Coolant leak help

[Kidd7]

This is on ol' Red, she's been marking her territory for a little while now, it's been small spots. Last time I did some work on her I replaced the hose clamp on the lower radiator hose where it connects to the water pump thinking that was it. It was not... I borrowed a pressure tester today and when pressurized there is noticeable leaking, but I can't figure out from where.

Underneath the dripping falls onto the drivers side steering rack bolt then runs down the subframe. There is a small puddle that develops on top of the block next to the cam synchronizer behind the bracket that holds the power steering pump and ac compressor. See pic below.

It seems like wherever it's leaking from it's pooling in that spot then dripping down the front of the engine which made it look like it was coming from the hose connection on the water pump. With the system pressurized I don't see any bubbling in the puddle nor any squirting of fluid. There's not alot of room around there to search around.

Any thoughts on where the leak might be?

 

[Pete Deering]

This is on ol' Red, she's been marking her territory for a little while now, it's been small spots. Last time I did some work on her I replaced the hose clamp on the lower radiator hose where it connects to the water pump thinking that was it. It was not... I borrowed a pressure tester today and when pressurized there is noticeable leaking, but I can't figure out from where.

Underneath the dripping falls onto the drivers side steering rack bolt then runs down the subframe. There is a small puddle that develops on top of the block next to the cam synchronizer behind the bracket that holds the power steering pump and ac compressor. See pic below.

It seems like wherever it's leaking from it's pooling in that spot then dripping down the front of the engine which made it look like it was coming from the hose connection on the water pump. With the system pressurized I don't see any bubbling in the puddle nor any squirting of fluid. There's not alot of room around there to search around.

Any thoughts on where the leak might be?

View attachment 450534

What engine do you have?

 

[Kidd7]

What engine do you have?

I just realized I didn't state that, sorry. It's the 5.0 v8.

 

[crunchie_frog]

Timing cover (gasket) is extremely common, at the top ears. The ones I have done were leaking mostly from the passenger side ear, though both sides are prone to leaking. It is hard to see where they are leaking from but usually you can trace (by looking from underneath) the leak back up to one or both of these top ears on the timing cover. Yours looks like it is leaking from the top driver's ear but you should be able to tell for certain. I am surprised you did not see it with the pressure tester. Again, this is a very common leak on the 5.0. I have had 4 of these and had to replace the timing cover gasket on all four. I did replace the water pump and the timing chain while I was "in there". I would also replace all the cooling system hoses, and all of the belt pulleys while I was "in there" as well. You can try a bottle or two of K-seal, many folks have done this and hoped for the best. It can delay the work for a year or two if it is a very small leak, at least that has been my experience.

 

[Kidd7]

Thanks for the reply. I actually have all those parts on the shelf from a previous ex that got wrecked. I'll look into Kseal to buy me some time till I can take her off the road for a few days. Too many irons in the fire.

 

[Kidd7]

I tried a borescope I have last night to look around that area, but wasn't able to see anything better. I'm going to try pressurizing it tonight and using the borescope to search around.

 

[Kidd7]

Pressurized and used the borescope again last night. While the borescope did not provide any good pictures it did provide good illumination in that tight spot. Pic below, the red circle is where the coolant was seeping out. That is where the timing cover mates the the block, correct?

 

[crunchie_frog]

Yes, that looks like the timing cover gasket. Looks like you cleaned it up a bit?

 

[Kidd7]

Yes, that looks like the timing cover gasket. Looks like you cleaned it up a bit?

Just sticking rags in there to sop up the coolant puddle and there was what I think was a piece of gasket material laying there.

 

[RCHAMP0478]

This is on ol' Red, she's been marking her territory for a little while now, it's been small spots. Last time I did some work on her I replaced the hose clamp on the lower radiator hose where it connects to the water pump thinking that was it. It was not... I borrowed a pressure tester today and when pressurized there is noticeable leaking, but I can't figure out from where.

Underneath the dripping falls onto the drivers side steering rack bolt then runs down the subframe. There is a small puddle that develops on top of the block next to the cam synchronizer behind the bracket that holds the power steering pump and ac compressor. See pic below.

It seems like wherever it's leaking from it's pooling in that spot then dripping down the front of the engine which made it look like it was coming from the hose connection on the water pump. With the system pressurized I don't see any bubbling in the puddle nor any squirting of fluid. There's not alot of room around there to search around.

Any thoughts on where the leak might be?

View attachment 450534

Hey man I'm Ray a disabled vet and ASE cert auto technician for 20 years there's a common problem with most old radiators the plastic tank on either side of the coil for cooling the crimped gasket gives out when the vehicle is cool cause heat expands so the gasket works try going around the neighborhood till your at operating temperature then go park then put a flattened cardboard box and put under the radiator come out in about an hour or 2 then try pressure test again hope it helps