New Here-Coolant Leak

[malcoll]

Hello..... I am newly registered on this forum......

We have a 1999 Eddie Bauer XLT with the 5.4 engine.... 4wd, rear A/C. It's been a great vehicle... has 98,000 miles we have owned it since December 1999.

This morning we noticed coolant on the driveway under the Expedition?? I investigated and found that it appears to be coming from above the passenger side of the engine bay..... I checked the heater hoses... no leak... I checked where the heater hoses go into the firewall... nothing.

My fear is that it is the heater core leaking into the evaporator housing and the coolant is coming out the evaporator drain?? How hard is it to check the heater core in the Expedition?? How hard to replace???

Thankyou in advance for any thoughts,

Lance

 

[1999xlt]

Lance,
Have you looked under there when the truck is up to temparture? If so what did you find? You can get a dye kit at your local parts store to check for the leak. I would do that before anything............
The Heater core is AN ABSOLUTE ***** to replace. Yo have to disassemble almost the entire dash, glove box etc. Even then its NOT EASY.................

 

[malcoll]

Yep, did that this morning. It definitely seems to be coolant coming out of the Evaporator housing A/C drain.

Although.... we drove the Expedition to a movie and dinner this evening with our son... and it didn't seem to leave any coolant on the pavement????

At any rate.... while I am very mechanically inclined.... I do not think I want to tackle this job.... especially on the vehicle that my wife and son have to drive in everyday....... I don't think they can be without the expedition for as long as it would take me to finish the project.

Thankyou for the advice... have a great weekend.

Lance

 

[Smiggs]

I'm willing to bet that it's the head gasket. I have a 99 f-150 with the 5.4L and the same thing happened to me. I was lucky enough that there is a factory recall for this problem on all 5.4L engines with this problem. I'm not too sure if Ford will correct the problem if the vehicle is not cover under warranty. It's definitly worth looking into because mine was done free and I haven't had any problems with it since.

 

[M Parsons]

My Expedition also dumped some coolant yesterday-also from the passenger side- then stopped...what did you find out?

 

[walnuts4x4]

dont think those guys are members anymore... thread was from 2004... but describe your problems and we can try to help