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Topic: Thermostat fits 24V Cossie still available 2023 (Read 245 times) |
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DavidBE
Full Member
1998 Ghia X 2.9 24V Auto Estate
Posts: 135
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Thermostat fits 24V Cossie still available 2023
« on: Apr 15th, 2023, 9:37pm » |
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Given the time I spent digging to find one, and the trepidation as to whether this one would fit/work, I just thought I'd highlight for anyone who needs a new thermostat for a Cosworth for the first time (or the first time since original Ford ones were last available ... 2011?), THIS one fits, works and is in stock:
https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/by-pass-thermostat-87-degree
They also give exceptionally speedy service. I ordered it online on a Thursday mid-afternoon, picking 48 hour delivery. The immediate email acknowledgement of the order was followed 51 minutes later by an email confirming it had been packed (and by whom) and dispatched. And it duly turned up with the postman Saturday morning.
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That's the info. The rets of this is just me chatting for lack of ever having anyone to talk to. I know I've been reduced to an idiot by the side-effects of the pain meds I've had to be on since 2007 just totally fogging my head, and leaving me staring blankly at the most simple things. But even so I'm finding it hard to credit the depths of my own stupidity now. Two and a half YEARS I've had this Cossie estate, now. I've been aware right from the off, and it's been niggling, that I have to wait ages for air from the blower that's even slightly above ambient temp, and even then only barely perceptibly warm. I've been aware that the mpg has been lower than it should be even on the premium 99 RON petrol. And I've been aware the temp needle doesn't even get to the bottom of the blue mark on the gauge on short trips, and almost never above it even on slightly longer ones. But, well, my previous Scorpio was a 2.3, and i just thought maybe that's Cossie engines not getting a long drive. I mean - back in the 80s and 90s when I was getting through usually ten year old cars that only lasted two years before I had to scrap them, and had somewhere I could work on them and leave them in bits, my memory is foggy but I DO remember having to diagnose and fix thermostat problems myself, stuck closed, stuck open and on one car completely missing (and how I always had trouble re-sealing the housings without leaks). But with this car it's taken me over TWO YEARS to go "hang on - barely warm heater, gauge always too low, mpg too low, often rather rough patches when idling ... THERMOSTAT.' Duh. And even then, after thinking I wanted to feel the temp of the hoses on each side of the thermostat when it was running but then found I couldn't reach - or even see - the thermostat, it took me over a week to think of feeling the other end of the same hose where it goes into the radiator.
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DavidBE
Full Member
1998 Ghia X 2.9 24V Auto Estate
Posts: 135
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Re: Thermostat fits 24V Cossie still available 202
« Reply #1 on: Apr 15th, 2023, 9:37pm » |
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Anyway, deciding the thermostat must be stuck open, that's when the hunt began. I can't get under the car, but I knew what it was supposed to look like from the Ford original parts catalog illustrations and diagrams in the Technical Service Training Product Information book. Now, I've been running a daily Ford Scorpio parts search on eBay since late 2020, glancing through every new listing each day, sometimes after something in particular, often just keeping an eye on what's readily available, what rarely, and what I never see. And over the last two and a half years there have been many thermostats listed as being for the Cossie, but All 'normal' bare thermostats, nothing like what it's supposed to be. Same with general Google searches, quite a few hits, not just eBay, from parts suppliers here in the UK and across Europe, but all just normal type bare thermostats. So I did a search in the forums here, reading all threads mentioning thermostats back to about 2009. I found the posts suggesting the BMW thermostat that had to have part of an input pipe sawn off and machined ... but I wasn't keen on the idea of that (and nor was my garage). So I repeated the search and read the threads more carefully and found the post by Tompion in 2019 giving this link, saying it appeared to be a later 87 degree C version of one from the same supplier but an 80 deg C one posted about by amigafan2003 in 2011. Neither actually say either had been successfully installed, it's painted black instead of bare brass colour, and the caption on the website shows the water flow the other way (in the central port, out the top and bottom - it's the other way in our Cossies), but I looked up the original Ford thermostat spec, and it was 88 degrees C, which was close enough, so I bought it. Checked its operation by trying to run 60-ish deg C water from a hot tap through (would only go through from bypass top to central outlet), then from a just boiled kettle, which allowed water through from top AND bottom inlets to outlet. So, sadly I can't even think of fitting it myself, so delivered it with Cossie to the garage I'm now using. Apparently the young lad they gave the job to started nonchalantly saying he'd have it done in under half an hour ... before he got underneath and saw what was actually what (and probably read the article on the site here I'd given them). Took him two and a half hours, including draining the cooling system and the a/c system, then refilling both afterwards, and replaced both drive-belts given their condition. Two-and-a-half hours labour plus the belts and my original payment for the thermostat means it wasn't cheap (they didn't charge me for the coolant and a/c gas), but by halfway of the 6 miles home I had heat from the heater for the first time! And since then, and just a couple of weeks of short trips plus one 45 mile circuit today the mpg on the trip computer has come up 4 mpg into the expected range, and the gauge goes up to mid range within minutes then stays there. Success, and now almost everything on the car is fixed and working properly.
Can't speak to quality with respect to how long it will last, but this thermostat fits, works, is available and reasonably priced. - and is, as far as I can find after extensive internet searching - THE one and only thermostat that is a straight replacement for the Ford original one.
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Ryan_Williams
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Re: Thermostat fits 24V Cossie still available 202
« Reply #2 on: Apr 15th, 2023, 11:11pm » |
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This should be useful information for Cosworth owners.
I've noticed that there's a lot of parts that seem to be becoming unobtainable now (front wishbones for example), so sharing info like this should help keep these cars around for a while longer without having to go to having parts manufactured specially or modifying parts from other cars.
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DavidBE
Full Member
1998 Ghia X 2.9 24V Auto Estate
Posts: 135
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Re: Thermostat fits 24V Cossie still available 202
« Reply #3 on: Apr 16th, 2023, 3:40am » |
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I got two boxes of spares with the Cossie in 2020, which included a new pair of front wishbones. one of which got fitted to get it through the last MOT, which saved me a bit. But I have seen them on eBay quite regularly over the last couple of years (unlike the thermostat). One thing to note is that the 94-98 Scorpios (AKA Scorpio Mark II in a lot of listings) actually share more parts than i was expecting with the 92-94 Granada Mark 3s (AKA Scorpio Mark I or just Scorpio in quite a few listings, as they were only called Granadas in the UK and Ireland, but not the rest of Europe, especially Germany, where they were built and where more spares are still available), and some parts (though not as many) with the 85-92 Granada IIIs (AKA Scorpio Is). The old style Ford parts catalog (sic.) at 7zap.com is very good, because for each part (and it shows exactly which parts fit my early 1998 RHD Ghia-X estate with raven interior) it will show what if any other Ford cars the part was also fitted to, which can be handy searching for things that actually fit our Scorpios but aren't listed as Scorpio parts but parts for other Fords made in much greater numbers.
My weirdest find - I spent 8 months looking for a replacement for the panel at the top front of the dash with the windscreen demister slots in it, as mine was broken and wouldn't fit properly. Three times people breaking Scorpios on eBay had that panel intact, sent me pictures of them still undamaged in situ, but then broke them getting them out. I finally found a classic car parts shop that had 10 genuine never used spares on a shelf .... in a small town in Wisconsin, USA! They never sold the 94-98 Scorpio, or even the 92-94 Granada/Scorpio (which has the same part) in the US, so what those parts were doing over there I haven't a clue. When i ordered one they had it in a truck and 200 miles to a regional airport, on a plane to an international airport, and on another plane and into a customs warehouse at Heathrow in less than 24 hours. It then took 4 days to get from Heathrow to me 80 miles away.
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Ryan_Williams
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Re: Thermostat fits 24V Cossie still available 202
« Reply #4 on: Apr 22nd, 2023, 9:44pm » |
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That's useful to know. I'll try that 7zap.com site.
We got some wishbones a couple of years ago for our 2.0 Ultima after a lot of searching. The left hand ones seem to be more readily available than right hand ones. In fact, we got the last right hand one from that site.
We tried a couple of the people on eBay who were advertising pairs of wishbones, but after messaging it turned out the only had lefts. They still didn't correct the adverts though!
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cobrascim
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Re: Thermostat fits 24V Cossie still available 202
« Reply #5 on: Aug 17th, 2023, 8:08pm » |
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Thanks for the info on the thermostat David. I have fitted my new one from CBS and seems to be working fine. 
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