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Cooling liquid drops next to drain plug of radiator

FrankT99

Active Member
Joined
April 6, 2020
Messages
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City, State
Fairfax, VA
Year, Model & Trim Level
2003 Ford Explorer Sport
Hello,
I changed my coolant thermostat yesterday (temp was to low) and now I think I found a cooling liquid leak next to the drain plug of the radiator (there I can see collecting cooling liquid drops). See attachment.
Here some more information:
I made a test drive and after 15 min I stopped the truck and saw drops coming from the plastic cover of the radiator. After driving the same way back for 15 min I checked once again and it looked like that it stopped dripping.
Later I made a test in idle speed with the removed radiator cover:
For the first 8 to 10 min till the motor was on full temperature there where no visible drops Then it started once again building drops of coolant.
Please help.

20201227_162438.jpg
 



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I don’t think there’s much you can do. I think it’s an assembled unit and you have to simply swap in a new radiator.
 






I’d say 20+ years is a reasonable lifespan for a radiator on a vehicle that was designed to be in the scrap yard years ago.

They aren’t designed to all fail together, they are probably just made of the same or similar plastics so their lifespan is similar.
 






For any leak, follow the wet path upwards to locate the leak source. It often takes a long time to find the source, especially if there are multiple leaks or long term leaks etc.

The radiator tanks are the weakest links, the plastic and metal joined seam is where most of those will fail(expansion rates).

I had a slight weeping from one tank of my black 98, and it lasted over 18 months until it got worse fast, in May. Many stop leak products will seal most small leaks, but at some point a leak will get too big to seal that way. I have my white 98 leaking at the timing cover(302), and that's about the worst place to have a leak(head gasket is worse). With Liquid Copper from Barr's, it has stopped since I put it in the week before last.

If you use a stop leak product, try not to mix different kinds. The K'Seal is pretty good, so is Alumiseal and the Barr's Liquid Aluminum. I used all of those at some point with this same truck this year, the leak was minute and I hadn't found it until two weeks ago. This time when it got to leaking over a half gallon in a day of my route, I called Barr's for their opinion(they make so many types of stop leak products), they said I needed to flush it and do the Liquid Copper. That product is a dollar more than the L.A, and I hadn't seen it before. They have three products for head gasket leaks, but those are more serious issues and those products are less ideal for long term use.

So far I like the Liquid Copper, and Amazon was the best price at about $8.50 or so, stores here want $11 and more.
 






+1 on the K. Seal

The radiator drain plug has a o ring in there
May not be your problem thought I'd. Put that out there
 






Ditto, that first OP picture shows leaking from above the petcock. But the petcock is about a $3-4 part and easy to replace. I bought a couple of those in 2019.
 






When you get to the radiator use a spectra premium
 






I think that's what I put in my 98 last year. The plastic radiators are okay for almost all applications, but for severe usage an all AL unit is best. The OEM kind should last 10-20 years, but wow some of them are hell to change. The 302 AC condenser bracket is awful, I'll buy the V6 brackets when I get time to hunt them.
 






Yes, I think Ford stopped that mounting method of the condenser after the 2001 V8. I'm just happy that the V6 version is close enough that the V6 bracket can be used to fix the issue. The radiator of the 302's wasn't an issue at all, that could drop right in. That odd mounting type though, it probably saved a pound of weight(the V6 lower bracket). The engineers I doubt ever bothered to test the difficulty of changing the 302 radiator with the condenser with it.
 






Thank you for all your help here.
MBrooks420 and Dillard000 I didn't like your answer and I planed to report you so you get banned for ever (LOL)....BUT BE HONEST I think what you wrote is correct. When the cooling liquid gets its temperature then it starts to leak. Visible cooling liquid drops (greenish) building a paddle on the ground. Visible lower in the cooling tank. Without experience I would say that's to big for a stop leak product.
I will make another test drive to check for the leak once again.
I found a you-tube video with only positive comments. It doesn't seem so difficult to change the radiator (more or less). As DILLARD000 wrote: 'so relatively easy to lift out & drop in'. I would say the most difficult is to open the 'light' rusty screws, bolts, etc. once again.
The transmission cooling line is also attached to the radiator. Top of the transmission fluid in the small tank to max. that's all (following the video is doesn't spill out a lot)?
Thank you!!
 






I made one more test drive over 30 min.
I drove 15 min. Parked the truck with machine in idle. Coolant was leaking form the radiator.
Then I drove 15 min back and when I checked it, it stopped leaking. The same happened yesterday.
What can that mean?
 






You should be watching the area where the leaks is from, (for testing - wiping it or spraying it clean before driving it), and see how much is leaking. If it's a small few ounces for 30 minutes of drive time, that can be managed with a stop leak. If it doesn't get much worse, fast, it can last that way for a long time.

If there is nothing in it(no stop leak products already), and the coolant is relatively fresh, not very old, then drain a little coolant from the petcock(a quart or so). Add some stop leak, top it off again, and drive it while watching it closely again.

Given what I've learned about stop leak products lately and what I knew before.I would want to use the Liquid Copper as a first choice. The K'Seal is not much cheaper, and I think the Barr's brand is the top one to trust still. The powder type Alumiseal is cheaper yet, and I've had good luck with that also. But given a chance, I'd buy the Barr's brand. Note Walmart didn't carry it, but parts stores do. Walmart and others do sell it online to ship, and Amazon was a good price I thought($7.97).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PX91OG/?tag=serious-20

So bite the bullet and change your radiator, and coolant, and hoses if they are old. Or pour in some stop leak, and wait until the weather is nice to do the full job. Good luck
 






For an 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac XLT is it a 1 inch thick core radiator?
 






Hello,
I installed the new radiator. Next step is to refill coolant and check the transmission fluid.
I think it's 14 quarts of cooling liquid for the 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac XLT.
I checked the transmission fluid (the truck has a dip stick). It's around freezing temp outside and it looks like it is too full. I haven't check it before but it worked fine and with the radiator change it lost only about one or two cups of transmission liquid.
So I start now to fill up the cooling liquid, let it bleed following instructions of DILLARD000, and hope everything is right.
Did I forget something?
 






If it looks too full now I’d probably forget about the cup or two that you lost. I’d fet everything else buttoned up and then worry about the tranny fluid.
Do you know if it’s ever been changed?
 






If it looks too full now I’d probably forget about the cup or two that you lost. I’d fet everything else buttoned up and then worry about the tranny fluid.
Do you know if it’s ever been changed?
I don't know if it was ever been changed. But it's not burned. Still looks clean transparent on the dip stick. But I will change it soon. The coolant fluid dip stick makes it much easier. I will add nothing now only check it during the bleeding process of the coolant.
Thank you very much.
 






Hello,
I installed the new radiator. Next step is to refill coolant and check the transmission fluid.
I think it's 14 quarts of cooling liquid for the 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac XLT.
I checked the transmission fluid (the truck has a dip stick). It's around freezing temp outside and it looks like it is too full. I haven't check it before but it worked fine and with the radiator change it lost only about one or two cups of transmission liquid.
So I start now to fill up the cooling liquid, let it bleed following instructions of DILLARD000, and hope everything is right.
Did I forget something?
Not cooling. It's coolant
 






Not cooling. It's coolant
He clearly stated coolant in the first sentence. If you want to be technical “coolant” is a generic term that could be almost anything. If you’re going to be overly specific be all the way specific, and say propylene glycol and water, or whatever is appropriate for his Sportrac.
 






I made a 10 min idle test. It is still low in coolant (half of the 14 quarts). Bleeding was once again not possible because the coolant was rising right away. I will get a 'No Spill Coolant Filling Funnel Kit'. That should help against rising levels and be good for bleeding.
The temp was NOT rising after 10 min.
I checked the tranny (that's should be the transmission fluid, or not). Still a bit too high.
Thanks.

 



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Don’t run the vehicle without being full of coolant. Are there bubbles in the coolant? It really shouldn’t rise that much.
 






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