Thermostat Replacement Complete on the F-150: First Start, Test Drive, and Clearing the Code

Back on Easter while I was driving my 2002 Ford F-150 to Rockford on the tollway, the service engine light came on. Additionally, I was dealing with an issue since before this past winter where my engine would not quite get up to operating temperature. I set out to replace the thermostat after reading it was the most likely cause of my issues.
After research, KZbin videos, and purchasing a new thermostat and gasket on eBay, I finally replaced the thermostat today which was a crap daunting task. What was supposed to be a less than a half hour job turned into a several hour job when my thermostat housing was stuck as well as the thermostat, and I wasn't anticipating all my coolant spilling out (thankfully most of it I was able to catch in a pan). I had to make additional trips to AutoZone and Walmart for the green coolant and distilled water. Still, I ended up saving probably a couple hundred dollars doing it myself as opposed to having the mechanic do it.
She's running great, at this point, and everything appears good on it. There is still much more work this truck needs, including new tires and probably a new suspension all the way around, in addition to the body work I want to have done to it. I also have just purchased a third vehicle, which I will be showing here eventually, that will be a project in itself.
Stay tuned!
Video I used for this repair: • Replace The Thermostat...
Thermostat: www.ebay.com/i...

[@FireRescue80]

Nice video Ryan! For a split second I literally thought the Morse Code was coming from my fire scanner.

[@msj191961]

Thanks, Jared! That's awesome, haha.

[@ProspectElevators]

This truck has definitely been a journey since you got it in late 2018 Interested in the 3rd car you have there

[@msj191961]

Yep, you can say that again, haha. Only $11,000+ later. So it's actually not a car, or a truck...it's bigger. Stay tuned...