Last week my wife and I bought a 03 Ranger with 146,000 mills to replace our rusty 2000. On the way home and this week the temp gauge barely gets to the normal range. I had the truck checked out and the shop recommends replacing the thermostat. So, my question is, should I just replace the thermostat or go ahead and do the housings too? And if I do the housings, should I get the sensor and sender to?

 

Well, based on my experience...Since the housings are notorious for leaking..I would replace the housing as well. I replaced just my thermostat @ first only to take it all apart a couple wks later to replace the housing that was leaking..... my housing wasn't leaking prior to replacing the thermostat.... I just reused the senor.

 

On the 4.0l SOHC engine you want to replace upper and lower thermostat housing and of course thermostat.

If sensor and sender work then reuse them, not hard to replace after the fact

But sometimes you can find the whole kit with sensor/sender for cheaper than separate parts

Good read here on that project: How To Replace the Upper and Lower Thermostat Housing on a Ford 4.0L V6 SOHC Engine

 

Thanks guys. I have seen that How To, that's what sparked my question. Should I stick with Motorcraft, or is Stant ok?