Coolant leaking somewhere around the firewall

[theurge]

I have a 94 Sport 4x4 5Speed with 132k on the clock. I've been loosing coolant somewhere around the firewall. When it leaks it drips out on the ground at a pretty steady pace. I did search some other threads and someone mentioned the heater control valve could be a culprit if it is leaking from that area. One thing I do notice is there seems to be a constant "hissing" sound inside now coming from somewhere behind the dash that seems to change pitch if I play with the heater controls. Does the heater control valve sound plausible in this case?

I need to get this fixed soon so I have a reliable vehicle to drive to work!

edit: I forgot to add - I don't smell any antifreeze inside either. The hoses going to the heater core look ok as well as all the other radiator hoses.

 

[Jason94sport]

Your heater core might be leaking. It's a simple & cheap replacement. Do a search on it.

 

[theurge]

Your heater core might be leaking. It's a simple & cheap replacement. Do a search on it.

Do you really think it's the core though? I don't smell any coolant inside though, just the sound. Either way I'll check it out...

 

[lqy125]

My 94 XLT had a similiar problems three years ago with 120k at similar location, it was kind of 'crack' on the engine block. I added one bottle of 'colloant stop leak' bought from Autozone and the leak stoped. It is now with 180K.

 

[PTBishop]

if it's your heater core i have seen them as sealed units, so they will leak outside instead of all over your floor dont know if thats how ford did it with the explorer, but the t-birds were like that

 

[Bradmph]

Request:1993 XLT 4.0 headgasket repair

a crack block?? My wifey's 1993 4.0 XLT Explorer has 137k miles and started to leak coolant during a cool day on the driver's side of the engine, right around the area of the intake, head, block joining area...still have not pinpointed it yet, but it is between the firewall and engine. It started slow, drip drip...now it cannot be driven until its fixed :roll: . We never overheated the car, in fact it runs cooler then normal, probably doesn't have a thermostat. I have tried to get a mirror back there to see WTF its leaking from, but with the minimal room, it was almost impossible. I think maybe the headgasket on that side is bad, but when I started to put the tools to it, I realised I needed those pages from a chilton's guide or shop manual so that I don't remove bolts that are unnecessary for the job. Can anyone with a manual scan those pages in and send to me? or guide me to somewhere I can get directions to make this repair.

Thanks,
Bradmph

 

[Tony H]

Look here. Does this sound like your issue too?

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159285

 

[theurge]

Sigh... I checked the Heater core last night and it's dry as a bone. Looks like it might be a gasket leak. I might just throw in some stop leak for now and see what happens. Ironically it stopped leaking yesterday after I refilled the radiator up and it's running cooler now too so who knows.

On a side note, when my coolant started leaking a couple days ago my brakes started grinding too, and since my bearings are long overdue to be replaced I'll have to do those too. It figures - if it isn't one thing it's another.

 

[Tony H]

I didn't tell you to do this BUT BAck in that corner, you just might be able to get to the Nut (not all the bolts) that tightens down that corner of teh Intake. They are supposed to be torqued to 18 ft lbs. maybe just the slightest turn of the ratchet might save the day. DON'T SNAP THE STUD

 

[theurge]

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to take a look at that this weekend.

 

[Metallic2001]

Something better than some expensive stop leak you would purchase at Auto Zone is to go buy some regular black pepper and pore some into your radiator and that stops a lot of leaks. The pepper trys to get out where the leak is just as stop leak would and it swells. Mine was leaking from the timing chain cover from what a mechanic told me and I put some pepper in it and I havent seen the leak since...my radiator also started leaking from the corner where the metal and plastic meet and it stopped leaking and that was about 6 months ago so I am guessing that pepper is still circulating through my system....

 

[Bradmph]

Pepper?

I have never heard of pepper being used for leaks before, About how much did you drop into the radiator? 1/2 cup...?1/4. Does it smell like a BBQ when it gets hot? lol jk
Sure like to know the scientific reason for why it stops the leak if it does stop it.

Brad

 

[PTBishop]

myth busters proved an egg would stop a radiator leak...

 

[Anime]

I'd suggest checking the inlet and outlet hoses to the core. I had a coolant leak that was dripping on the front right side right behind the tire, turned out that just adding some hose clamps and tightening them down instead of just relying on the factory ones did the trick. New hose can help too and its definitely worth it if you're working on the system anyway since new hose makes a nice snug fit.