Hello
I think the thermostat is sticking open on my 2001 Mondeo. I takes a while to warm up (especially in this recent cold weather) and when it does around town is fine but motorway travel makes the needle drop to cold. The engine then revs high like I believe it should when cold. I've asked Ford for a price and they are saying £70 for the part, £200 fitted. Has anyone managed to unstick one, are they mechanical (i.e spring type) or some king of electronic thing, can you get a quality non Ford part and is it a major job to fit one.
Thanks
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The thermostat on these is a mechanical /spring type device but is made complete with its housing.It is common on these for the stat to corrode and thus not operate correctly.Fitting is fairly awkward as it sits behind power steering pump.Not sure if a non Ford part is available.hth
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Ouch, thats a lot of money. Now I can remember when a thermostat was a small metal thing that only cost a few quid from a parts factor...
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Surely someone like Quinten Hazel and other reputable manuafacturers make pattern thermostats for Mondeo's?
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The thermostat on the Mk3 Mondeo is on the coolant inlet to the engine, not the (more usual) coolant outlet. It's a PITA to change, about £70 supply only from ford. Try Rapid Fit and get a coolant change as well. The thermostat opens when the coolant is hot enough and when the ECU instructs it to.
">Duratec HE also pioneers an electronic thermostat, which contributes positively to both fuel economy and wide-open-throttle performance. Unlike traditional thermostats, which open at one temperature threshold, the electronic thermostat is capable of opening at two temperature thresholds. An opening temperature of about 80ºC contributes to full-throttle performance, while a higher opening threshold of 98ºC optimises low-friction operation under normal driving conditions.<"
From media.ford.com/newsroom/release_display.cfm?releas...8
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Hello!
Did you get your thermostat problem fixed and was it sticking open? I am having exactly the same problem with my 2001 Mondeo. Firstly I was told by the Ford garage it would cost £306 to fix the thermostat but then I was told by another garage that it couldn't be sticking open or the car wouldn't heat up at all.
Like yours, my car is OK until I drive at around 50 mph or over and then the needle on the temperature gauge drops to zero and there is no heat at all.
I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what happened regarding your car so at least I know what the problem is and how much it is likely to cost to fix! I had hoped it was something simple - but it usually isn't!!
Thanks
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Why make this a complicated electric part? For years even low tech cars have had old wax thermostats that 'partly opened' to let a trickle of water past, and not hit the block with freezing coolant taht might cause thermal shock. After a while the theromostat fully opens to the 'second open position'. These work for decades and if they do fail, they fail in the open position. 3 bolts, a paper gasket, and a new one = replacement for about £6.
I never cease to be amazed why we need an ECU to tell the theromostat that the engine is getting hotter and now needs cooling. 80 years with a £6 wax unit has done the job in a fail safe way for years.
Manufacturers please keep it simple.
We don't need an 'electronic fiber seperator controlled by diodes and electronic chips' We use a pair of sissors!
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The electronic part is to cool the engine down by a greater amount when you go to full throttle;this cools the intake system resulting in better thermal effiiciency(and more power).
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The best thermal efficiency of the engine is achieved at the highest operating temp, but a cool charge is denser and improves BMEP.
Actually, I guessed the last bit but I think it's right ;-)
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My understanding is:
Placing the thermostat on the coolant inlet to the engine allows better control of the coolant temp within the engine, but a pure mechanical thermostat at the inlet wouldn't detect sudden rises in coolant temp at the coolant outlet (throttle fully open with a cool/warm engine), this leads to localised overheating of the engine and potential HGF, as per K series. So the ECU measures temp at the coolant outlet to the engine and instructs the thermostat to allow coolant flow if the throttle-fully-open-with-cool/warm-engine situation occurs. This enables the Duratec to operate at up to 98'C (thermally efficient) under lightly loaded conditions with a factor of safety for throttle-fully-open-with-cool/warm-engine.
But the Duratac thermostat appears to stick open. Best laid plans etc. Kitcar builders using the Duratec can fit a purely mechanical thermostat on the coolant outlet.
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