Serious Water Leak

[xTOM153x]

Today I was driving on an entrance ramp and I floored it. Next thing i know theres a cloud of white smoke behind me drove about 10 min because I didnt see any change in my gauges. As I approach my mechanics shop just in time my temperature gauge starts to rise and I pull over and shut the car off. I look under the hood and theres a horrid odor with what looks to be antifreeze all over the engine bay. Also the reservoir for the radiator was completely empty so I dumped some water in there to see if its leaking and all the hoses to the radiator are fine but theres one leak near the bottom of the engine bay and its leaking like crazy I wasnt able to check out where its leaking exactly just know its near the bottom of the engine bay. I dropped my car off at my mechanic but hes not there till monday so was wondering what it may possibly could be if someone has had a similar problem. Previous to all this my thermostat would get stuck open I guess because it would go to Hot for about 10 seconds then come back down to normal randomly but it was doing that for a couple of months now. Thanks

 

[BrianDye]

Well it could be your lower radiator hose, even your radiator could have sprung a nice little hole, and sprayed on the fan causing it to be all over.

Are you sure its coming from the bottom?

 

[waskly]

check the clamp on the lower rad hose, i think explorers or aviators those used to break.

 

[xTOM153x]

My truck is in the shop right now waiting to get looked at on monday so I was talking to a friend about what happened and he said it possibly could be the plastic thermostat housing has cracked. Is this a common problem on these trucks?

 

[Dick Berg]

Coolant Leak

xtom153x - Yes, it could be the thermostat housing. My 1997 with the 4L SOHC engine started leaking around 90k miles, although it didn't lose coolant as rapidly as you're experiencing. My leak was from the seal to the engine.
That doesn't mean that your housing couldn't have failed in a way for lots of coolant to be lost in a hurry.
As you wrote, it's made of plastic, so it's not as robust as it could be.
Be aware that the housing is an expensive item - well over $200 from Ford, although it contains the thermostat and both temperature sensors.

Good luck,
Dick

 

[xTOM153x]

Got a call from my mechanic he said there was a crack in the intake manifold and he'll get back to me with a price. Anyone else have this similar problem with these 4.0's?

 

[xTOM153x]

So there was a tiny crack in the intake manifold that was leaking and also my thermostat housing was cracked. All better now total bill came out to 320 with labor and all Ford dealer parts.

 

[rblais]

xTOM - What parts were replaced? I also had a leak through the intake manifold gasket by the thermostat housing (intergral to the manifold). Replaced gaskets and filled small, open crack in thermo. housing where plastic manifold material is molded to housing. So good so far. The leaking fluid ran along the rail and into the # 8 spark plug well causing plug to foul and ultimately ruining the coil. Your repair costs seem reasonable. I was quoted $600+/- by dealer for a new manifold. I have an 05 Mountaineer v8 by the way.

 

[xTOM153x]

It said on the receipt Thermostat, Thermostat housing, lower thermostat housing and mounting. He said that it wasn't a big deal to just seal up the crack on the manifold because it wasn't that bad so he just tried some sealant or something and its running great again also replaced it with new coolant. It's a dealer only item I think.

 

[xTOM153x]

My thermostat has been sticking for a couple of months now and I heard it builds up pressure or something so I guess im the one to blame for this for not replacing it.

 

[xTOM153x]

The same thing happened to my cousins 02 explorer his went at 130k though