Coolant leak - Driving me insane

[Dennis_H]

Parked my truck yesterday after work and drove my wife's car last night. Came home and saw a puddle under it. It was dark out, but it was coolant. Seemed to be coming down below main crank pulley. Figure it's a water pump since it's at about 165K. Level didn't seem low at all. Drove it for a 10 min this morning, no leak. Then drove for another 15 miles to work, no leak when I got here. It will sit today and I do have a gallon of water with me if it starts again. Should I just bite the bullet and replace the water pump?

Had a transmission leak about 6 months ago. Did the same think where it leaked 2 days. Then it quit and never had another drop. I did have a power steering line pop off 2 months ago and dumped that all over the ground and it took about a month to get all that residual stuff out.

Between roof leak on the house last week, valve cover gaskets leaking on my son's Escape this month, coffee maker starting to dump water on the counter this week, and now this... I'm tired of leaks.

 

[Arturo Gonzalez]

I have the same problem. It started on Tuesday, came to work saw a green puddle but I use orange color antifreeze. I checked the antifreeze level and it's normal. Next day still drips but not as much. I took it to carmax yesterday and they didn't fine any leaks. Could it be the water pump?

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[Dennis_H]

That looks like you parked over someone else's leak since you use orange (like me). Mine was in my driveway, so it is from my truck.

 

[Arturo Gonzalez]

I thought the same thing. I put a cardboard underneath and is definitely mine.

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[ManUpOrShutUp]

I thought the same thing. I put a cardboard underneath and is definitely mine.

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So you have orange in the reservoir and you're leaking green? That's amazing.

 

[stamp11127]

FYI - the green coolant looks green in every container until you pour it into a white bucket.Then it is golden in color. Found that out by accident.

Pressurize the system and look for leaks.

 

[762mm]

Seems like a common issue on those. Here's a thread I did on mine, including some pictures:

https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/sudden-coolant-leak-from-rear-of-engine.40974/


In essence, it is very likely the water pump going out on yours, as I had the exact same symptoms as you. It was weird how sometimes it would leak just a bit, then seemed to stop, then started hemorrhaging coolant all over a few days later.

My recommendation is to do it before it ***** the bed completely on you. The good news is that the job is a breeze, you can do it in 30 minutes yourself. Rockauto sells the original water pump very cheap, like $30 USD. If your truck has an electric radiator fan, all you need is a ratchet and socket set to complete the repair.

 

[Dennis_H]

Seems like a common issue on those. Here's a thread I did on mine, including some pictures:

https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/sudden-coolant-leak-from-rear-of-engine.40974/


In essence, it is very likely the water pump going out on yours, as I had the exact same symptoms as you. It was weird how sometimes it would leak just a bit, then seemed to stop, then started hemorrhaging coolant all over a few days later.

My recommendation is to do it before it ***** the bed completely on you. The good news is that the job is a breeze, you can do it in 30 minutes yourself. Rockauto sells the original water pump very cheap, like $30 USD. If your truck has an electric radiator fan, all you need is a ratchet and socket set to complete the repair.

That's what I came down to. I have one ordered to put in. Would have bought local, but 2x as much. I'll carry water and replace it next week when it gets here.

 

[762mm]

Cool. While you're in there, I'd recommend to do the thermostat and put in a new radiator cap too. Both of mine were really gunked up on original Motorcraft orange coolant at 132k miles and the rad cap actually failed (center plunger seized). I don't know why, but the Motorcraft orange coolant degraded real bad, despite Ford's claims that it's better than the rest. Truck is a 2014...

When I flushed, I used Prestone OAT green coolant and distilled water to refill. I had good luck with it on my previous Ford (99 Explorer). No degradation after 8 years of daily use.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Cool. While you're in there, I'd recommend to do the thermostat and put in a new radiator cap too. Both of mine were really gunked up on original Motorcraft orange coolant at 132k miles and the rad cap actually failed (center plunger seized). I don't know why, but the Motorcraft orange coolant degraded real bad, despite Ford's claims that it's better than the rest. Truck is a 2014...

When I flushed, I used Prestone OAT green coolant and distilled water to refill. I had good luck with it on my previous Ford (99 Explorer). No degradation after 8 years of daily use.

I did my orange coolant at about 100K and didn't have any discernible degradation (checked with a refractometer). Of course I changed it since what we can't test is its ability to prevent corrosion.

I did have a tstat failure though. It wasn't an all-out failure, but my heat/AC were not performing up to par. I originally picked up a Motorcraft from the local dealer, but after seeing how flimsy it was I opted not to install it and used a (much beefier) Stant Superstat instead.

 

[762mm]

I did my orange coolant at about 100K and didn't have any discernible degradation (checked with a refractometer). Of course I changed it since what we can't test is its ability to prevent corrosion.

I did have a tstat failure though. It wasn't an all-out failure, but my heat/AC were not performing up to par. I originally picked up a Motorcraft from the local dealer, but after seeing how flimsy it was I opted not to install it and used a (much beefier) Stant Superstat instead.

I didn't test the old coolant, but it had turned brown-ish and had plenty of floaties in it, plus it gummed up the radiator cap solid. Visual observation alone told me that the coolant was NFG at this point and needed to be flushed out ASAP. Thermostat still worked OK, but I changed for a new one (Motorcraft) anyway. The old one will be a "spare".

Note: new Ford OEM thermostat does not come with the required rubber O-ring for some reason and I needed top reuse the old one. Weird.


My water pump leak coincided with the coolant needing to be flushed, so perfect timing in that regard. I'm still not sure if it's the gasket that failed on the old pump or the internal bearing due to wear or corrosion (hard to tell with the pump on the truck, as it is hidden behind the pulley). It seemed to have a leak from both the weep hole and the gasket area where it mates with the engine block.

In either case, coolant, thermostat + rad cap should be swapped out all together, in my Expy experience. If the water pump is going out too, that's a perfect opportunity to do them all.

 

[07navi]

I flush the system every 2 or 3 years. Drain it all, remove thermostat, put water back in, put engine flush/cleaner in, run for a week and use the heater as much as you can tolerate it in the summer, drain that, run garden hose into rad, loosen bottom hose and remove it every time rad fills to top 3 or 4 times, (plan on getting wet), refill will 50% antifreeze.

 

[Trainmaster]

Most of the fleet trucks have never seen a coolant change. The police departments do change the oil, sometimes the filters too, but they don't do too much more. If the coolant's low, they add whatever they have lying around, which is often incompatible. Then they off the trucks at 100K miles. That's why your anti-freeze looked scummy.

 

[Dennis_H]

I had some time (and light) to look this weekend. It appears the leak is higher. Looks like it is coming out of the gasket under the thermostat. There is some kind of water chamber that runs from one side of the engine to the other where the heater hoses connect. What is that? Looks like it is leaking there. Pulled the thermostat cover and can't get to the back bolt to try to tighten it. May have to pull the intake to get to it? Looks like alternator, brackets, etc all have to come off to replace that gasket. Not as easy as 4 bolts on a water pump.

 

[Williamb97]

Having similar issues. My 2015 Expedition has been to dealers several this for a coolant leak. Several hoses, water pump, and coolant transfer valve have been changed. I hope it fixed now but not to sure. We park in a garage with a drip pan so I will know soon.

 

[Dennis_H]

Found a diagram of the cooling on the site and mine is leaking where the yellow circle is. This pic shows the coolant bypass up high and held on with the thermostat housing bolts on the drivers side. Mine has the bolts separate and it may be part of the intake manifold. Mine goes low closer to the block instead of up high. I know it looks like I can't get to the back bolt with the intake on. Anyone know anything about changing these?

 

[Dustin Gebhardt]

I had a leak at the crossover, and my crossover goes down as you describe (I have an '07). I could see some coolant puddling up under the intake manifold, between the heads. I don't recall which bolts I had to remove, but I ended up removing the crossover and the crossover gasket. The new gasket was difficult to slide back under the intake manifold, so I had to pry the manifold up ever so slightly and then the gasket (lubricated for an easier install) was slid into place. It wasn't too difficult, but it certainly wasn't as easy as changing the t-stat on my old mid-90's Ranger.

 

[Dennis_H]

Thanks Dustin, I may give it a shot. It really looks like only one bolt on the back side is the real issue. Maybe with a 1/4 universal and 5/32 socket I can get it out without removing the intake. Maybe next weekend.

I have an old Ranger also. 1995 with 320K on the 3.0L V6. Almost 0 issues with it and the exhaust is silver as far as you can see in it. My oldest drove it from 05 to 14 through HS and college and his wife made him get a different vehicle, next son drove it through HS, now my final son has driven it through HS, but we just got him a different vehicle that fell in our lap. That vehicle is what led me to try out some other Fords. Had a 98 Explorer that was very good (until daughter totaled it), an 06 Escape, but it hasn't been quite as good, my 2010 Expedition that has had a variety of minor annoyances, and just got a 2010 F150 that needed a motor for my son to replace the ranger. Looked new and dropped a pulled (75K) 4.6L into it. That one seems really good so far.

 

[762mm]

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.

 

[762mm]

Most of the fleet trucks have never seen a coolant change. The police departments do change the oil, sometimes the filters too, but they don't do too much more. If the coolant's low, they add whatever they have lying around, which is often incompatible. Then they off the trucks at 100K miles. That's why your anti-freeze looked scummy.

Probably so, as there was a few other things neglected on the truck as well (severed door lock wire, dead radio LCD display, bad blower fuse, trans/tcase/diff fluids never changed, etc).

However, in mileage and years this truck should not have "expired" the super-duper Ford Gold (orange) antifreeze yet, in my opinion. I suspect that the water pump was leaking earlier and, perhaps, they put some junky cooling system seal in there instead of doing it right. Who knows...

I can tell you one thing though, the motorpool guys where I work take care of our fleet cars and trucks extremely well. Parts are changed diligently and all fluids are topped off or replaced with the right stuff. The only complaint is that they won't use synthetic engine oil because it's "too expensive", lol!