Coolant leak

[liamdrien]

Hi,

I have a 2005 Ford Explorer 4.6l that has a coolant leak that looks like it's coming from above the starter on the passenger side. Up top looks dry and I can't see where it might be coming from. I have no more coolant in the valley of the engine after replacing my intake manifold because it had a crack under the thermostat housing. I'm not showing any coolant in the oil or vice versa. I have also done a head gasket test which shows no fuel fumes in the coolant gases either. When I say leak I mean more like a waterfall, I have replaced the water pump and water pump gasket last year as it was acting up. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
William

 

[shane10]

Kind of hard to tell what angle we're looking at from the pictures.
Try cleaning the area and pressurize the system and see if you can't see/hear it bubbling from the source (oreillys rents the tool)

 

[liamdrien]

Kind of hard to tell what angle we're looking at from the pictures.
Try cleaning the area and pressurize the system and see if you can't see/hear it bubbling from the source (oreillys rents the tool)

I ended up taking it to a mechanic friend who found that the freeze/expansion plug at the rear of the engine popped. He's going to see how much of a pain it's going to be to replace it. Thanks for the help shane.

 

[Number4]

Was the new intake aftermarket? If so, there’s a nipple in the back that you probably put a cap on and a hose clamp. It will pop.

 

[liamdrien]

Was the new intake aftermarket? If so, there’s a nipple in the back that you probably put a cap on and a hose clamp. It will pop.

Hi Number4,

It was and it did have that yes, the cap is still in place. He ran a scope thing with me there and the freeze plug is definitely out with a gap between it and the engine. Any idea how hard that is to replace? I know he is looking into it but I am curious for my own information also. I found a spot on alldata about the plug but it doesn't show what steps you have to take to replace it outside of a slide hammer to finish removing it but it says other things are necessary also but doesn't go into details about what those things are. Will the engine have to come out to replace the expansion/freeze plug?

 

[Number4]

I’ve found them difficult to put in with the engine out!

Also, my comment on that cap that was provided with the intake, It will break and leave you stranded.

I can’t seem to locate my thread on how I fixed it, but there’s a few out there.

 

[liamdrien]

I’ve found them difficult to put in with the engine out!

Also, my comment on that cap that was provided with the intake, It will break and leave you stranded.

I can’t seem to locate my thread on how I fixed it, but there’s a few out there.

I will have to see if I do something about that cap, I will look around and see if I can find your thread on it. Thanks for the help Number4.

 

[Number4]

Here’s my post on what I did.

Dorman 4.6l intake coolant leak

I was going to add this to another post, but there were multiple. I've added a few posts below as reference where you can find this discussed and the fixes others implemented. (I'm sure there are more which I've not included.) This needs to be done on both the 615-175 and 615-775 Dorman...

www.explorerforum.com

 

[liamdrien]

Here’s my post on what I did.

Dorman 4.6l intake coolant leak

I was going to add this to another post, but there were multiple. I've added a few posts below as reference where you can find this discussed and the fixes others implemented. (I'm sure there are more which I've not included.) This needs to be done on both the 615-175 and 615-775 Dorman...

www.explorerforum.com

Thanks for that Number4, as soon as I get it back from the shop I will see about doing that to mine.

 

[drakon543]

i dont like dealing with freeze plugs especially with the engine in the vehicle. depending on its location and access severely changes the diffculty level. im not familiar with this particular engine as of yet so ill just assume its a standard freeze plug and go with methods ive used. drilling a big hole in the center and forcing a large screwdriver/ prybar into it and pushing towards the engine can sometimes get them to twist then just grab it and curse at it till it comes out. large screwdriver/prybar near the edge with a hammer can also sometimes work to get them to twist and again grab and curse until it comes out. second method ive also had an awesome time where instead of twisting it popped inside the water channel and fell down then it just becomes more annoying. ive never had one that needed to be replaced while the engine was still in and a slide hammer would have worked. easiest way ive done it and also probably the worst way was drilling a bunch of holes around the inner lip so i could separate the middle from the outer ring then the outer ring and just be pulled away from the block with a screwdriver. not very proud or pleased with that one but i got shafted with that job and rushed and have very few tools to work with.