Very odd, beats me, but may be easy to you, take a look!

[jaedee1]

As you notated, the engine ran fine for 15-20 mins then starts to lose power...That is about the amount fo time it would take to overheat the engine on extremely low coolant and the amount of coolant in the engine block to stop transferring heat from the engine and begin that cycle of losing power, knocking and dying...

I would always check fluid levels, air pressure, and suspension AT THE BARE MINIMUM before starting to drive a new used or new vehicle...But I am a bit of a perfectionist ...In this case it is difficult to point the finger at the PO since you can't verify that the coolant was topped off in the radiator;instead all you looked at was the coolant recovery tank...And the oil in the engine has been heat cycled enough to require replacement as well...Oil actually removed a significant amount of heat from the engine but if the coolant is non-exisent the oil will absorb more heat than normal and degrade a lot faster...And I forgot the tranny fluid will have been overheated as well in this case...

BTW the cooling fan on the 2nd Gen Explorer is driven by the engine so unless the fan clutch is dead or the fan is missing the fan will be attemting to cool the fluid flowing through the radiator...

But there MIGHT be a bright side to this situation;Yes you have a major coolant leak somewhere that is fixable... Hope it is not a crack in the engine block...If it is something less major, fix it and move on...With the engine still runnng and running strong you might not have cracked a head or blown a head gasket...But you definitely used up some of the remaining life of this engine by overheating it...

And the 5.0 liter is less vunerable to cracking heads than the 4.0 liter OHV is...Though I am not saying that you didn't or can't crack a head on these... They just stand more abuse and punishment than the 4 liter will without damage...

Good luck on fixing the leak...Let us know where the coolant is running from...And the outcome of the engine after the leak is fixed...

Thanks that was great info. Well, the 5.0 must be quite resistant as you point out, because this darn thing still starts up and feels like nothing has happened.
I'll attempt to determine where water is coming from today.

 

[jaedee1]

Guys, the leak is so big that the radiator won't fill up, or come to even half. I didn't get a positive look, but the water seems to be coming from above the area where the oil pan is bolted to the block on the driver's side. This is as far as I could see by sliding under the truck w/ no flash light and it not being jacked.

Any ideas?

 

[Turdle]

jack it up , put it on a jack stand and remove the tire and inner fender to get a look.

It could be the oil cooler? the lower radiator hose has an oil cooler in line with it. Could this be cracked?

 

[RomeovilleIL]

jack it up , put it on a jack stand and remove the tire and inner fender to get a look.

It could be the oil cooler? the lower radiator hose has an oil cooler in line with it. Could this be cracked?

+1! Check the hoses to the cooler & the housing itself. Leaking without pressure should be pretty easy to see. As mentioned earlier, take off the tire and splashguard then put the old garden hose in the radiator so the stream runs steady while you are looking from the wheelwell.

 

[jaedee1]

You guys have been great but I think I'm done with this truck. I can confirm it's not the lower radiator hose. I also wanna say that it's not any fissure-like orifice anywhere. Wherever it is, it is a significant hole -- as in a chunk having been removed -- and sadly I think it's in the block.
I say this because I went and dumped finger-sized chunks of scrambled egg in the motor and some smaller pieces and smaller pieces mixed (don't try this at home, lol) -- well, everything of every size came out flowing down the bottom. This tells me it's not a crack, it's not any sipping action that could be from the oil cooler or any component for that matter -- it's a nice-size hole!

Now I wonder whether I put that in there by overheating it the first time; or did that fellow sell it to me that way (there was a huge container of water in the back when purchased)?

Weird thing is, the rig still runs & drives good and can do short 15-min trips to the store.

My truck is a replica of image below. In case someone local is thinking 'new engine' or 'parts', 160k. (mill creek, wa)

This has been a saga that started with an alternator mega fuse ordeal to fuel pump to taking two posts to ending up with "scrambled egg". In the end it was fun, Serious Explorations rocks!

....BUT WAIT, COULD IT BE THE FREEZE PLUG THAT'S COMPLETELY OUT?

 

[RomeovilleIL]

Rather than guessing you need to look for the leak. Get a flashlight, jack up the front end, take off tires & splashguard and go look. I doubt it will take more than half an hour to get your answer. Anything else we post here is an educated guess of where to look, not the known source of the leak.

 

[jaedee1]

Rather than guessing you need to look for the leak. Get a flashlight, jack up the front end, take off tires & splashguard and go look. I doubt it will take more than half an hour to get your answer. Anything else we post here is an educated guess of where to look, not the known source of the leak.

OK, RomeovilleIL, once again you've helped. They say it ain't over till the f*t lady sings... well, she sang and said that there is a core plug that is completely out of my engine block.

Yeah, so I took your advice, removed the tire and inner rubber thing, to find a metal pallet sitting right next to the hole it had come out of on the block. I'm assuming that's a core plug (showing picture below). I pour in water and it flowed straight out that hole.

I was able to grab that metal piece with my hand. It makes a perfect fit back onto that hole. Now, is this something that I can snap back on, or is it now too small to create the type of tightness to stay on -- or do I need to add some kind of compound to put it back on. Or, should I go with a new one?

Let me know guys, I know this post is old and most of you guys are gone, but I'm staying hopeful.

Thanks!

 

[DBNathan]

that is definatly a core/welsh plug. i always replace them and smear a small amount of sealant around it before fitting. good luck in sorting it.

 

[D Hook]

Subscribed. Want to see the outcome of this.

 

[Scout3]

If it's located where you can't quite knock in a new brass freeze plug, they make rubber ones with two big washers and a bolt that expands as the bolt is tightened. I used one before and drove the truck three more years and it was still going strong when I sold it. Five minute fix.

Ed

 

[jaedee1]

If it's located where you can't quite knock in a new brass freeze plug, they make rubber ones with two big washers and a bolt that expands as the bolt is tightened. I used one before and drove the truck three more years and it was still going strong when I sold it. Five minute fix.

Ed

Thanks Scout3 and DBNatan that was good info... but do you guys think I can reuse the thing that came out... seems like there is ample space for me to hammer it back in if I tried; but I'm just worried that since it came out it may now have relative size diminution and won't have enough friction to stay on for long (under pressure).

If not I'll go with Scout3's rubber-type suggestion.

I just can't wait to report the good news here, and bring a feeling of accomplishment to everyone, as everyone has helped so much, saving me tons of troubleshooting expenses, lol!

Thanks.

 

[jaedee1]

I'm here to happily report that you guys fixed the truck. There were 3 of those core plugs that came out; I managed to hammer two new ones in but my 3rd new one got bent in the process, so I re-used an old one. I don't think I got them in all the way, as it was very difficult to punch them in as they sat in a slanted angle and no matter what I did the force applied on each hit would skid of the slanted surface. Anywho, they're in and not leaking. No more overheat, no more knocking, full power... such a sweet ride !


Thanks to all of you guys equally!

 

[jaedee1]

what does your temp guage show during this process? Overheating will cause the symptoms you describe & its a guaranteed engine killer if not fixed.

Thanks, man!

 

[RomeovilleIL]

Glad you found the problem & are back on the road!

My guess as to why you had 3 freeze plugs out would be someone filled the system with just water & it froze during winter. Quite lucky the plugs worked like they are supposed to instead of a cracked block.

 

[DBNathan]

good to hear you are sorted mate, nice result.