Major coolant loss AFTER degas bottle replacement

[fudge12]

After spending more than 4 hours on a 30 minute job. my car is now losing a lot of coolant along with a lot of "smoke" from coolant being burned up somewhere in the back drivers side of the engine. The only thing I changed was the degas bottle and the hose that runs from the bottom of the degas into a metal hose bolted onto the firewall. I noticed that the hose from the old degas bottle was flared up at the top so I decided to just replace it. Autozone didn't have the exact hose, so they cut me a hose and I ran it.

Anyway, so after I got everything hooked up, I finally had heat and began to drive. I saw smoke coming from under the engine and thought that it was just the old coolant that fell back there burning up. Until half way home, I heard the cooling fan rising in tone and immediately pulled over. I saw that the degas bottle was low on coolant and I filled it up. However, I did notice that when I remove the cap, there was very little pressure.

Am I looking at a defective OEM bottle right out of the box? Or did I go wrong when I used autozone's hose?

 

[LS4me]

After spending more than 4 hours on a 30 minute job. my car is now losing a lot of coolant along with a lot of "smoke" from coolant being burned up somewhere in the back drivers side of the engine. The only thing I changed was the degas bottle and the hose that runs from the bottom of the degas into a metal hose bolted onto the firewall. I noticed that the hose from the old degas bottle was flared up at the top so I decided to just replace it. Autozone didn't have the exact hose, so they cut me a hose and I ran it.

Anyway, so after I got everything hooked up, I finally had heat and began to drive. I saw smoke coming from under the engine and thought that it was just the old coolant that fell back there burning up. Until half way home, I heard the cooling fan rising in tone and immediately pulled over. I saw that the degas bottle was low on coolant and I filled it up. However, I did notice that when I remove the cap, there was very little pressure.

Am I looking at a defective OEM bottle right out of the box? Or did I go wrong when I used autozone's hose?

I would suspect the generic hose isn't sealing properly....

 

[1LoudLS]

hard to say with out check it out...

I would imagine that the least likely problem would be a defective motorcraft bottle (however I'm sure somebody is bound to get one sooner or later)

my money would be on a leak coming from either that hose, or one of the clamps.

 

[fudge12]

I did away with the original clamps and installed worm clamps. Those things are a PITA to deal with.

 

[LS4me]

I did away with the original clamps and installed worm clamps. Those things are a PITA to deal with.

I suspect loose clamps.......

 

[chocolat1701]

I thought the oem bottle came with that hose. you sure you got motorcraft from the dealer or you got one from ebay.

 

[fudge12]

I thought the oem bottle came with that hose. you sure you got motorcraft from the dealer or you got one from ebay.

Ebay'd one. It was advertised without the hose so it didn't really bother me till I found out that I did need one lol. It's exactly why it took me the extra few hours to try on different hoses till the gave me a generic one. The bottle however is still in its original brand new state.

 

[joegr]

Leaks from the front of the engine (thermostat area) can run under the manifold and come out at the back of the engine.

 

[voyeur]

There are 2 hoses that connect to the degas bottle. You connected both hoses to both places on the firewall? Is the tank really Motorcraft and not a Dorman? How well is the cap seating on that new bottle?

Both hoses at the firewall:

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

Ebay'd one. It was advertised without the hose so it didn't really bother me till I found out that I did need one lol. It's exactly why it took me the extra few hours to try on different hoses till the gave me a generic one. The bottle however is still in its original brand new state.

You may want to make sure you actually have a Motorcraft bottle. If it was new, it would have came with the hoses and without the cap. They could have sold you a Dorman, which comes with a cap and no hoses.

 

[hite337]

Your hose may have a hole in it from the steering shaft. If you didn't run the hose correctly the steering shaft can rub a hole in the hose causing coolant to spray all over the exhaust manifold.

 

[fudge12]

Ok I managed to pin point the leak, however it's in a place I didn't even touch. Not too sure if it's related to the work I did. It's leaking from somewhere and falling onto the cat. I know I sound like a noob but it's 20f and I'm typing on glAss. I'm posting a pic up when I get to work. The hose runs clear of the steering shaft so no worries there. All clamps and hoses are dry as bone. Also I forgot to mention, I'm not getting any heat since this morning even after adding more coolant.

 

[hite337]

Whatever the issue, make sure you bleed the system again when you fix the leak. If it is a place you didn't touch, then it was probably a weak point but the pressure didn't rupture it because the cracked degas bottle wouldn't let the system build enuf pressure.

 

[fudge12]

A quick update, i put my hand on the firewall insulation and it was damp as a baby's diaper. I'm not too sure if it's enough to drip down hard enough to cause all that smoke tho.

 

[fudge12]

Well, it turned out to be a loose clamp after all and maybe the hose is too big in diameter. The coolant as spraying against the firewall and the firewall insulation was absorbing it causing it to drip down onto the cat; hence the smoke. I should've just sticked with the oem clamp but it a few turns of the screw sealed everything up nicely. thanks guys.