Just changed the thermostat housing in my 2010 Explorer. They are cheap plastic crap and it was leaking onto the engine. The next day when I am driving home from work, the dash lights go crazy and I am getting a "Service RSC Now" alarm going off but it is still driving alright. Fast forward a few hours later, next time I get in to try driving it the 4-wheel drive and traction control are going nuts and coming on by themselves and I start hearing grinding sounds and the vehicle randomly decides it doesn't want to accelerate. I try dismissing the 4x4 and traction control, even holding the buttons for 5 seconds but they keep reactivating by themselves. When the Service RSC light comes back on it returns to driving normally. The only other issue the vehicle has is a "Tire Sensor Fault" light that's been on since I bought it last year but it has never caused me any trouble. My question is could the tire sensor finally be causing problems? Or did I screw with something accidentally when changing the thermostat housing? I cleaned the battery cables and reconnected them when this issue first happened but it didn't resolve anything. Plus I've checked the wires around the thermostat housing but I don't see anything out of place. Thanks in advance for anyone with some insight on this. Would greatly appreciate some advice.

 

Ok so RSC is the ABS system, I am unclear is the 4x4 fault light is also on, either way you should start with checking for fault codes. TPMS fault will not cause anything to happen other then the warning light being on.

 

Ran the code reader and nothing came up. Only other advice I've had is the guy at the part store said to take it to the dealership and see if they could clear it.

 

Cheap code scanners often do not access codes other then engine and transmission fault codes. Really any shop should be able to read the fault codes.

 

that happened to me, I bought the metal replacement from Dorman though Amazon, got it and everything, installed it and bang one mile driving down the service rcs light and annoying chime came to me. Long story short, the ect or engine coolant temperature sensor was shorting to ground, after measuring with multimeter it had the normal 30kohm value at room temperature, but when measuring one pin and the body of the sensor it will show continuity… so I got a replacement and done, the service rcs is gone for good. No broken wires; no abs sensors, it was the ect sensor shorting out. Hope this helps other people