Coolant leak on driver side.

[Moforest]

So I have had multiple issues with my 2011 ford expedition xl 4*4. It has 140k
First I had a growling noise on in front end thought it was iwe or wheel bearings end up being.fron differential case bearings. 850 later that was fixed then I found a coolant leak on passenger side which ended being the coolant hose t. Got that fixed and then I had a miss fire on cylinder 7 replaced the coil pack. Got that going. But today I discovered a coolant leak on driver side. Which is likely why my coil pack stopped working. It is along the top of the motor. It is hard to tell but it looks like it is coming from. The thermostat crossover tube. I know with the 2 valve 5.4 this was a common problem. Do I need to pull the intake and replace it. Starting to loose my patience I have not even been able to put a 1000 miles on it yet because I keep having issues. This is my first Ford and so far it has not been a good experience

 

[Moforest]

Ok so I went out and looked at again. I squeezed the radiator hose and I can see coolant leaking out of the driveside crossover tube gasket. So.my question is can I remove the crossover tube without removing the intake. On the passenger side there is one bolt above the crossover tube on the intake can it be slid in without damaging the gasket on the coolant tube thanks

 

[Moforest]

If anyone else has this problem you can carefully remove the gasket from driverside coolant crossover tube and replace it with out removing the intake. You cannot remove the tube completely as there is not enough room under the intake to get it out but you can move it enough to pull the old gasket out and replace if you are careful. I did not change the passenger side gasket as it did not leak. It may be possible to replace the passenger side as well but the clearance is very tight. Drove 20 miles no leaks so far. I think I am good cross my fingers....

 

[Trainmaster]

Wow. Thanks for sharing that. Had no idea these motors had that problem too.

 

[kenf]

Hi, Had the same issue and was able to change both gaskets easily.As you mention that you have one larger bolt on the passenger side thats hold down the crossover. The alternator gets removed, and all the bolts holding down the crossover assembly. You just have to lower the coolant level below the crossover. The trick is finding the right gasket set. I went through 2 types. The generic replacement ( all black usually Mahle) has a raised lip and is too high to slide under the passenger and intake manifold end on the passenger side. The original Ford gasket has a blue seal in a black plastic frame. These are thinner than the generic replacement ones and easily slide under the crossover assembly. Very easy to do, just make sure the surfaces are clean with no rough edges to tear the new gasket.
You have the right engine as other models/engines have a lip extension on the intake and the whole intake has to raised to do the gaskets!!

 

[Gumbyalso]

I just noticed a large coolant leak on my wife's 2011 (213K miles) yesterday. It only leaks under pressure so I left it running and got underneath. It was a significant leak. I tried for 30 minutes to figure out where it was coming from without luck. I went in house and started googling and found this string. I started the Expy back up again and found the leak at the coolant crossover tube driver's side. I'll pick up the Felpro gasket this morning. It looks like the OEM gasket that K describes. Of course I just flushed and changed the coolant a month ago.

 

[Gumbyalso]

I removed the alternator with the intention of changing both L & R gaskets. The left (driver's side) was the one that was leaking. With all bolts removed there was no way I could get the right (passenger side) gasket out unless I grabbed it with some pliers. It was just too tight with the intake manifold still installed. I didn't want to risk leaving some of the old gasket in place (like that back alignment nipple) or getting the old one out and not being able to get the new one in so I put it back together with just the new left gasket. It doesn't appear to leak. I'll count myself lucky since I abused that right side gasket a bit when I was trying to see if I could get it out. Removing the intake manifold was a bit more work (and more gaskets) than I wanted to tackle right now. If the right side starts leaking I will have to do it. Bottom line, if I couldn't slide the old OEM gasket out there was no way I thought I could slide a new one in.

 

[Ellison Brown III]

I’ve go some pics around here somewhere that’ll help… let me look.

 

[Ellison Brown III]

Ok… found them. First, the heater control valve was a coolant leak source at one point. It get old, and cracks at some point. Also, that vacuum line just to the right of that heater hose goes to your cruise control. Be mindful you don’t pull it off. Or, you’ll put it all back together only to find out there is no more cruise control. Then that area will have to be accessed again.

 

[Ellison Brown III]

Ok, now to the water crossover pipe… the leak will be coming from where this guy mounts to the manifold.