2002 explorer, v-8 engine. coolant hose or fitting missing, top rear of engine | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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2002 explorer, v-8 engine. coolant hose or fitting missing, top rear of engine

fullmonte44

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heart butte, MT
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 ford explorer
hello, all. This my first post, so greetings.
My son has an '02 explorer with the V-8 engine, we need help identifying a coolant part. He was driving home and heard a loud pop. Within a mile or two, lights started flashing, pulled over and opened hood, and coolant was all over.
He caught a ride home, we went back and put 2 gallons of A/F in the expansion tank, started engine and in about a minute water was running to ground from somewhere on back of engine. So we took the top plastic cover off, then could see: he just started engine and I immediately told him to shut it off: there is a small plastic spout spitting out coolant, this is at upper rear of engine in the center, just to the passenger side of engine but still in the center. This spout or fitting rises straight up from the rear center of engine, about 2 inches high, but we looked and couldn't see what the other end was that must have popped off here. There is also a vacuum fitting there with nothing to plug into, like there was a water valve, vacuum controlled, on this fitting.
It got dark on us, couldn't see more. Can any of you shed light on this fitting, where it goes, what it does?
My son said this explorer has rear climate controls, like a rear heater core. could this b a fitting for that? The size of the hose for it would be like a heater hose, it looks.
 



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Do you know if the intake manifold has been replaced? The Dorman replacement intake manifold has a coolant port as you describe, but it is not used in the explorer 4.6 V8 engine. See this post http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...ke-manifold-installation.456857/#post-3599225

Quick fix, get a 2" piece of hose and clamp it over the fitting and then plug the other end with a large bolt or other object to block the hose and put a clamp on that end as well.
 






I agree with camper. Don't replace the cap with another cap. They are rubber that is not made for the application. A capped off piece of heater hose will hold better... if it's a dorman replacement manifold
 






Thank you, IP, yes, this must be a replacement. It is as you describe. My son went to ford dealer and got a fitting for it this morning. It is home now. Still need to find where the vacuum fitting goes.
 






Thank you, IP, yes, this must be a replacement. It is as you describe. My son went to ford dealer and got a fitting for it this morning. It is home now. Still need to find where the vacuum fitting goes. We will get hose soon.
 






Are you sure it's a vacuum fitting and not a grounding fitting? On my 2003 V8 there is a wire ground fitting that connects on a long thin stud that secures the fuel rail back in that general area where you had the leak. It has a 90 degree bend rubber end that is shaped like vacuum tube but is really a wire and metal fitting inside that fits over the stud. Maybe that's not even what you are seeing but that came to mind when I first read your comments
 






Robin, yeah, hey, just viewed your post. You are spot on, it was not a vacuum fitting but an electrical connector. I found that out next day. But I never found where it goes, so it is a ground? I thought it was just something optional and not connected to anything. Now I can look for this stud you speak of. Thanks so much for your post. I would be lost if not for you people on here. I wish I had seen your post earlier.

editing update: went back and looked at the link supplied in post earlier about the cap fitting on the Dorman replacement intake. Mine is a Dorman intake manifold, it appears, and now I know more how to fix the ground fitting, since the studs are no longer there for the fuel rail fastener. Wow, something else I didn't see earlier-you guys are awesome, ( if I would just take the time to look). Live and learn.
 






What did Ford give you exactly? As a cap.

I spoke with a tech at Dorman, said he worked for Ford for 10 years and never saw a vehicle that used that back port. It just ties into the heater core system.
 






They sold my son a bubble package with two rubber caps on it. The very kind that everybody says will not hold up to coolant very long without deteriorating. He is carrying the second cap in his vehicle.
 






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