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Topic: Leaking coolant but from where? (Read 3893 times) previous topic - next topic

Leaking coolant but from where?

Pulled the Thunderbird out of the garage this morning and checked the pressure of the tires while letting the engine run for a bit.  When I finished adding some air to the tires I noticed I was loosing a lot of coolant and there was a large puddle on the ground!  I turned the car off and tried to see where it was leaking.  All the hoses are in good shape and appear to be dry around all the clamps.  The water pump was replaced about 2-1/2 years ago with a Motorcraft replacement just before I bought the car (I have a receipt for reference).  There's no play in the water pump pulley shaft and no strange noises from the water pump.  I did notice some pooling of coolant on top of the water pump between some ribs in the housing.  I kind of thought a leak of this degree would be fairly obvious to locate but that's not the case.  Has anyone else experienced this kind of issue?

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #1 –
5.0? Coolant on top of the timing cover is normally from the thermostat housing gasket leaking.

If it's a 3.8 I have no clue.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #2 –
Leave it running and check.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #3 –
I had that issue a couple of months ago. I had a bad gasket between the timing cover and block. I went ahead and replaced the gaskets and water pump since I had it all apart.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #4 –
My car still has its original 5.0L engine.  I'll check the area around the thermostat first and pray that's the source of the leak.  If it's due to a bad timing cover gasket is it necessary to raise the engine or is there enough room to drop the oil pan without raising the engine?

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #5 –
Put a wrench on the waterpump bolts to make sure they are still snug.....you may need to remove the PS/AC braket to check. Everytime I've seen pooling on the drivers side it's been those bolts loose after the gasket settles.

John

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #6 –
I haven't moved the PS or AC out of the way yet but the passenger side of the engine is all wet below the valve cover.  I'm leaning towards a failed timing cover gasket as the culprit.  Any helpful hints from others that have performed this repair that would make this job a little easier?

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #7 –
If possible, dry your engine as much as possible. Check if your local auto part store has a cooling system pressure tester. Its a hand pump that attaches in place of your radiator cap. Pump it up to 15psi, then check for leaks. That should help narrow down where your leak is coming from.

X2 on the leaking timing cover gasket. My car has that too, I just keep it topped off with coolant.

If you DO decide to replace your timing cover gasket, you dont need to fully disconnect your PS just undo the bracket and hang it off the the side. Same with your AC compressor. The water pump bolts/stud arent all the same length, so keep track of where each one came from. You dont have to fully drop the oil pan either, but you DO have to remove the front 4or 5 bolts since they come up through the pan into the timing cover. There's 2 smaller bolts up top that secure the cover to the block. Once the cover is removed, you'll cut the front corners of your oil pan gasket and replace it with little cork material elbows. Might wanna little RTV on the corner to help seal it up (similar to lower intake manifold gasket).

-Kyle
1986 Ford Thunderchicken, 5.0 AOD w/ Shift kit,  354,XXX miles. 1-Family owned. Original engine+trans.
8.8 Disc Rear w/ 3.73 Posi. CHE Control Arms. '04 Cobra brakes all around. 2000 Cobra R wheels. Tubular front LCA's. MM Steering Shaft. Unlocked Speedo, Lowering springs, Eibach sway bars front and rear. Ram air intake.

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #8 –
Thanks, Kyle!  I'll get a pressure tester to confirm the location of the leak.  I've had a few drips here and there and would simply top off my coolant level too but now I'm losing too much to safely drive the car anywhere beyond my immediate neighborhood.  This really sucks since we're having exceptionally mild weather around here and my car is just sitting in the garage.

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #9 –
I'd probably do the water pump while I was at it, unless you already have recently.

The water pump can stay in place, only the four long bolts that pass through need to be removed from the water pump side.

If you've got over 150k on it, you might eanna pick up a timing chain as well. Mine I could almost tough the chain together between the gears at 175k, but I am really hard on stuff. A cheap parts store double roller will swap right on vs the stock single roller. Some of our cars also had a nylon timing gear which can break.

I'd recommend dropping the whole oil pan if you dont want any leaks. Ive ended up doing it after the timing chain almost every time.

The better you clean stuff, the better it will seal.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #10 –
My car only has 68K miles on it so I wouldn't think I'd need to worry about the timing chain yet.  The original water pump was replaced with a Motorcraft pump about 2-1/2 years ago so I'd expect it to be ok too.  I agree that dropping the oil pan would be better than cutting the exposed part of the gasket out and replacing it with a separate piece.  That sounds like a leak waiting to happen.  I'm guessing I would need to lift the engine off the motor mounts to get enough clearance to remove the oil pan?  Is this possible with a floor jack?  If so, where would the lift point be?

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #11 –
Quote from: Bird of Prey;463843
My car only has 68K miles on it so I wouldn't think I'd need to worry about the timing chain yet.  The original water pump was replaced with a Motorcraft pump about 2-1/2 years ago so I'd expect it to be ok too.  I agree that dropping the oil pan would be better than cutting the exposed part of the gasket out and replacing it with a separate piece.  That sounds like a leak waiting to happen.  I'm guessing I would need to lift the engine off the motor mounts to get enough clearance to remove the oil pan?  Is this possible with a floor jack?  If so, where would the lift point be?

I've never understood why it's thought replacing just the end sections was bad... The lip seals that are separate from gasket are just as likely if not moreso to leak...

Believe me, if you ever tried to pull the oil pan on one of these cars with engine installed, you'll gladly cut the gasket...  You'll double, maybe triple time to do the work... Properly cleaned and sealed with RTV, it won't leak...

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #12 –
Don't need to remove the pan, just drop it. If you have the reinforced one.....it can be a pain to cut. The last time I did this job....I loosened the pan only removing half of them from the front and let it hang. I didn't want to cut the nearly new pan gasket.

John

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #13 –
Quote from: Skunk;463861
Don't need to remove the pan, just drop it. If you have the reinforced one.....it can be a pain to cut. The last time I did this job....I loosened the pan only removing half of them from the front and let it hang. I didn't want to cut the nearly new pan gasket.

John

^^^^This X2. Did the same thing.

-Kyle
1986 Ford Thunderchicken, 5.0 AOD w/ Shift kit,  354,XXX miles. 1-Family owned. Original engine+trans.
8.8 Disc Rear w/ 3.73 Posi. CHE Control Arms. '04 Cobra brakes all around. 2000 Cobra R wheels. Tubular front LCA's. MM Steering Shaft. Unlocked Speedo, Lowering springs, Eibach sway bars front and rear. Ram air intake.

Leaking coolant but from where?

Reply #14 –
I agree. I did a water pump and gasket swap a couple of months ago. I snipped the center piece of the gasket and installed the replacement, no leaks. Made the job way easier as well.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..