Coolant leak - Driving me insane

762mm said:

One thing I have to admit about these Expeditions is that they are built to be worked on with ease.

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On the 5.4, I'd always wished it to be 4-6" forward in the bay, (build the nose out and steal it from the rear)....otherwise, I'd agree.....but having changed rear plugs a few times, life can be made easier, right?

The 3.5 is a breeze for plugs, other stuff looks under a lot of brackets but I still need to climb "up in der" to do anything. I'm about 6' so I'm pretty sure anyone shorter is doing the same. I can usually reach from the ground but not with any strength or leverage....

The coolant systems today are very nearly self-reporting...but knowing it's a prob and where that prob is, can be maddening until you stop, get the light, and do a complete investigation......

jeff

762mm said:

Awesome and good job on finding the leak, that's definitely a leak location I haven't seen posted on here before.

If you want to try your luck and go cheap, some RTV liquid gasket might seal it up for you... all depending on what Ford is asking for those seals, I guess. The disassembly looks fairly straight forward. When I rebuilt my alternator, it literally took like 15 minutes to remove it and reinstall.

One thing I have to admit about these Expeditions is that they are built to be worked on with ease. Lots of room to work and zero surprises so far, unlike GM garbage I've worked on (tight spaces, moronic designs and different size nuts & bolts everywhere). Amazingly, my 99 Explorer was very similar to my 14 Expy in how "shade tree mechanic-friendly" it was, albeit there was obviously less room to work. I was very happy to see that the basic design of the Expedition is still the same as Ford's trucks from the 90's.

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The gaskets are cheap ($17). I will probably replace the water pump since I have one coming today. It didn't leak at all yesterday. Drove to work this morning and noticed some steam under the hood since it's 35 out. Back plug well had a puddle in it. I'll see if I can find a compressed air can at work and blow it out before I leave. Hopefully Sunday afternoon is nice enough to work on it. Saturday is already full. I still am dreading on bolt on the back side of that housing. That looks tough to get at and may have to cut off the open end of a wrench and go in that way. The full size of a 5/32 is just a hair too long to allow it to turn.

Dennis_H said:

The gaskets are cheap ($17). I will probably replace the water pump since I have one coming today. It didn't leak at all yesterday. Drove to work this morning and noticed some steam under the hood since it's 35 out. Back plug well had a puddle in it. I'll see if I can find a compressed air can at work and blow it out before I leave. Hopefully Sunday afternoon is nice enough to work on it. Saturday is already full. I still am dreading on bolt on the back side of that housing. That looks tough to get at and may have to cut off the open end of a wrench and go in that way. The full size of a 5/32 is just a hair too long to allow it to turn.

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If the back plug well has coolant accumulating, are you sure the source is this gasket up front? These trucks have a tendency to leak from the "awesome plastic" Y-connector for the heater core on the passenger side... all because it would've cost Ford an extra 5 cents to put a metal Y connector.

One thing that I did for like 15 years on my 99 Explorer was to cut the small (inner) radiator cap gasket to de-pressurize the system, following some advice I got from a mechanic friend of mine. This prevents any small leaks in the system by eliminating pressure and can be used as a cheap emergency procedure as well on cars or trucks that are ******* coolant when hot (due to bad hoses, gaskets, pinholes, etc).

I drove my truck like that with a de-pressurized cooling system for 15 years, without any adverse effects. The only negative thing it does is lowering the boiling point of coolant a little bit, but that's all. Your car/truck should never get hot enough for that to actually matter.

The passenger side plastic tee has already been replaced. The leak is driver side. Looks like it is running back there.

Reviving this thread a bit, Dennis_H, was wondering how the repair came out, discovered what i believe to the be same leak on my wife's EXP today and will have to pull it apart in the next few days.

I ended up taking to my mechanic that I trust. I had already bought a new water pump and then had a code on ForScan that indicated an electrical issue. He found the alternator not putting out much, so i had had him do it all. Pulled the intake, replaced the crossover pipe gaskets, throw on my water pump, and stick a new alternator on. I normally would have done the alternator and water pump, but that cost very little extra since he was elbow deep in there anyway. Been great since February, but can't say I've driven a lot in the last few months.

Dennis_H said:

..... Been great since February, but can't say I've driven a lot in the last few months.

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Ok, I'll tackle mine next week, will see how it goes. Doesn't look too bad once the alternator is off.