash can in the shed of miracles and pulled out an oil-soaked electronics box from what I don’t know:
I traced out the head, and punched the bolt holes with a modified lamp nipple I had in my punch box. Then, I did a similar mod to a short piece of chain link fence post That I put in my punch box for next time.
Then I impregnated it with Prematex 2. The P2 was a little stiff. I’m disappointed the superglue cap I put on it years ago wasn’t a perfect seal.
Note the 79cent shoe box platform from Goodwill.
The thermostat still would have rattled around in the housing so I made a rubber gasket to keep it tight in place by slicing 1/8” off a radiator hose, also with the P2. Sorry no picture of that one.
It all went together perfectly, and I filled it with a combo of the used and some new antifreeze, being careful not to introduce any trash by using a special filter funnel constructed from a face cloth rag, a dollar store funnel, and a zip tie. Having the right tool always makes the job easy!
A lot of work just to get the heat working for 6-7 days a year...