coolant leak!!! HELP!!!

[FordBoy350TD]

4 weeks ago i had a coolant leak in a parking lot down the street from my house, drove it home, it was fine the next day, no spill under the truck, and it was fine until about another week later, saw another pool of coolant under the truck in front of my house, checked it the next day, no pool. Then my temp gauge has been a little whacky, going from cool to in the middle back to cool, whacky stuff, so anyway, me and my buddy checked it out 1 week later, found nothing, so why fix something that isnt broken at the time right? so we left it, so now today, i come out of my buddy's store, and theres a giant pool of coolant, just climbed under it with my flashlight in the frigan dark tonight, checked the hoses again, pulled on them, didnt find a damn thing!!! so if anyone has any idea of what the hell it can be please help me out!

thanks, jesse

 

[Willard]

Look real closely at the front of your motor, you may have a intake gasket leak. This is kind of how mine happened. Listen for something spraying after turning it off, and maybe start checking immediately after shutting it off for coolant on the ground. Of course, you need to look at all the hoses, and the radiator too.

btw....good name

 

[FordBoy350TD]

wow that was fast, and thanks for the name anyway i've been lookin at the ground everytime i shut it off or leave it. the thing that i just dont understand that is just driving me insane is the fact that it just stops! for a week or 2! lol

 

[MDewell]

Check your water pump. it'll have a pinhole below the pulley on the pump itself..if it's leakin there, it's time to replace.

 

[Willard]

I didn't even think about the water pump

On the other hand, I've never seen a water pump leak a whole bunch, and I've never seen it start and stop. When my intake manifold gasket started leaking it would do it intermittently, then it just started doing it constantly.

Definitely check the water pump though.

 

[FordBoy350TD]

i will try that, and i just noticed your name was Jesse too lol

 

[dogfriend]

Check your water pump. it'll have a pinhole below the pulley on the pump itself..if it's leakin there, it's time to replace.

+1. It may only leak when the engine is warm (because the coolant is under pressure).

 

[BP_93explorer]

my pump went out a few weeks ago. it gushed out when the truck was running. solid stream.

 

[FordBoy350TD]

yeh but here's the thing, i checked it 2 times! while it was under pressure, while it was cooling, i just dont understand why it leaks sometimes and just doesn't lol and i just wanna get an idea of what it could be before i rip the whole damn truck apart ya kno, and the thing with the gauge, you guys with the first gen knows how the gauge looks, how it has NORMAL written in the middle, well it stays at cool, once you first start it up, then after driving, it shoots up to around the "R" in "NORMAL" and the last night got more towards the "M" which it hasnt been doing before so thats new... idfk wtf is going on hahaha im goin nuts over here, this screwed up my whole friday night, i had plans and everything

 

[griffigr]

Your leak sounds like a lower intake gasket issue. I recently had to deal with your exact symptoms. I kept hoping my leak was the water pump, but unfortunately, it wasn't. Crawl underneath the passenger side wheel well and see if you can spot coolant leakage down the side of the block. Also, crawl underneath the truck after you've driven it. If you've got coolant leaking off the transmission and dripping down on to the cross member, your problem is more than likely the lower intake gasket. In rare cases, it could be a blown out freeze plug, as well. If it is your lower intake gasket, prepare to hate life. It's a miserable job that takes quite a bit of time and patience. Do yourself a favor and invest in a grease pen. This way, you can mark the location of every single vacuum line and plug that needs to be pulled. Also, go buy a hook set. They look like small screwdrivers, but they're hooked at the end. This will make the job ten times easier when you're trying to remove plugs and harnesses without breaking them.

 

[MrShorty]

First thing I'd do would be to put a pressure tester on it cold and see if you can find the leak that way. Go to autozone (or other place that borrows tools) and borrow the pressure tester. Attach it to the cold radiator and pressure it up to 13 psi (or whatever the radiator cap spec is). Look around the engine to see if you can see any drips. If you don't see anything, let it sit for an hour (check the gauge periodically to make sure the pressure stays up) and see if you find anything. A good majority of external cooling system leaks can be found this way. And if you don't find it, you're only out an hour (because the tool didn't cost anything).

 

[FordBoy350TD]

that was the first thing i was going to do was the pressure test, so i guess i'm gonna do that tomorrow, thanks for the help guys i'll reply if it doesn't work

thanks

 

[FordBoy350TD]

well, last night i took a drive down to the beach to see my buddies and after 15 minutes i looked back at my truck and there was coolant on the ground so i took the advantage to try and see where it was comin from, and it's deffinitly not a hose, it's definitly coming the passenger side of the engine, any ideas guys? manifold gasket?

 

[Willard]

Was if coming from the far right, or just say, a little right of the thermostat housing?

 

[FordBoy350TD]

around there yeah, more toward the back of the engine, from what i could see at 9 at night lol, i just looked now and it's all dried up so i can't see ****

 

[FordBoy350TD]

actually let me correct that, it's leaking right around where the airbox is, right below that

 

[Willard]

Check the heater hoses right around there...and there should be a plastic valve thing that is in the two hoses right before they go to the heater core. Make sure that isn't leaking as well.

 

[griffigr]

Again, I'm pretty sure it's your lower intake manifold gasket. Leaking from the rear passenger side of the block is a dead giveaway. Have fun with that job. It's anything but fun.

 

[FordBoy350TD]

great lol

 

[FordBoy350TD]

arite guys, i pressure tested it, and yes it is in fact the intake manifold gasket, unfortunately i'm not swimming in money right now in my life, so i can't afford to take it to a shop, and from what I've heard it's not an easy job. Now I've had my share of working on cars and ****, but for a 20 year old Electrician, this seems like it's a little out of my league lol, so if anyone has any ideas or any input on this situation, please help.

Or Could this be a job i can do myself with instructions?

thanks, jesse