Coolant leak

[Cole94]

94 exploder XLT
4.0 OHV

What is this that it's coming from?
Looks to me like water pump.

Can take more pictures if it is unclear.

 

[shran]

Could be... could also be the timing cover gasket... 4.0s are notorious for those. But really from that angle it could be anything above there - lower intake or thermostat for that matter. My money would be on the timing cover seal.

 

[Cole94]

Dang how hard is that to replace? I'm already replacing lower intake gaskets and have the engine down to the heads... should I stop and do that too while I'm here?

This truck is at 260k miles. Is it time to just drop a crate engine in? Has the 4.0 reached the end of its life?

 

[shran]

Yes. It's not real hard. The main thing you need is a harmonic balancer or steering wheel puller and the appropriate bolts. Use the Ford gasket. Great time to replace the water pump too since it's attached to the timing cover.

 

[Cole94]

Would it save time and labor to replace that now that I have the top end off? It looks to be the front. I am getting concerned with the amount of things suddenly going wrong to with this engine. Rear main, timing chain gasket, poor running, poor fuel economy...

Also, I've been using fel-pro gaskets. Should I not be?

 

[shran]

It would definitely save time and labor. Especially since you're going to have the coolant drained anyway and the accessories off... it's just a good time to do a timing cover seal.

Nothing wrong with most Fel-pro parts, they are good quality, I just prefer the Ford gasket in this one specific application. I feel that it's better quality than the paper Fel-pro gasket.

 

[masospaghetti]

Before you do anything, get a pressure testing kit from Autozone (for free, loaner tool) and find the leak. Coolant leaks are notoriously hard to pinpoint without using a tester.

I almost tore into my water pump due to an apparent leak when it was actually the small heater hose above it that was leaking due to a bad band clamp.

 

[Cole94]

Before you do anything, get a pressure testing kit from Autozone (for free, loaner tool) and find the leak. Coolant leaks are notoriously hard to pinpoint without using a tester.

I didn't know there was such a thing. I will definitely do that.

 

[Centaurious]

If it is your timing cover gasket that is leaking be aware that the cover forms the lip that the oil pan seals against. Don't drop old gasket material into the pan. You will want to replace the harmonic balancer seal in the cover while there. When you reinstall the cover be aware that there are NO guide pins between the block and the cover. It requires an alignment sleeve over the crank or the harmonic balancer slid on to center the balancer and the seal. Install cover bolts to block and pan bolts, with cover aligned torque to block, then torque oil pan bolts.

 

[shran]

I didn't use an alignment tool when I did my timing cover seal... I wasn't aware that there is one. The upper bolts were installed finger tight and then I snugged up the oil pan bolts, then torqued everything. Seems like you would be risking an oil leak at the pan gasket by not sucking the timing cover down to the pan although I fully understand the alignment sleeve concept. Anyway I have put about 4000 miles on it so far and it's been fine... hope it stays that way.