Antifreeze Smell 1998 Ford Explorer

[Getagrip]

A few weeks ago, I picked up what seemed to be a really nice Ford Explore Sport, with only 76,000 miles on it. Mint exterior and interior. Looks like it had been garaged. Thought I was getting a good deal because of the low miles on it.

Well...a few days after I bought it, I started to notice a strong anti freeze smell outside of the vehicle. I noticed it a little inside of the vehicle, and it tends to be stronger on the inside when I first start the vehicle, then kind of goes away. None of my friends were able to notice the smell on the inside of the vehicle until just the other day, so I know I'm not crazy!

I was not able to see any leaks on the inside or outside of the vehicle, but I did have the radiator flushed. In the reservoir, the antifreeze looked like a brownish color before the flush, which might have been stop leak. I did it at Jiffy lube, and I'm getting the feeling they didn't do that thorough of a flush...almost two weeks after the flush, the vehicle started to smell bad again on the outside, and it looks like the antifreeze in the reservoir is starting to look a dark greenish color.

I have not noticed an antifreeze smell in the exhaust at all. Smell seems to be strongest on the passenger side of the vehicle on the outside, and a little on the inside when first starting the vehicle. Power seems to be ok, although it doesn't accelerate very quickly on the freeway.

I'm hoping an expert Ford mechanic might read this who is familiar with these types of problems on older Explorers might be able to enlighten me, either with good news or the worst possible scenario. The good news is that I have a friend who is a mechanic that can do cheap labor if I do end up having to replace the engine, or have it overhauled. Not good news, but might as well look on the bright side.

 

[backroads]

It's probably your lower thermostat housing, lots of them start to leak when they get old. Take a flashlight and look down at the t stat and look for coolant on top of the engine, or the housing. There's probably a bunch of coolant sitting on the motor and that is what you are smelling. Just did mine.

Backroads

 

[swshawaii]

Agree. IF that's it, upgrade to the RH144 non threaded housing. GL

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371042

 

[96eb96]

Is this an OHV engine? Could be lower intake gaskets if that is the case.

 

[Getagrip]

It's probably your lower thermostat housing, lots of them start to leak when they get old. Take a flashlight and look down at the t stat and look for coolant on top of the engine, or the housing. There's probably a bunch of coolant sitting on the motor and that is what you are smelling. Just did mine.

Backroads

Thanks for the tip. If that is the case, would I be able to see a leak underneath the vehicle? I do not see any anti freeze on the ground, and the the "pseudo" mechanic who did the flush and pressurized the system didn't either.

 

[Getagrip]

Is this an OHV engine? Could be lower intake gaskets if that is the case.

Yes, I think it is - its a 4.0 V6.

 

[my98nnj]

The 4.0 was either a SOHC or OHV.
Open the hood, does it say SOHC on the plastic cover on top of the engine?
If not, you have an OHV.

 

[backroads]

Thanks for the tip. If that is the case, would I be able to see a leak underneath the vehicle? I do not see any anti freeze on the ground, and the the "pseudo" mechanic who did the flush and pressurized the system didn't either.

If it's only leaking a little bit , the antifreeze might evaporate before dripping on the ground. If it leaks enough it will dribble it's way down the right side of the motor and then on the ground.
Rent a cooling system pressure tester, pressurize it, and then look for the leak. It could be a leaky hose connection or who knows, but look around the t-stat.

BR

 

[Getagrip]

Well, about a week ago, my Explorer started squeaking like crazy, and today I spent $456 for 2 lower ball joints and an alignment. After some research, I guess I paid a little too much but oh well...seemed fairly reasonable compared to what I've paid in the past. Anyway, I also found that the head gasket is leaking out on the right hand side. They said it didn't appear to be leaking too bad, and even said stop leak might fix it, but I would guess that it would be best to get it replaced now to prevent additional problems. My friend said he could do the labor on it, although I'd have to buy a torque wrench. I couldn't tell by looking at the engine since all I had was my cell phone light to go on in the dark, but looking at similar models for sale online, it looks like I have the OHV engine.

 

[Turdle]

These 2 clues-
"smelled it inside the truck"
And " leaks on right side with no puddle"

Check the heater core. When it leaks the drips fall onto the exhaust and burn off. Just another thing to check.

 

[Cranmaro99]

These 2 clues-
"smelled it inside the truck"
And " leaks on right side with no puddle"

Check the heater core. When it leaks the drips fall onto the exhaust and burn off. Just another thing to check.

I was going to have said the same thing, as this is what my symptoms were when my heater core went out.

 

[Getagrip]

These 2 clues-
"smelled it inside the truck"
And " leaks on right side with no puddle"

Check the heater core. When it leaks the drips fall onto the exhaust and burn off. Just another thing to check.

So are you saying it might be leaking from both the heater core AND the head gasket?

 

[Turdle]

No
When I first saw ours leaking, I thought " oh no, head gasket" because of where it was coming from. Upon removing all the plastic covers-I found it was actually coming from the heater core.

If your mechanic actually saw water leaking from the head gasket, then ignore my statement. However, if he just took a quick look at where the drip was coming from, I say take another look, with the inner fender liner removed.

 

[JimMadsen]

Put a heater core bybass on there and see if it goes away.

 

[Getagrip]

PROBLEM SOLVED!

Turns out there was no head gasket leak. I had it checked out by another mechanic who said that there was a small leak in the heater valve that sits right above the engine. Cost just over $100 to repair. Antifreeze smell appears to be gone or substantially diminished, so I'm pretty stoked about that!

 

[swshawaii]

Glad it's fixed. Next to a hose, probably the least expensive part.
Dealer repair? $25 part and over $75 labor for a 10 minute job, max.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1304424,parttype,6860

 

[Getagrip]

Well, I thought I finally had the problem fixed after I had the heater valve replaced, but I kept smelling antifreeze, just not as strong of an odor as before. Took the vehicle back to the mechanic and he took a light and looked under the vehicle. He then said there IS a head gasket leak after all!

Ugh. He recommended that I use HDC Stop Leak Radiator Tablets after the engine was cool to fix the problem. I was a little nervous about using the tablets because I've heard stop leak products can mess up your engine, but I decided to take his advice. After the vehicle sat for about 5 hours, I crushed the tablets, put them in my radiator, waited for about 5 minutes, then nervously took my vehicle for a spin.

I decided to drive a minimum of 15 minutes after the engine warmed up as this was the recommendation on the instructions for the tablets. I kept the heater running most of the time to try and avoid potential overheating of the engine and kept my eye closely on the temperature gauge. After getting to normal temperature, the gauge briefly dropped slightly, then returned to normal. I drove about 23 miles with no problems and could only smell a very faint antifreeze odor after the drive was over.

 

[Getagrip]

I'm planning to replace the head gasket in the Spring, as my friend does not want to do it until it warms up a little outside. I'm hoping that the tablets will do the trick until then. Just a couple of questions.

1. I live in Nebraska and am planning to take a 2700 round trip to mountain bike in Arizona in 2 weeks (March 1st). I've driven the vehicle about 1,800 miles since I've owned it and will drive it several hundred miles between now and my trip to see if any problems develop with the stop leak. The mechanic thinks I'll be ok based on the condition of the vehicle but I want to ask for secondary opinions - based on what I just did to my vehicle with the stop leak tablets, is this a good or a bad idea?


2. If I look closely at the top of the engine where I think the valve cover is (I'm clueless about cars...I THINK this is the valve cover), I can see a very small (minute) amount of oil engine seepage. Is this that big of a deal? I'm sure my friend can do this as well when he does the head gasket, but I'm slightly paranoid about doing a long road trip with the vehicle like this. Is there any engine oil treatment that would temporarily put a bandaid on this?


3. Does the vehicle I use have a timing belt or chain? My friend said he can replace the belt when the does the head gasket, but if it has a timing chain, this would be a moot point.


4. Any recommendations to improve gas mileage? While I was at the auto parts store for the stop leak tables, I picked up some Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant to see if that would improve gas mileage. Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for all of your feedback!