Ford Excursion :: Antifreeze Leak - Coolant Plastic Reservoir On MIN
Mar 2, 2013
Noticed this leak today a few days after parking the Ex (V10) -- not a daily driver. Crawled under the Ex and checked under the hood but I could not find an obvious sign of where the leak is coming from.
I checked the coolant plastic reservoir and its on MIN -- I believe that where it should be when the engine is cold. I noticed that these trucks do not have a cap directly on the radiator. That plastic reservoir, is that where I would top off the coolant?
Is there a spot on these engines where it would commonly leak? Should I try to put some dye on the coolant and/or possibly pressure test it?
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Radiator replaced 2 yrs. ago - required major rust cleanout; reservoir replaced shortly thereafter. Recently engine always hot, antifreeze disappearing, reservoir always looks rusty, nothing much coming out underneath, mechanic pressure tested and couldn't find a leak, told to watch for antifreeze in oil, none apparent. Now suddenly car ran hot, antifreeze came out of reservoir, cap replaced, still couldn't find leak. Today said head gasket blown. Repair head gasket, but can't guarantee wouldn't still have radiator problems. Suggested could try Blue Devil head gasket repair but may not work.
Is it worth :
(a) trying the Blue Devil;
(b) repairing the head gasket?
Or will I still have major repair needs with radiator etc.? I really can't afford even a cheap replacement car.
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This is my second vw I've owned and now I own a 20th ae gti. Just the other day I got out of my car and smelled antifreeze. So I popped the hood and realized there was no coolant in the reservoir.. So I went to my dealership, put some in... well that obviously isn't my problem, because the next day it was gone. Again. This is on sunday so I can't do anything about it. I made an appt to drop it off tonight @ my volkswagen dealer. It's not leaking, not smoking or burning, and the temp gauge isn't moving at all.
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I have a 2011 SE I4 with roughly 12k on it. Here's my problem: The past few days, I've been smelling something sweet coming out of my AC. I thought nothing much of it until today, when I noticed that my coolant/antifreeze reservoir level was slightly below the low "L" point with the engine cold. I am not sure if this means that I have a leak or something more serious? Is there something that I can do to try and figure out what the hell is wrong? My car is still under warranty, is this something that the dealership should look into? Will there be a cost for that?
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I've got an '08 Cobalt. There is a large leak in my coolant system. The plastic reservoir is empty and if I add coolant and start the engine it all gushes out of a hole in a piece of plastic on the side of the radiator. Can I drive it to the shop if I watch the engine temperature or should I have it towed? Is the engine temperature measurement affected by the lack of coolant?
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Son in law just bought a 2002 Explorer with the 4.0. Looks in pretty good shape and overall I don't think he got a bad deal. However....after a test drive I noticed an antifreeze smell. Got to poking around and it appears to be leaking directly below the thermostat housing and that whole manifold for lack of a better word. It's a bugger to get in there and really see what's leaking...doesn't appear to be any hoses but given the angle can't be really sure. I'm new to the Explorer and the 4.0. Is this anything peculiar to the Explorer/4.0? A known part problem? Something far worse?
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I noticed green coolant leaking from bottom of black, what I think is called, timing belt cover. There is 188, 000 miles, and when I changed the timing belt, I did not change the water pump, although I did change out the thermostat. I have done a lot of work on this truck in the past. I checked the oil and no signs of water or coolant mixed in. The water pump is not weeping from the top well. I rely on this truck and the way I look at it is I may just keep driving it until it goes kaput (its real beat up). Should I go to an auto parts store and see if I can buy some sealant. I would guess it is either the water pump or maybe the timing cover gasket? I have inspected all hoses, and I see nothing. The leak must be coming from somewhere under that black, plastic cover. I am capable and willing to do just about anything other than perhaps a full engine pull, although I have the wherewithal to do that too if absolutely necessary.
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I bought a 2006 E350 with a 6.0L diesel. Has some issues I hope to work through, or failing that I'll ditch the thing and learn a lesson.
The pressurized coolant reservoir has a crack/leak in it. Is it wise to only replace it, or should I look for a root cause? The temp gauge does not go past 50% pulling hard up a mountain pass.
This was a fleet vehicle that was pretty much abandoned. There is a chance the reservoir was cannibalized for another rig and had the bad part thrown there but I'll never know.
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I have a 2006 Jeep Liberty (2WD), 149k miles, that has been using a lot of antifreeze lately. I am using a full 50/50 gallon mix about once a week. I do not have any visible leaks. My heater no longer works and I was not sure if that may be a cause. The check engine light is on, but has been since I purchased the vehicle in 2012. I thought it may be a gasket, but do not see any white smoke from the exhaust. I am not hearing any strange sounds, so I am perplexed.
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The last couple of days I thought I smelled antifreeze and I had to add about a pint of coolant to the reservoir. So I looked all around today and can't see anything leaking. Nothing on the floor. I suspected the water pump but looked pretty dry from what I could see. Thing is if its the pump, its still under warranty for a few months and 7,000 miles so want to find that pretty quick. Radiator is fairly new also from hitting a coon. Any tips? Not sure if a pressure test would detect a small or intermittent leak in the pump though.
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So I started the car today, proceeded to back out, and the STOP: check coolant light message comes on. I check the coolant reservoir, and its near empty. Then I notice a puddle. Filled it back up and let it run for a bit. No leak. Looked at the front of the engine and didn't see any leaks.
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Yesterday after getting to work i noticed a few drips from under the front of the car, at first i shrugged it off thinking maybe it was condensation or whatever. After coming back to my car about 5 hours later it had made a good sized puddle under the car and i knew something wasn't right. Well on my lunch i got under it and collected the liquid only to find that it was coolant. To make matters worse on the drive home my temp gauge would go to operating temp then drastically drop to almost cold temp.. weird. And last but not least when i parked the car at home i noticed that the cooling fans did not stay on after the car was off, since it was about 95deg this seemed wrong. Took the car to the dealer this morning and I'm hoping its just a loose pipe or something little and not anything that will keep it in the shop for a long time. Car is completely stock except for cat back exhaust, 12,000 miles on the odo.
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Coming out the piece right behind the oil reservoir out a little hole whats this leak coming from...
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While servicing the bosses 121k 6.0, I noticed the coolant resevoir empty. It took 1 1/2 gallons to bring to proper level. Returning under truck to install drain plug, I noticed coolant coming from rear of the engine(right side). And of course Ford has changed the cooling system cap, so I wasn't able to pressure test it to pinpoint the leak. Started the engine and seen coolant coming from the left rear as well. I've been reading here to see what others have been seeing, (EGR cooler, head gaskets). With all the heat shields,not much room to look.
After work I did go and buy the adapter to test the cooling system. With any luck I will be able to see leak better.
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It has happened to me several times.. The car asks me for coolant but today the reservoir was almost completely empty... I have no leaks and my cooling systems is working fine so where does the coolant go?
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My 2001 Civic sedan coolant reservoir was full after a long drive - with coolant blown out from the top. I am trying to isolate the problem.
1) I Did not notice if temperature gauge rose above the mid-point on the gauge.
2) I Discovered issue after 120+ drive on a hot day (90 degrees plus).
3) The car has almost 230,000 miles.
4) About 1,500 miles prior to this incident I removed my drive belt and replaced it with the shorter drive belt to circumvent the A/C compressor as it or the compressor clutch crapped out on me.
5) The morning after this occurred the coolant reservoir was still ful.
6) I removed the radiator cap and ran the engine for about 15-20 minutes. During this time I noticed the coolant in the radiator begin to rise into the fill neck area of the radiator - no bubbles or movement other than up into the neck area. The top hose was warm and then got hot but it seemed the bottom hose remained cold. I then throttled the gas briefly and nothing happened to include the radiator remaining off. The temperature gauge read just below the mi-point. I then throttled up to about 3,000 RPMs and coolant blew out of the radiator – about 1/2 to 1 liter of coolant came out. At that point, I shut everything down, installed the radiator cap, and cleaned up the coolant. I noticed the bottom hose appeared to now be much warmer than before the coolant blew out. The next morning the coolant reservoir was empty.
7) Today, about one week later, I applied power at both fans and both worked. I checked the relays and both registered no continuity across terminals 1 and 2 - as they should. I checked the radiator fan switch for continuity when cold and there was NO continuity across the contacts - as it should. I ran the engine for about 20 minutes with the radiator cap installed. The temperature reading rose to just below midpoint (normal) and stayed there. Radiator fan had not come on yet. I throttled up and nothing. Idled for several minutes and the temperature gauge rose to about ¾ of the way to “H.” I throttled the engine to look for smoke from the tailpipe – there was none (there is no history of any kind of smoke coming from the exhaust of my civic). I throttled up again, the temperature gauge dropped quickly below the mid-point, and the radiator fan came on for the first time. After the fan kicked off the temperature gauge again rose to ¾. I hit the gas, the temperature gauge dropped quickly to below mid-point, and then the fan came on again.
I was thinking this could be a blown head gasket but now I am questioning my initial thoughts. As of right now there is no coolant in the reservoir. One would think if the head gasket was blown that I would continue to get fluid in the reservoir even with the lost ~1 liter from my earlier test. I checked my engine oil dipstick and it looks clean - just oil. Nothing unusual visible when oil fill cap removed. Wy my coolant reservoir would have filled, blown over, not empty when cooled, only to empty out by the next morning after blowing 1/2 to 1 liter. This has been a loyal car (other than the recent loss of A/C) and I would like to see if I can get 250,000+ miles out of her with no serious maintenance.
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I was checking the engine today and I think I found a coolant leak close to the Oil Filter reservoir, the fluid is PINK color and that matches the coolant type of fluid, check the pictures. Looking for the location from where the leak might be coming ? Do the Thermostat or Water Pump are closer to that location ?, I have the theory that they might be the cause of the coolant leak, they were changed about 4,000 miles ago,
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1999 Honda CRV. Just took a 3-hour highway trip. Before trip I topped up coolant reservoir which was a little low, but radiator was full. I did notice some dried white spots on the front of valve cover and spark wires. Wasn't sure what it was, but now realize it was coolant residue. Probably only 1-2 cups were missing from the reservoir, so the leak had just started.
After 3 hour trip, checked engine compartment again. This time the reservoir was totally empty (radiator still full) and the engine was well sprayed with greenish coolant residue. The radiator was cool by the time I checked it, so the leak source wasn't obvious, but it looks to be coming from the seam where the plastic top meets the aluminum.
I will replace the radiator when I get home, but first have to drive the 3-hour return trip. Will it be OK as long as I start full of coolant and keep an eye on the temp gauge?
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A month ago, my 99 subaru outback started to smoking white smoke. I open the hood and coolant was all over the engine. I took it in and they supposedly put a new radiator in. Three days later the car stalled out and coolant was leaking everywhere. The shop told me it was a bad radiator and replaced it. A month went by, now all the coolant leaked out as though the car had a hang over a throw up out of the coolant hose(lower left hose). Leaving a huge green puddle in a parking lot. What do I do? Has the radiator die again (because the third time is not charming)? Should the shop guys have replaced the hoses when they replaced the radiator the first two times?Is it normal to have to take your car to the shop a month after it was fixed for the same thing?
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I was driving my 2008 Santa Fe last week (before I went on vacation) and noticed the the A/C wasn't coming through quite a cool as usual (almost felt like the vent was on w/ no AC). Then after about 10 minutes of driving I noticed the thermostat on the car get to about the 3/4 line pretty close to the red lines.
Luckily I was home so turned the car off and popped open the hood. I noticed the reservoir tank was empty and there was some coolant that dripped down on the fans & a small pool of coolant on the engine block right under where the oil is poured. (nothing has been dripping under the car)
I added a little coolant to the reservoir tank and the next time I turned it on and let it run for ~10 minutes, it was the same thing.
Anyway, I came back from vacation and opened the hood to try and identify exactly where the leak was, and ran the car for ~30 minutes, with A/C on full blast and the car didn't overheat or leak anywhere. Coolant tank was still full from when I filled it the first time.
What could have caused the leak/overheating in the first place?
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A few weeks ago my car over heated and stopped. I had it towed and the mechanic changed the water pump, timing belt, gasket cover and more. About two weeks ago I noticed antifreeze on my drive way. Took it back in and the mechanic changed a clamp on the radiator. it continued to leak antifreeze. I took it to Pep Boys for a pressurized test, they couldn't find a leak, but did say my radiator hoses needed changing and they suspect the radiator cap is the problem. That was a week ago. I just got back from vacation and the reservoir keeps getting low every day, but not at the minimum line since the first mechanic filled it to the top. There is not apparent leak under neath the car. No smell when I start. Oil is not milky. Called first mechanic he said sounds like a blown head gasket....
Car is Honda Accord 1999, 138K miles.
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