Cant Find Coolant Leak

[Ranger379]

hey guys, the 95 has a pretty decent coolant leak, its not the hoses or the rad. itself, i cant find where its coming from. there is steam coming from somewhere, maybe its running onto exhaust? but anyway the steam comes up from the drivers side between brake booster and drivers side manifold, cant identify wheres its coming from, any ideas? someone told me freeze plug possible, but i just read that u gotta pull the engine which costs like 1000 bucks, it dont leak at a steady rate but every day or two u gotta refill the overflow tank. it doesnt steam all the time, usually after u drive it somewhere, i had to drive couple time around block for it to steam, wont do it at just an idle, thanks for the help

 

[shamaal]

Anythings possibe, steam usually means exhaust manifold, which means head gasket most likely with pinhole leaks quirting on to the manifold from anywhere possible also. Freeze plugs are below and can be accessed without yanking engine.. Get yourself a coont system pressure tester loaner from autozone or wherever and look for the leak.

Good luck and ask questions.

 

[Ranger379]

ya i really hope its not a freeze plug, where are the freeze plugs in relation to exhaust manifold? could they leak from there and hit manifold? or is it more likely head gasket?

 

[ARTURPOLAND]

looks like head gasket. Don't you have problems with warming up the engine ? Sometimes there is impossible to warm theengine up when the head gasket is shot

 

[Bigg_billy]

As suggested, get a pressure tester and a bright light and go looking. A freeze plug leak will be the easiest to find.

 

[Ranger379]

engine seems to warm up fine, stay in the middle on the temp gauge, maybe its only a small leak, like i said sometimes it wont steam, sometimes it really steams, ill give as much info as i can, my mom drives it i dont drive it that often but it does warm up fine, anyone know it advance auto parts has the pressure testers? they are closer than autozone, whats approx cost? thank everyone

 

[ExplorerDMB]

Any automotive tool rent place should have one - pretty standard stuff

-Drew

 

[Ranger379]

well i had ford dealer look at it, they said they pressure tested it, both head gaskets are leaking, luckily the coolant did not leak into the engine only externally, so no internal engine damage, just have to have the gaskets replaced, someone give me a rough estimate on cost? i think im getting screwed on the price, gave me a estimate like 10 times what i thought it would be lol

 

[Bigg_billy]

I don't know, and easy day's work for a guy that knows what he's doing, so 8 times $??? per hour + $100 for parts. What they tell you $1,200?

Bill

 

[Ranger379]

well parts are $245 then he said there might be 100 bucks roughly if they had to send the heads out to be shaved, which is doubtfull b/c he hasnt done that in like 10 years he said. total estimate Including the shaving the heads was 900 something plus coolant. i thought that was steep for headgaskets but o well, also out of curiosity is there anywhere that sell the heads for the ohv? he looked it up for me and retail on new heads is about 950 for one, but he said he could do 700. its very unlikely that the heads would be cracked but i asked price anyway.

 

[shamaal]

My experience

Head kit is around$150 including valve seals and the good valve cover gaskets. New bolts for heads $45 (required). The Mazda dealer wanted $8 for each exhaust manifold bolt, I got them at Lowes. Perhaps 7 hours labor involved.

It's not that uncommon for 4.0 OHV heads to be cracked should the engine overheat. The high price is a dealer cost, mine cost $350 each - new.

Good Luck!

 

[Ranger379]

well hopefully the heads are not cracked, thats all i hope, where else can u get heads?

 

[zippee]

I had a somewhat similar problem. I would be sure they checked the heads. There's a thermostat housing (plastic) on the top front which has sensors embedded. This developed a leak and the coolant ran down the lifter valley and off the back of the motor, driver side. It's serviced as a unit.

 

[Ranger379]

well i found another leak today on my 96 lol. looked in the haynes manual and it dont have a part name, can someone tell me what part this is that is leaking? ill circle it then post a pic in a second, only leaked when i first started it up, then quit after a few mins. only a small drip but leaking right onto exhaust manifold lol. i know its something with the heatercore, the 2 hoses oare connected on the back side, and there is like a small vac hose? coming off it too, thanks

circled in white, leaking from the arrow, metal "pin"/ "rod" coming from around it - thanks alot

 

[Ranger379]

bumpy - anyone know a part name? thanks

 

[viper1314]

can you do an aerial photo so I can really pin point what is circled?

But from where it's at now It looks like you got your heater hoses circled.

 

[Ranger379]

well the plastic part that is leaking is what the heater hoses are connected too, ill try to find a better pic

Edit: new pic, hope its better, its leaking from around the metal pin, tried looking again in haynes manual but cant find anything

 

[Turdle]

That is the heater bypass valve--it is common for them to develop leaks.
Make sure you get one with a warranty

 

[Ranger379]

That is the heater bypass valve--it is common for them to develop leaks.
Make sure you get one with a warranty

o ok thanks alot, ill have to get a new one sometime, its only a small drip, only drips when i first start it, does running the heater make it leak?

 

[Turdle]

Well, I suppose running the heater would relieve the pressure actually. The valve cuts coolant flow to the heater core, when you use the A/C