For the love of God can someone please tell me the location of the thermostat on a 1987 f 150 lariat???????????????????

 

it should be right at the end of the top rad hose at the engine side of the hose. the hose should be attached to a housing that has 2 bolts holding it to the engine. if you remove the 2 bolts and lift the housing off the engine, the thermostat should be sitting under the housing.

 

thanks so much for you quick response. I have essentially dissected and removed all radiator hoses successfully covering myself in rusty radiator juice. i will run right outside, info in hand and try to locate this bad boy.

stacey

 

Dear 05

Let me introduce myself. I am an older woman with a 16 year old and a 92 year old father. Understandably, I am a diy freak. OK......got the thermostat in, easy. Took the truck for a test drive where the temp kept going up and upon idling in my yard noted the block smoking. Conclusions, I think something is plugged up and the block is not being cooled. I checked the oil and threw in 2 quarts for good measure. Now I just bought this thing of beauty for my yard truck and not 5 minutes off the lot this stuff began to happen. Of course I bought as is. The engine seems to be in good shape, the obligatory head gasket leak which i will not get into right now. So do you think I should replace the radiator, I will have to have this done, not that determined myself. Any advice?? Thanks everyone. You will most probably be hearing from me a lot!!!!!!!!

 

glad that problem is fixed. you did install the thermo the right way, correct? spring side into the engine, otherwise that'll do it. i'll assume you did it correctly. maybe a rad flush before a replacement. water pump leaking? any leaks? not sure if your fan has a clutch, but it should be engaging when it needs too. i'm sure some others will chime in with some help that i know i've forgotten.

 

Hi Stacey, you have your hands full, 16 year old son and a 92 year old dad. Your plate is full. Let us help you with what we know. Before you go tear into this t-stat again, lets talk about the symptoms once more. Were you doing preventative maintenance changing the t-stat the first time or was it overheating at that time? FYI, cooling system basics. The coolant should be a 50/50 mixture of water and concentrated antifreeze. The coolant controls the engine temperature via the radiator. The t-stat sets minimum engine temperature. Again it sets the minimum engine temperature. It controls the water passing from the engine to the radiator, if it is stuck closed, (broken), or installed backwards it will obstruct the water flow to the radiator and the engine will overheat because there is no flow of the coolant mixture. The air passing through the fins of the radiator extract the heat from the water. The fan, electric or mechanically driven provides this during slow speed driving, ram air provides the air flow at higher speeds. There are alot of other variables, this is the basics. Get back to us.