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Topic: Coolant leak...common symptoms? (Read 793 times) previous topic - next topic

Coolant leak...common symptoms?

I have a coolant leak that developed all of a sudden on my 302. Seems like it's coming from directly above the crank balancer, somewhere around the water pump. I've already planned on cleaning all the hydraulic oil that leaks from the steering pump off from around the front of the engine, and I was simply wondering if there are any common failure points around this area which could cause this. Kinda like the 4.6 (when equipped with the old style all-plastic intake) is known to leak around here when the coolant crossover cracks.

I haven't worked much on these old engines, most of my experience is in modulars so any tips are welcome. I did work as a repair tech for a few years, but you just can't beat advice from other owners, lol.

Thanks!

Coolant leak...common symptoms?

Reply #1 –
Likely a hose at the front of the motor - pump to bypass, pump to intake, lower radiator, upper radiator. May also be either water pump gasket or thermostat housing gasket - that is unless you've had the lower intake off recently and didn't re-torque it after a few heat cycles (being aluminum vs the iron block and heads, it will need to be taken down more).
1988 Thunderbird Sport

Coolant leak...common symptoms?

Reply #2 –
i think what your asking is
"how can i be sure where my water leak is"

water pumps go when they go so that is why there is a weap hole on the top and the bottom for your viewing pleasure.

suggestion:
get under the car and clean the front of the motor completely with degreaser or some sort of cleaner.
Let it dry and double check with another cleaning using gas or something.

run the motor till its up to temp.

get back under the car and look for the starting point of the water flow.

this is the good thing about gravity but there is one problem.  THE FAN

The fan will make a water leak hard to find especially if its on the front of the motor.

If you want a sure solution then do this:

when the motor is warm, clean the front of the engine real good.

next, use a rope or wire to to tie around a fan blade that is pointing *****UP******.
tie off the other end to the driver side of the car directly to the right of the fan looking at the motor.

The fan turns cw viewing from the driver seat and ccw viewing the motor.

With your warm motor, start the engine and let the temp needle / indicator rise till you think its warm enough.

stop the engine

trace the leak back to where it started.

you wont damage the fan clutch doing this cause the motor wont take long to come up to temp since it was warm already.

Coolant leak...common symptoms?

Reply #3 –
Yes, that is what I was trying to ask, I'm sorry for being unclear in my initial post but I was tired and in pain from a caffeine headache. Not wanting to chug coffee before going to bed I just dealt with it, lol. I'll go back and fix that post.

I like the idea of tying off the fan, I wasn't sure if that would smoke the fan clutch, thanks for clarifying that for me. I will get started on cleaning it up today in order to check, I was going to do that anyway but wasn't sure if there was a part that was known to fail with these symptoms often, much like the cooling water crossover on my 4.6 modular engine. Just checking, and thank you.

Coolant leak...common symptoms?

Reply #4 –
I would really not recomend tying off the fan. It may be a pain in the ass, but you'd be better off removing it.

Coolant leak...common symptoms?

Reply #5 –
Ah yeah I won't need to remove or tie off anything now. It's the waterpump that's leaking, and I have a new one sitting on my workbench ready to go in tomorrow. :)

Thanks again!