Driving with a coolant leak from the timing cover

[98FordLove]

Ask him WHY would coolant be leaking from the harmonic balancer area (it bolts onto the end of the crankshaft at bottom of engine where there is NO coolant paths! )...is he claiming there's a crack in your block??
The end of your crankshaft --where H.B. bolts onto is the 3" shiny cylindrical stub shown at bottom of front of engine at 3:44 mark of video... it has a timing gear and timing chain around it....there are NO "intended" coolant ports / jackets there....that hole in the above picture of timing cover (large single hole at bottom of cover) is where it pokes out for H.B. to go onto.... I'm guessing that seal is damaged / bad and OIL IS GUSHING OUT THERE.....NOT coolant.... maybe you misunderstood him --since the initial leak / issue was coolant.....

I did ask him this last night. He said that the harmonic balancer and assembly could be warped as it is aluminum (which is soft) and over time it could have warped. But he saw where the coolant was coming out of and it was coming from a gap, so that is why he is trying something different today when he goes to re-install it, to get rid of the gap. He is confident that it will work to close the gap but he says that if coolant still seeps through, then it's out of his hands and nothing he can do other than accept it's an old truck and the metal could be warped. As for the truck running rough now, he said that we did too much to the truck and too soon and basically shocked it. Like he said, it's basically like giving a 100 year old person a heart transplant, it's risky.

 

[98FordLove]

These are the folks that license repair shops in Calgary, Alberta - The Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council

As a consumer to repair shops that they license, they are in your corner...

I'd politely notify the owner of the repair shop that this is your next stop unless both of you can come to a decision that satisfies your expectations.

DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING releasing him from liability until you get money/certified funds in your hand,
a running vehicle, or whatever makes you happy. Additionally, do not take a personal or business check.

Enforcement - Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council

AMVIC expects all licensees to comply with Alberta’s consumer protection laws. However, if a breach of the legislation occurs, AMVIC follows a progressive enforcement model that could include a Director’s Order, an Administrative Penalty or a licence cancellation.

www.amvic.org

"AMVIC expects all licensees to comply with Alberta’s consumer protection laws. However, if a breach of the legislation occurs, AMVIC follows a progressive enforcement model that could include a Director’s Order, an Administrative Penalty or a license cancellation."

Hope that helps and good luck!

I had a lengthy chat with him last night and he's doing everything he can to fix up this truck for me and make me happy. I unfortunately have no chance getting any of my money back that I spent on this repair because he already capped his hours awhile ago and has been losing money on this job. I regret doing it, he regrets taking it on and if it's that bad when I get it back (fingers crossed it's not), then I have no choice but to get rid of it. Depending if he's able to stop the coolant leak and how rough it runs, I may just take it to another one of my mechs and see what he says about it running rough. But that's only if she can manage to fix the leak, otherwise it's not drivable.

 

[EB4X]

I did ask him this last night. He said that the harmonic balancer and assembly could be warped as it is aluminum (which is soft) and over time it could have warped. But he saw where the coolant was coming out of and it was coming from a gap, so that is why he is trying something different today when he goes to re-install it, to get rid of the gap. He is confident that it will work to close the gap but he says that if coolant still seeps through, then it's out of his hands and nothing he can do other than accept it's an old truck and the metal could be warped. As for the truck running rough now, he said that we did too much to the truck and too soon and basically shocked it. Like he said, it's basically like giving a 100 year old person a heart transplant, it's risky.

I did an edit on my post you quoted ...and you posted it before I could update my post....anyway....so there wasn't a misunderstanding and he's really claiming coolant is leaking out of crank seal!? .....very fishy...

 

[98FordLove]

I did an edit on my post you quoted ...and you posted it before I could update my post....anyway....so there wasn't a misunderstanding and he's really claiming coolant is leaking out of crank seal!? .....very fishy...

That's what it is the crankseal? Those aren't reusable? All he said was the harmonic balancer was letting out coolant through a gap. I'm not 100% sure it's the crankseal that is leaking as I haven't seen it yet.

 

[C420sailor]

“As for the truck running rough now, he said that we did too much to the truck and too soon and basically shocked it. Like he said, it's basically like giving a 100 year old person a heart transplant, it's risky.”

That’s the biggest load of **** I’ve ever heard. Previously, I thought your mechanic was a dunce—this confirms it.

If you work on something and suddenly the truck starts running like ass, it wasn’t “shocked”—you ****ed something up.

 

[98FordLove]

“As for the truck running rough now, he said that we did too much to the truck and too soon and basically shocked it. Like he said, it's basically like giving a 100 year old person a heart transplant, it's risky.”

That’s the biggest load of **** I’ve ever heard. Previously, I thought your mechanic was a dunce—this confirms it.

If you work on something and suddenly the truck starts running like ass, it wasn’t “shocked”—you ****ed something up.

ya it could be but he says that he's doing his absolute best and everything he can to get this truck fixed.

Because I said to him, "you would think that the truck would run better with new spark plugs, water pump, gaskets and all these parts" and he said "yes usually but it sure what's going on...we did too much too soon and removing all the crud that built up for 25 years shocked the car because it no longer has material to hold up the leaks."

He did say that I had so much crud that he was scraping it off the timing cover for an hour and a half to get it to bare metal.

Right now I just need to deal with the leak first and see if he can get it to stop. If not then this truck is gone. If he does manage to stop it then I have hope and I can at least drive it to another one of my mechanics to see if he can diagnose why it's running rough.

 

[donalds]

Make sure to change your oil before the first start because of the coolant that's in it now just sayen

 

[98FordLove]

Make sure to change your oil before the first start because of the coolant that's in it now just sayen

Yup mech is for sure.

 

[98FordLove]

got the truck back tonight. Will take it to my other mech tomorrow and see what he says just to get his opinion.

The truck sounds like it's going to stall out and it vibrates when I really give it gas to get to to 3500rpm. Doesn't sound like anything like it was before.

Mech was unable to close the gap and fix the coolant leak. He was able to get it better and leaking less but not fixed. He says he's 90% confident I have stress cracks in the timing cover and replacing it would fix it.

My poor truck.i will have to monitor the coolant levels everyday to see how fast I lose coolant.

 

[98FordLove]

I took it for a good drive today and also let it run for quite awhile.

Here is what I've noticed:

1) It is for sure idling and running rough. You can feel the entire truck shaking when idling (both right at start up and after it's been running for awhile).

2) When you hit the gas, it's fine but after about 10 seconds or so you can hear the truck shaking.

3) Check engine light is on

4) Thermo sensor still doesn't read properly despite having a new sensor and new thermostat.

5) The heat doesn't feel as hot as before. I wonder if he re-bled the cooling system after he tore the timing cover down for the second time. I hope he did. But the heat wasn't very hot and that was surprisingly for all new coolant. Shouldn't the thing be as hot as ever?

6) At idle, the truck sounds like it's about to stall out, makes a pulsating sound. Put the truck in R or N and then it starts to pulsate differently. Almost sounds like an alternator or battery issue? I wonder if having the truck sit and not been run for 10 days in -30C weather here is a factor. Maybe it's the PCV valve?

7) I seem to now have to give the thing a lot more pedal to metal to get it to accelerate. It's very sluggish. Maybe a time delay when I press the throttle pedal?

Will call my other mechanic tomorrow and get him to scan the check engine light and see what he thinks on why it's running rough now.
I will check my coolant everyday for the next week just to see how levels are and how quickly I am losing it.

 

[EB4X]

We warned you this guy was a character and not to sign off on anything and the fishy things he was saying etc...and you kept defending him.
Don't know what else to say.

 

[98FordLove]

We warned you this guy was a character and not to sign off on anything and the fishy things he was saying etc...and you kept defending him.
Don't know what else to say.

I never signed off on anything. I do honestly believe he did everything that he could to fix it. I don't agree with everything in how he has handled things though so don't think I am completely on his side because I'm not.

 

[EB4X]

Did he state / express concern that coolant could now be getting into your oil (oil pan) ?...or is it leaking externally only---although I think he already inadvertently allowed that to happen - damage done. Check your dip stick for coolant bubbles...and or higher level reading ..

 

[C420sailor]

If the oil is grey or milkshake, you have issues.

You need to pull those codes, otherwise you’re just guessing.

 

[98FordLove]

If the oil is grey or milkshake, you have issues.

You need to pull those codes, otherwise you’re just guessing.

Did he state / express concern that coolant could now be getting into your oil (oil pan) ?...or is it leaking externally only---although I think he already inadvertently allowed that to happen - damage done. Check your dip stick for coolant bubbles...and or higher level reading ..

I asked him this and he said no coolant got in the oil or pan. He did another oil change just before he finished today. The leak is external only and it goes right down to the ground, doesn't spray anymore or get onto anything.

Check my oil dipstick for coolant bubbles? What do coolant bubbles look like? Not sure if I can tell apart from oil on the dipstick. I guess you will need to do this when it's cold so will check in the morning.

 

[98FordLove]

If the oil is grey or milkshake, you have issues.

You need to pull those codes, otherwise you’re just guessing.

Going to pull the codes tomorrow at my first mech as I will be calling him first thing in the morning.

 

[98FordLove]

When you do major work on these cars, don't they need to be reprogrammed or the ECU reset? Maybe that's it.

 

[98FordLove]

Check this out. This is EXACTLY what my truck sounds like now. I'm optimistic that it's an easy fix.

 

[96eb96]

When you do major work on these cars, don't they need to be reprogrammed or the ECU reset? Maybe that's it.

I have a 96 too. It has excellent diagnostics. You can get an OBD-II dongle + free forscan (maybe the has a good scanner) and it will tell you exactly which cyl is misfiring if that is causing the idle problem. That can rule out any cracked heads.

There is also a chance he didn't put a vacuum hose back, I did some top end work, so many things to put back. Have him smoke test it to be sure. That will cause issues. Again, he should be able to read fuel trims to narrow things down. Aside from the cracked heads issue (which could be fixed with K-seal in most cases), there isn't much else that can go wrong with this engine internally.

 

[98FordLove]

I have a 96 too. It has excellent diagnostics. You can get an OBD-II dongle + free forscan (maybe the has a good scanner) and it will tell you exactly which cyl is misfiring if that is causing the idle problem. That can rule out any cracked heads.

There is also a chance he didn't put a vacuum hose back, I did some top end work, so many things to put back. Have him smoke test it to be sure. That will cause issues. Again, he should be able to read fuel trims to narrow things down. Aside from the cracked heads issue (which could be fixed with K-seal in most cases), there isn't much else that can go wrong with this engine internally.

Thanks. After watching that video, I believe it to be the missing vacuum hose that he didn't put back on. Will see what my mech says today.

If my coolant leak is coming from where my harmonic balancer is, will K-seal even work? Because my mech said it wouldn't but he may not even know the product.

If K-seal will work then I will for sure use it.