Thank you for all the info. This helps tremendously. I'm going to change the thermostat just for my own piece of mind. and hopefully buy the correct sensor from Ford.
One more question,
Does anybody know why the van would stall on occasion when I put it in reverse? This might happen once every ten times putting it in reverse. It starts right back up.

 

You just bought the van and you have tons of other stuffs you need to change, why you need to change just the tstat now?
If you want to work on just the cooling system that's fine, but you should change the water pump, the water outlet and the tstat. Also inspect your coolant hose and replace if needed. Then do a flush.
Before doing the cooling system, make sure your AC and heater are working fine, otherwise you might need to bleed your cooling system twice, or 3rd time once you replaced the temperature sensor. Unlike most BMWs since 2005 which come with electric water pump with self bleeding feature which takes no time and no skills to complete it, on your van it can quite some time.
You think the tstat is stuck open causing your temperature gauge to stay at cold?
If there is a problem with reverse very first thing is to check the tranny fluid. Next time you drive, warm it up like 5 minutes, then step on your parking brake and your brake pedal and shift to every gear and hold for perhaps 20 seconds (especially on reverse). Check and see if it stalls on reverse anymore.

Here's the 5% coupon code (I found on google) expires on 3/21/25 at rockauto: 294404459260570971
Don't waste money to buy ford/motorcraft brand on EVERYTHING.

 

I've checked the tranny fluid, it's good. I will try what you suggested about brake on and putting it in different gears. I did just buy the van but have been driving it for a few years. It belonged to my employer and it was driven about once a month for the last 4 years. Just to haul a trailer to the scrap yard when it was full. The temp gauge hasn't worked in years. After I bought it, I thought I'd fix the problem. We also just unhooked the ground off the battery in between uses to prevent battery from dying but it turned out the alternator was only putting out 11volts, so it was changed.
I'm actually considering not even changing the temp sensor. The engine print-out earlier in this thread shows only one temp sensor but yet Ford tells me there are 2 sensors. One is temp sensor and one is temp sender. They can't tell me which one is for the one behind the alternator. And won't accept returns if I buy the wrong part, the one part is over $100. From the useful info I've received in this thread, the sensor behind the alternator is for the dashboard gauge and doesn't seem to effect anything other then the gauge reading hot. I bought one from rockauto and one from advanced with no luck. I've been looking at these temp sensors that have wire run to a gauge you can mount on dashboard. I've got one on my corvair because I don't trust the dash light coming on if the cooling fan belt ever breaks.

 

What you should do is hook up a scanner and check on the ECT temperature at start up, after a short trip, and a longer trip like 30 minutes. If the readings look ok just don't waste money on ECT.
For ECT on instrument cluster when the needle is fluctuating or dancing, usually it's a problem with the electrical connector and you just need to clean or repair.

If it's not going to be your daily you should hook up a solar system. Check this thread here. Get 100 amp panel is a good choice.
Buy Ancel BM300 Pro bluetooth battery monitor on aliexpress, or hook up your noco/ctel charger every 3 weeks.

If your cooling system is fine, don't waste money on a new tstat. You just need to find out when and at what ECT temperature the fan is turned on, and during engine warm up it stays off.
Check your instrument cluster, make sure all bulbs prove out correctly. Yellow ABS light for instance, when you turn your key on ON you should see it, when you START it goes away, then it proves out correctly.

Other things you can do in case your boss doesn't know either:
1) Change your rear differential fluid and the gasket (find out which type you have first)
2) Inspect your PCV valve and its hose, change the valve regardless of the hose's condition, the valve is only a few dollar