water where water shouldnt be!

[pault63]

I have a question concerning water being found where it shouldnt be. I have a 2002 ford sport trac it began leaking behind the motor dripping profusely down off the trans belhousing. I thought freeze plug. I needed to look into it further. so i removed the upper intake manifold and found coolant puddled ontop of the lower manifolf.(picture included) can anyone possibly tell me where this water may have come from. Thanx

 

[swshawaii]

Check the lower thermostat housing. By far the most common failure with the 4.0 SOHC cooling system.
Pull the upper radiator hose over the oil filler neck using a mirror and flashlight to inspect, especially the rear seams.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/search.php?searchid=8157775

http://bengrosser.com/howto/fordthermostat/

 

[pault63]

Thank you SW i will check it out

 

[frickea86]

pault63, I am sure thats what it is.

Same exact thing happen to me actually right around the time I got the trans rebuilt, freaked out and took it back to them, they discovered it was coolant mixing with puddled ATF fluid from the swap.

I looked into it further and lower thermo housing had cracked or pulled apart. To figure that out I did the same as you and pulled the whole upper and lower manifolds and found water puddling. I vacuumed it out and changed the thermo housing and it was fine.

2 years later and lots of hauling or heavy camper around, I cracked the replacement and I am now once again puddling so get use to understanding how to remove it easily. I can only recommend is removing the alternator, believe it or not, it helps yield more space to remove the sensors and all the bolts. These are pointers for when the intake manifolds are installed, lol.

OH FYI, there is a thread on some after market company making a metal housing to eliminate this problem, i would recommend searching for it.

 

[pault63]

ok thanks frickea i will look for it.