Well it happened to me too. My thermostat housing broke on my way home from work I got the bing check engine temperature so I pulled over and coolant all over the place. Had it towed so I am sure it will cost me a freakin fortune. Damn car may be selling it sooner than expected.
2005 LS V8 175,000 Km Thermostat housing broke
- Thread starter richbloom
- Start date
The thermostat housing is a fairly straight forward procedure. Any monkey with a wrench can do it. Change the degas bottle and plastic cooling parts while you're at it. I was thinking to have a friend fabricate a set of metal ones to replace the plastic ones on my v6. Only problem is finding a metal that's cheap and durable that's good enough to withstand all the expansion and contraction.
RigsLS
Dedicated LVC Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2012
- Messages
- 7,756
- Reaction score
- 532
http://deneau.info/ls/s6x~us~en~file=s6x33008.htm~gen~ref.htm
http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/CatalogResults.aspx?y=2005&m=Lincoln&mo=LS#Search
8592 (RH-134) - Engine Coolant Thermostat/Water Outlet Assembly
Should really replace all plastic cooling system parts at this stage.
Member SoalSoak did a nice write up on cooling system repair for a 2nd GEN.
GLWR
http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/CatalogResults.aspx?y=2005&m=Lincoln&mo=LS#Search
8592 (RH-134) - Engine Coolant Thermostat/Water Outlet Assembly
Should really replace all plastic cooling system parts at this stage.
Member SoalSoak did a nice write up on cooling system repair for a 2nd GEN.
GLWR
Well unfortunately I had to have the car towed to my mechanic. The thermostat burst which caused the thermostat housing to crack as well. Now they are suggesting a new water pump because they are worried about metal fragments in the water pump. And because I live in Canada parts are very, very hard to find. The water pump is aftermarket and the thermostat and housing are oem from lincoln. $1250 I think I hate my car now
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
the thermostat did not "burst" which then caused the housing to crack...
the thermostat in our cars are not a single piece like most other cars... it is actually parts that get held together BY the thermostat housing so when it cracked, it could no longer hold all of the parts together...
your mechanic is garbage, they should be able to see that all of the parts are there and not missing and so there are no metal parts to damage the water pump. minimal searching would have yielded that this is extremely common, the water pump is never a problem in all of those cases, and what actually needs to be done to fix the problem without having to deal with the same thing happening over and over
the thermostat in our cars are not a single piece like most other cars... it is actually parts that get held together BY the thermostat housing so when it cracked, it could no longer hold all of the parts together...
your mechanic is garbage, they should be able to see that all of the parts are there and not missing and so there are no metal parts to damage the water pump. minimal searching would have yielded that this is extremely common, the water pump is never a problem in all of those cases, and what actually needs to be done to fix the problem without having to deal with the same thing happening over and over
Telco
Dedicated LVC Member
And, I think you're getting screwed on the price. The cost of replacing all the cooling system parts is around 600 bucks. I think the thermostat housing is about 100 bucks, perhaps less, and the thermostat another 10 or so. I don't know on the water pump. The only hard part about changing the thermostat housing is the intake has to be loosened a bit, at least on the Gen 2 V8s.
RigsLS
Dedicated LVC Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2012
- Messages
- 7,756
- Reaction score
- 532
Funny because just the other day in another thread some person working at a dealership was telling me how wrong I was, that they would never upsell nor double the price on parts. Your water pump is fine, you need to think about replacing all plastic cooling system parts, degas bottle included. Plenty of threads on here on all that, some with pics some not. SEARCH.
Looks for a thread by SoalSoak on this matter, he covered it top to bottom for a 2nd GEN LS. (even listed p/n)
Looks for a thread by SoalSoak on this matter, he covered it top to bottom for a 2nd GEN LS. (even listed p/n)
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Here's the thread. It should be a sticky, or maybe there should be one sticky thread that links to the best threads, like this one.
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/showthread.php?91092-GenII-LS8-Cooling-System-Overhaul
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
That's really rich. You need to find a real mechanic if you can't do the work yourself.
Andrizzle
Dedicated LVC Member
Classic case of a mechanic trying to screw the average joe. Metal fragments? What a joke. I bet if you paid that invoice, they wouldn't even replace the water pump, but it would be on the bill.
For 1200 bucks they should replace the entire cooling system, including the elbow underneath the manifold.
For 1200 bucks they should replace the entire cooling system, including the elbow underneath the manifold.
Thanks for all the information however remember I do live in Canada and we pay much more. Our labour rate here is $98 an hour alone. I phoned the Lincoln dealership here in town and two replace the thermostat and housing including labour was estimated at $1,146.52 including taxes
They sell the thermostat alone for $84.99 here at the dealership. The thermostat housing sells for $129.96 at the dealership. I agree very rich in price and I am sure I am being ripped off but when you don't know how to do this yourself and your stuck on the side of the road lol I did what I thought I should lol. Thanks everyone.
They sell the thermostat alone for $84.99 here at the dealership. The thermostat housing sells for $129.96 at the dealership. I agree very rich in price and I am sure I am being ripped off but when you don't know how to do this yourself and your stuck on the side of the road lol I did what I thought I should lol. Thanks everyone.
Andrizzle
Dedicated LVC Member
They are charging $1000 in labor to replace the thermostat only?! Being Canada is no excuse for that.
This is easiest part of the cooling system on the V8 to replace. It is front and center and can be done with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver.
I feel sick in my stomach that a DEALERSHIP would rip someone like this.
EDIT: I don't know if you read the rest of the thread, but your other plastic parts are going to also fail shortly. If you can't even replace the thermostat yourself, then you might as well have them replace every cooling part while they're in there.
This is easiest part of the cooling system on the V8 to replace. It is front and center and can be done with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver.
I feel sick in my stomach that a DEALERSHIP would rip someone like this.
EDIT: I don't know if you read the rest of the thread, but your other plastic parts are going to also fail shortly. If you can't even replace the thermostat yourself, then you might as well have them replace every cooling part while they're in there.
Not bad..... Our's is in the $105+ range.....
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
here Ford is about $85-90, Lincoln is always a tad over $100
also, total $1146 - part $130 - part $85 = $931 so either your taxes are insane (glad we don't pay tax for service...) or your dealer is straight incompetent because even at $100 an hour its not a nine and a half hour job... even if you only had two forks as tools. I replaced every plastic cooling part with exception of the degas, radiator, and plastic part between the engine block and the water outlet pipe in a little under four hours with a steady 2-3 beer per hour. (that included looking forever for a dropped bolt somewhere under the engine and wouldn't come out and having to walk down the block to the hardware store for a replacement)
also, total $1146 - part $130 - part $85 = $931 so either your taxes are insane (glad we don't pay tax for service...) or your dealer is straight incompetent because even at $100 an hour its not a nine and a half hour job... even if you only had two forks as tools. I replaced every plastic cooling part with exception of the degas, radiator, and plastic part between the engine block and the water outlet pipe in a little under four hours with a steady 2-3 beer per hour. (that included looking forever for a dropped bolt somewhere under the engine and wouldn't come out and having to walk down the block to the hardware store for a replacement)
Ranchero50
Well-Known LVC Member
Cliff notes version: Complains about price, pays it anyways...
That is pretty sad. So many threads on here of average and even below average Joe's working through the parts replacement process with less than $50 worth of tools. At a certain point I feel the OP has given up his man card or was raised by women.
That is pretty sad. So many threads on here of average and even below average Joe's working through the parts replacement process with less than $50 worth of tools. At a certain point I feel the OP has given up his man card or was raised by women.
If I didn't live in a condo where we aren't allowed to work on cars I may have tried this on my own but having said that I bet if you took 100 random people and said your on the highway 45 miles from home and your car is smoking and over heating that 99 would have it towed to a shop.
1LoudLS
Dedicated LVC Member
regardless of where you live, how far away from home you were, or where you had it towed to, there were very specific clues that the people you took your car to, either did not know what they were doing/talking about, or were just there to scam you out of money.
did you bother to call any other places to get estimates? because finding a place that actually knew what they were talking about and charge you a reasonable fee (for probably about half of that) would have been well worth paying to have it towed right the hell out of there.
now if you were talking about 100 people driving around old ass cars around that haven't been under warranty in near a decade or longer, you might get a different response.
people who don't have the money to be buying new cars tend to be a lot better at fixing their own sh!t, either because they want to save money or they just don't have over a thousand dollars to replace $200 in parts.
as far as not having a place to work on it, if being a grown ass man, you don't have any friends that turn wrenches and either would have helped, or done it for you for cheap, then your networking skills are poor and that this is something that should be worked on to better your own life...
45 miles away from home is close, that means you know the area I definitely would have had a place to take it to to get it fixed up (even if I didn't have a place of my own) hell basic AAA (roadside assistance) will tow your car anywhere for the first 30-35 miles for free...
did you bother to call any other places to get estimates? because finding a place that actually knew what they were talking about and charge you a reasonable fee (for probably about half of that) would have been well worth paying to have it towed right the hell out of there.
the problem with that logic is that if you are talking about 100 random people, first off a huge amount of them would be driving cars fairly new enough to still be under warranty, so yes of course they would have them towed to a shop to be fixed for free (or minus a small deductible...)
now if you were talking about 100 people driving around old ass cars around that haven't been under warranty in near a decade or longer, you might get a different response.
people who don't have the money to be buying new cars tend to be a lot better at fixing their own sh!t, either because they want to save money or they just don't have over a thousand dollars to replace $200 in parts.
as far as not having a place to work on it, if being a grown ass man, you don't have any friends that turn wrenches and either would have helped, or done it for you for cheap, then your networking skills are poor and that this is something that should be worked on to better your own life...
45 miles away from home is close, that means you know the area I definitely would have had a place to take it to to get it fixed up (even if I didn't have a place of my own) hell basic AAA (roadside assistance) will tow your car anywhere for the first 30-35 miles for free...
