03 Sport Trac Intake Plenum Leaking????

[dbailey]

Hey guys. New to the forum and am glad I found it! My wife's 03 Sporttrac 4x4 is leaking coolant and a mechanic said it looks like it is the intake manifold plenum that may be the culprit. Is this common and is it costly to replace? He said it is plastic and when they leak it is at the seam but is unsure if it can be replaced by itself or if it is an integral part of something else. Is checking so while he is I am, too. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread to the 01-05 Sport Trac section, and merged it with your other thread which was in the wrong section. Please don't make 2 threads on the same subject. You could get a cooling system pressure tester from Autozone's tool loaning program to see where the leak is coming from.

 

[410Fortune]

hmmm coolant leaking from the intake plenum? I am guessing he is talking about the lower intake?

we need to know where the leak is exactly, can you get a picture?
There is a heater hot water bypass MANIFOLD that is a very common source of a coolant leak, are you sure he is not talking about this plastic manifold (near the heater core, not part of the engine)?

 

[dbailey]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread to the 01-05 Sport Trac section, and merged it with your other thread which was in the wrong section. Please don't make 2 threads on the same subject. You could get a cooling system pressure tester from Autozone's tool loaning program to see where the leak is coming from.

Thanks for the welcome. The garage actually did that and said they thought it was coming from the plenum. Said the hose is dry but couldn't see exactly where it is coming from other than above it apparently without taking parts off the engine. Checking to see if the plenum can be changed by itself or if it is integral with something else. Forgot what he said it was. Does this sound familiar as far as the plenum leaking antifreeze? Thanks again.

 

[dbailey]

hmmm coolant leaking from the intake plenum? I am guessing he is talking about the lower intake?

we need to know where the leak is exactly, can you get a picture?
There is a heater hot water bypass MANIFOLD that is a very common source of a coolant leak, are you sure he is not talking about this plastic manifold (near the heater core, not part of the engine)?

I've actually not seen it yet. My wife is up in Johnson City, TN and it just started yesterday and she took it to the garage this morning. I'll look when she comes over tonight and see what it looks like. Is there any place in particular that I need to focus on to determine what it might be? Thanks for the comment. Will try and take a pic. Is it difficult to upload a pic on here?

 

[410Fortune]

if its leaking at a hose its likely it could be the hose, not the plenum


your intake is a funky one, its all plastic and there are two parts, an upper and a lower.
I dont believe any water flows through the upper plenums on these trucks, but teh heater hoses AND a possibly throttle body hot water hose, may be the culprit

Yes the intake can be removed and re-sealed
Hoses can be replaced (obviously)

the answer is yes the leaking part can be replaced, but it may be easy and cheap, it may be expensive and more difficult

Best bet is to find the leak visably, OR rent a coolant pressure tester and it will start leaking so you can find it real easy

 

[BrooklynBay]

You can't directly upload pictures to this site if you're not Elite. You will have to link them from another site like WWW.PhotoBucket.Com.

 

[dbailey]

I've actually not seen it yet. My wife is up in Johnson City, TN and it just started yesterday and she took it to the garage this morning. I'll look when she comes over tonight and see what it looks like. Is there any place in particular that I need to focus on to determine what it might be? Thanks for the comment. Will try and take a pic. Is it difficult to upload a pic on here?

Just spoke with him and he said he thinks it is the upper if that helps.

 

[410Fortune]

I do not know of any coolant lines running through the upper intake plenum on a SOHC, but then I do know know everything about the 03 SOHC engine

If there is water in your upper intake it is for the throttle body, to keep the butterfly from icing over on cold days,

ON both of my V8 trucks with metal intakes I have bypassed this coolant line and have never had an issue, I am in Colorado

I have also bypassed the throttle body hot water line on all three of our snowmobiles, same thing, never had a problem

So if this is where your leak is coming from, I vote BYPASS it

 

[dbailey]

The latest on what he thinks it is is the thermostat housing seals. Does the thermostat housing have a seal or gasket? Is that something that would just all of a sudden starts leaking?

 

[dbailey]

Bump

 

[Gregg XLS]

i believe it is a gasket...If you take off the little cover on top of the motor that says "4.0 SOHC" you can actually see the thermostat housing...there are only 2 bolts on it and the coolant hose clamp

 

[dbailey]

i believe it is a gasket...If you take off the little cover on top of the motor that says "4.0 SOHC" you can actually see the thermostat housing...there are only 2 bolts on it and the coolant hose clamp

Thanks big guy! I'll check it out today. Raining pretty hard right now.

 

[dbailey]

Did what you recommended and walla, you can see around the front side of the gasket that it is wet and looks like it has leaked. Is it difficult to replace? Looks like you might have to take the throttle body off to get to it all. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[410Fortune]

search SOHC thermostat housing

plenty of threads about this plastic housing

Glad you found the leak!

 

[cmphk9]

Go to http://mysporttrac.com and click on the Projects tab on the left. Then click the Maintenance section. A project to replace the thermostat is at the bottom. It might help you figure out how to fix the leak.