I've been needing to add about 16-20 oz. of coolant per week lately,which isnt too much but i shouldnt need to add any. I recently replaced the degas bottle and some of the hoses, dccv. There are no visable leaks, all the hose clamps are tight and there isnt a puddle under the car when parked but i do smell hot coolant sometimes when driving and when i park. I did a search on coolant loss and havent found any answers. I'm at a loss as to where it would be leaking and why i cant see any visable signs. I remember on my old T/A's when the water pump was failing it would leak. Somebody give me some suggestions.
Mystery Coolant loss ??
- Thread starter Fla02LS
- Start date
Yeah it sucks doesnt it? happened to me about a month ago I filled my coolant to the fill line.. month later i get a smoking smell from the engine and it has 0 i mean 0 coolant.. filled it back up and took it to the shop and he said he cant find a single leak.. Honestly since then i havent seen any leak spots so hopefully it just fixed itself somehow! Until then just keep an eye on it..
Sorry I cant be much help but id just take it to a shop and have them look at it, and if its something you can fix yourself just tell them you cant afford to have them do it at the time. and replace it yourself
Sorry I cant be much help but id just take it to a shop and have them look at it, and if its something you can fix yourself just tell them you cant afford to have them do it at the time. and replace it yourself
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
I had four leaks at once. The biggest two were from the rear part of the thermostat housing. See photo. The top of the part was split at the seam. You can't see that in the picture, because I used JB Weld to seal it back up until the new parts arrived. The other place it was leaking was where the hose for the throttle body heat attached. The spout that the hose went onto cracked apart about half way up. The remaining leaks were the degas bottle (very small cracks), and the upper radiator hose where the plastic tee is. There was a split at the seam of the plastic.
BatMobile
Well-Known LVC Member
Yeah, just went through this ordeal myself the past several weeks (months really). I suggest this too. I replaced all the hoses and the dccv. The dccv was the main problem but when I changed thermostat housing and hose assembly as well I notice that it was faulty too. I don't know about the V8 but on the V6 they only sell all those hoses (thermostat included) together as one. Team Ford absolutely has the best prices - half what the local dealership wanted. I haven't had any problems since.
Hey, good call on the leak. I checked that area and that is indeed where the leak is coming from.... see below pic
My leak is in a different spot, but it seems i will have to replace that part also. According to the repair manual that part is called the "coolant outlet pipe". How much was that part and how hard was it to replace? Thanks
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
It was $47. I went ahead and replaced the front part of the housing, the main hoses, the tank, the thermostat, and the belt. The hoses were a bit of a pain, but replacing the outlet pipe was pretty easy. There are three seals/gaskets that you need when replacing it. I got the wrong part for the big one in the center, but I was able to reuse the existing one. (The two side ones were damaged by the removal though.)
Max was nice enough to rush me the parts before Christmas.
BTW, I found something interesting that might help some of those with little/no heat problems. The upper radiator hose tees off in the middle to a hose that goes to the DCCV. The tee in the upper radiator hose has a plastic screen in it. It looks like it would be easy to clog up if you ever used leak stop or waited too long between flushes.
Max was nice enough to rush me the parts before Christmas.
BTW, I found something interesting that might help some of those with little/no heat problems. The upper radiator hose tees off in the middle to a hose that goes to the DCCV. The tee in the upper radiator hose has a plastic screen in it. It looks like it would be easy to clog up if you ever used leak stop or waited too long between flushes.
One last thing, do you by chance have the exact ford part # for the outlet pipe and the three seals.... the part numbers shown in the workshop manual cant be used for ordering correctly. I think i can handle this repair myself. I did the dccv and the upper T hose myself and it wasnt too fun but wasnt hard either, the worst part is the damn hose clamps. The leak doesnt seem like it needs immediate repair but i'm going to go ahead and order the parts so i'll have them when i get the urge to have my knuckles banged up. Thanks
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
3W4Z-8592-AA for the outlet pipe
96JV-8255-CB for the two side seals.
I couldn't find the correct part for the rear center seal.
2W9Z-8590-AB for the seal between the thermostat housing and the outlet pipe.
96JV-8255-CB for the two side seals.
I couldn't find the correct part for the rear center seal.
2W9Z-8590-AB for the seal between the thermostat housing and the outlet pipe.