Coolant Leak - Water Pump or Timing Cover? (Video)

[SupaSwope]

So a little information. Top of WP is dry. Hoses are on solid and dry. Bypass hoses are on and in decent shape. Leak is dripping down from drive side or coming from that side when it gets on the crank pully. Left side is dryer for the most part.

Before I bought the truck someone had replaced the WP, You can tell because it is shinny and the black RTV that goes around it.

Looking threw some threads seems this is very common among the high milage 180k-200k 5.0s. When they hit that mark. Mine just rolled over to 202K the other day so it would be right on time. Anther thing I notcied is that someone talking about this in 2016 happened when it was cold. around 34 degrees and guess what. Its in the 30s here now.

So I am guessing, at the 200k mark, the 5.0 timing cover gasket could not take the cold and gave out. I am going to link a video but please tell me what you think.

Threads:
2000 5.0 AWD Coolant Leak Mystery

5.0 L coolant leak, water pump or timing cover?

and my video

 

[J_Train]

Does it only leak when running? Also there Shouldn't be and black rtv sealing it. should be just a gasket.....

 

[koda2000]

Black RTV is not the correct sealant to use on a W/P, but I can't say if that's causing your problem. I usually like to lightly smear paper gaskets with some clear silicon (or high tac) to seal them. There is a specific blue RTV for water related parts, though I don't like it or use it.

The 5.0's are notorious for leaking coolant from the timing cover gasket. That might be your problem. If so, I recommend you try adding an 8 oz bottle of K-Seal directly to the radiator and idle the engine for about 15-20 mins. I did this on two of my +200k 5.0's. The leaks stopped almost immediately and have never returned (that was over 3 years ago). K-Seal will not hurt anything or clog your heater core and is considered a permanent fix. It also remains active in your cooling system to seal future leaks.

 

[Craigerz]

The 5.0's are notorious for leaking coolant from the timing cover gasket. That might be your problem. If so, I recommend you try adding an 8 oz bottle of K-Seal directly to the radiator and idle the engine for about 15-20 mins. I did this on two of my +200k 5.0's. The leaks stopped almost immediately and have never returned (that was over 3 years ago). K-Seal will not hurt anything or clog your heater core and is considered a permanent fix. It also remains active in your cooling system to seal future leaks.

Do you happen to know if the leak will stay sealed after a coolant flush? I haven't found anything on the website to confirm.

 

[koda2000]

Do you happen to know if the leak will stay sealed after a coolant flush? I haven't found anything on the website to confirm.

My guess is that you'll need to add another bottle of K-Seal when your done with your flush, as most/all of the original product will be flushed out with the old coolant and rinses. I had a bypass hose spring a leak in my '00 Mountaineer about a year after I'd used the first bottle of K-Seal. The hose leak sprayed coolant everywhere and the cooling system lost a lot of coolant, I just went ahead and put in another bottle of K-Seal after replacing the hose. No further leaks afterwards. That's something I like about K-Seal. It's fairly innocuous.

 

[1998Exp]

So a little information. Top of WP is dry. Hoses are on solid and dry. Bypass hoses are on and in decent shape. Leak is dripping down from drive side or coming from that side when it gets on the crank pully. Left side is dryer for the most part.

Before I bought the truck someone had replaced the WP, You can tell because it is shinny and the black RTV that goes around it.

Looking threw some threads seems this is very common among the high milage 180k-200k 5.0s. When they hit that mark. Mine just rolled over to 202K the other day so it would be right on time. Anther thing I notcied is that someone talking about this in 2016 happened when it was cold. around 34 degrees and guess what. Its in the 30s here now.

So I am guessing, at the 200k mark, the 5.0 timing cover gasket could not take the cold and gave out. I am going to link a video but please tell me what you think.

Threads:
2000 5.0 AWD Coolant Leak Mystery

5.0 L coolant leak, water pump or timing cover?

and my video

It's probably the timing cover gasket -- you are very lucky that it lasted 200K. However, I wouldn't do anything before finding where the actual leak is coming from. Rent (or buy) a radiator pressure tester. If it holds pressure at all, let it sit pressurized for a while, otherwise keep pumping to force some coolant out. Get a good light and look around carefully. Leaking timing cover gaskets create a pool of coolant just behind the top corners.

 

[SupaSwope]

Its actaully at 221k not 202k lol that was my bad.

But the K Seal worked completely. It took about an hour before it fully seated in but it stoped the leak entirly. I would use it again.

 

[koda2000]

Its actaully at 221k not 202k lol that was my bad.

But the K Seal worked completely. It took about an hour before it fully seated in but it stoped the leak entirly. I would use it again.

I keep telling everyone that K-Seal really works. So far I think everyone (or nearly everyone) I've convinced to try it has had complete success with it. It was recommended to me by a fellow forum member. IDK about you, but I have better things to do than to replace a timing cover gasket in a 17 year old vehicle (with over 239,000 miles on it) when a $15 bottle of sealant and a few mins of my time accomplishes the same thing. My '00 Mountaineer had a steady coolant drip from the passenger side, front. It hardly leaked at all in the summer, but during the winter it became a problem, because I didn't want my dogs getting into it. In my case the K-Seal stopped my leak in less than 15 mins. That was almost 4 years ago and it hasn't leaked a drop since.

 

[bobflood]

Unfortunately, I did my 5.0 timing cover gasket work a couple of years ago before I heard koda about K-Seal. However, since then I have used it twice on donated cars our Car Care ministry was fixing up to give away. Both had small coolant leaks in very inaccessible locations and the K-Seal stopped them both in minutes. One of the few "mechanic in a bottle" products that delivers!!