Low Coolant

[stink 'N linc 'N]

i've been finding a small amount of anti freeze leakin from the front pasenger side. Just the other day the low coolant message came on. I brought it in to a place. They said the expansion tanks on the rad are seeping @ the rad core.

Im gonna be doing the work myself, not a big fan of takin' it in to get workd on. So What im wondering is, whats teh next step im gonna need to take?

Get my self a new rad?

 

[1wykdmk8]

New rad for sure. If you are going to replace that I would also get new hoses (ALL of them) and might even think about a new t-stat and even a water pump.....that way you KNOW it is all new....that is if you can do all of that.

 

[Frogman]

I agree with Ray. If you don't feel like buying a new radiator, I have my old one that's just sitting in the garage. It was good when I pulled it out of the car, but I replaced it with a 3 core Aluminum Griffin Radiator. You pay for a box and shipping, and it's yours.

 

[stink 'N linc 'N]

I'll probly end up getting all of those things. I should be able to do them all myselfl. Getting the items might be a lil tough.

but untill i can get my hands on all of that.

Just adding some anti freeze, whats the proper procedure to follow to just top it off?

 

[Frogman]

Top it off through the crossover tube. If you have a beauty cover on top of the alternator, take it off, and you'll see a cap with a 1/4 inch drive hole in it. Unscrew that cap, and add coolant through there. You'll have to repeat this a couple of times to get all the air out of the cooling system, but I don't think that will be much of an issue since the radiator is leaking.

 

[stink 'N linc 'N]

When i fill it up in the crossover tube. Do i fill it up all the way. then start the car up with the heat on. untill the t-stat open then add a lil more coolant untill the full line in the overflow tank is full?

 

[Frogman]

Add coolant until the air bubbles are all out. As I said, you might have to go through a couple of heating/cooling cycles before all the air is out. But again, this procedure works best for a sealed up non leaking cooling system.

 

[stink 'N linc 'N]

Just for now untill i can get the parts i need in. When im adding to the coolant to the cross over tube do i open the over flow tank cap also?

Do i just fill the cross over tube untill its filld up. (still with both caps off) then i start the car up for a few minutes untill the coolant in the cross over has started going down. Then with the engine off add more coolant then start it back up again (both caps off) untill the overflow tank is @ full

 

[stink 'N linc 'N]

When they say this "the expansion tanks on the rad are seeping @ the rad core." Are the tanks on both the left and the right side?

 

[Frogman]

Yes

 

[Calabrio]

I just wanted to agree with everyone else.
Front passenger side is right where the aluminum fins are clamped into the plastic tank of the radiator.

The Mark VIII is a pain in the butt. Keeping the system topped off takes a good deal of effort, it's not just like pouring some water into the top of the radiator and heading off.

You can buy a new radiator from a company like RadiatorBarn.com, shipped, for only about $125, and that's 1 or 2 day shipping.

You can do the radiator first, then get around to the rest of the houses.
And, always, check with Max at 5 Star Ford for the rest of the parts, or check RockAuto.com

 

[stink 'N linc 'N]

from wat ive seen of it so far. Drivers side @ the top of the rad, theres a metal line that gos to the Rad. and it looks like the piece that it screws into.. the surroundin of it.. looks to be whats leakin.

any posts / tech articles - replacing the rad - 94' mark vIII style.?