Fiesta WQ thermostat housing leak

ipxzor · 30-08-2010, 12:54 AM

Hey guys I just wanted to leave some info for anyone who might be encountering this problem as I was unable to find anything on here about it. The housing i am talking about is the one with the two hose attachments leading from the radiator that mounts onto the engine block at the front.

Last week I noticed i had a leak coming from the bottom of the housing so I valiantly decided to fix it myself.

You will need a way to lift the car, coolant, alternator and power steering belts, plastic housing (make sure the oddly shaped rubber seal is also provided), thermostat with seal and lastly some method of installing stretch fit belts.

1) Get the car on some ramps. Disconnect the battery.

2) Take off the alternator belt. These are single use stretch-fit belts so just cut it off. Repeat - there is no tensioner.

3) Unbolt the alternator. 2 bolts are visible and the 3rd you get to from the side where the headlight is just feel around under the alternator and you will find it.

$) Unclip the electricals to the alternator just press in the clip and pull out. The other one has a rubber cover and screw. Set the alternator off to the side you will have enough space.

4) Remove the large radiator hose from the bottom to drain then the housing hoses next.

5) Remove housing. There are 4 screws. The best way to find them is to look at your replacement housing. I used a 5/16th ratchet for the screws. The first is the top left which is easy. The top right is also not particularly difficult but it is pretty cramped. The bottom right you will have to come from underneath the car and the hoses get in the way so it is pretty tedious.

Lastly the nightmare one is the bottom left. The method I used is to look at my replacement and line it up on the angle i thought that it might be and just blindly fool around until i found it. Took me half an hour to find the thing. Once that is off remove the housing.

6) Replace the thermostat. Now put that nightmare screw bottom left into the new housing before you go to install it. Attach the ratchet and in one movement with the screw/ratchet/housing find the hole. Then screw in the remaining 3 and reattach the hoses.

7) Replace your coolant.

8) Replace the belts. This is where i failed miserably. Why couldn't they have just put a tensioner on the thing? I can give no advice on this other than I hear there is a makeshift way of installing it with a screwdriver whilst manually rolling the power steering and water pump for the respective belts although this can wreck the belts. Otherwise buy the tool which was insanely priced.

I gave up and called up 2 mechanics, 3 mobile mechanics and NONE of them had ever seen a stretch fit belt before and couldn't figure it out. Sent the thing to freeway ford and it cost $90 on labor so painful but i was so frustrated at that stage I would have paid anything...

9) Reattach the battery, burp the bubbles out of the cooling system and you are done.

If anyone else has a better method or any ideas just mention it and I'll modify this post.

*notes*

Looked at the old housing and it was warped where it fit to the engine. Someone at ford thought that plastic on hot metal was a great idea.

Total cost -
Housing - $40
Thermostat - $40
Belts- $80
Coolant - $40 ($80 for 5L concentrate)

Time - 4H. It would probably take me 2 hours now that i know what to do.
Other cost - My santity. It wasn't worth the time or effort so to me this was easily a $450 job with parts.

Good Luck!

1.6Madness · 30-08-2010, 02:42 AM

Wow, that does not sound like any fun. Is there a name for the '' special tool", I want to look it up now. Hopefully the Haynes manual describes another method. How many KM's on yours ipxzor? Mine is a bit over 40thou.

ipxzor · 30-08-2010, 02:54 PM

I'm at 100k. Should have just done the timing belt also while all this was going on oh well. They are "gates" stretch fit belts although the originals are motorcraft branded ones. http://www.gates.com/stretchfit/ its that bolt and lead weight looking thing in the picture i assume.

Strange1 · 28-06-2016, 05:15 PM

Thread necro!

So I took my 2010 in for a rego check and they said there was a stain from the thermostat housing implying that there must be a tiny leak, the coolant level had never really moved but it had to be done for rego so I said ok sort it.....

Pick the car up later and the thermostat housing had a fine crack in it, but it was almost $600 to replace! Everything needed remove to get to the bastard, alternator, parts of the bodywork, even the aircon needed removing ffs. And yeah the belt had to be removed and then replaced with a new one as it's stretch fit. *sigh*

So after that and 2 new rear tyres it was a $1100 rego check lol

DZFord · 28-06-2016, 06:41 PM

In case anyone wants to DIY this job, the following video will show you how to fit a stretch belt with a special tool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlhOSXmOW4I

Victor1 · 28-06-2016, 06:49 PM

The daughters fiesta had the o ring fail on her and she cooked the head=water in the oil.
But prior to finding the head was gone the mechanic changed the housing,thermostat,drive belts and seal for $350.
Your repair sounds a bit rich.

fiestaz · 28-06-2016, 08:46 PM

Our WP did the same, was about $600 to fix because of what had to come out, AC needed to come out and then be re gassed. Very much a pain.

Was done by independent mechanic also.