Well I believe its a head gasket

[anthony1993418]

I have a stock 1992 explorer that i just bought with plans of swapping the lift from by BII. There is one thing holding me back. I think i have a bad head gasket bc the coolant has been disappearing and i have no idea where it is going . Ive looked for leaks but found nothing. I was wondering if there was a good write up for how to change the head gasket or other ways of trouble shooting my problem.

 

[HeavyFoot]

Any coolant in the oil? Bubbles in the radiator? Sweet exhaust? Coolant in exhaust?

I'd run a compression test before I decided it was a head gasket... unless you have the above factors obviously present.

I had an '88 Ranger 4x4 that was losing coolant and it baffled me, wasn't until a couple months later I could smell it coming from the vents. It was the heater core. Turns out the plastic box the heater core is in has a little drain and it was draining out on the firewall and not on the floor. It was our rainy season(well... when doesn't it rain in Washington?) so I never saw a puddle either.

 

[siguaw]

Vantucky? I assume thats Vancouver?

 

[s10 warrior]

id check the oil, if its "milk shake" color, then you know where its been going,if it is, i wouldnt run it anymore like that !

if its not going in the oil ,or out the exhuast, id let it run and search for the leak. gotta be going some where.

 

[anthony1993418]

The oil shows no sign of coolant what so ever. I did not smell exhaust from the radiator. i will try a compression test. What should each cylinder be?

 

[FIND]

If you are running a compression test, you will see almost no pressure on a cylinder near the blown portion of the head gasket if that is where the coolant is going.

You can also test your head gasket by blowing pressurized air into each cylinder and watching for bubbles in your coolant. Make sure to turn the engine over so that the valves are closed on the cylinder you are checking.

Sometimes leaks from the freeze plugs or even water pump can be hard to find if they are slow. Best thing to do is to give your engine a good wash, then keep an eye out dry green streaks.

 

[wood1]

First gen 4.0 engines are well known for loose lower intake manifold bolts causing coolant and oil consumption. Mine were, I tightened them and added a bottle of Barr's every year or so until a couple weeks ago when I replaced the gaskets. No consumption since. Could be your problem.

I had a obvious break in the coolant passage... that stuff just rots after so many years and poor coolant maintenance. If your compression is good, there are no bubbles in your radiator with the engine running, likely your heads are not cracked and your head gaskets are fine. Takes 10 minutes to check your intake bolts...

 

[toomanyfords]

Lower intake gasket could cause a slow loss of coolant, try a simple radiator pressure test and see if it either holds pressure and if it doesnt try to find where it is going if its an external leak. To test for a head gasket you can use a combustion leak tester to test for combustion vapor/fumes going into your cooling system.

 

[anthony1993418]

how slow would a slow coolant leak be. if i drive the truck for about two hours the overflow empty's completely and it the level in the radiator is low. i was going to try

 

[wood1]

Yikes, that is significantly faster than my engine was using. You can check your manifold bolts but I think you may have a worse issue than that. Probably if my engine was doing that I would start pulling the top end off until I located the issue. I would first make totally sure it is not a rotten frost plug or some other external leak. Of course, a proper test for combustion gasses in the coolant will tell you if your head/head gasket is the issue as stated by Toomanyfords. A pressure test will also show your leak.

 

[toomanyfords]

Thats a lot of coolant were talking about, that would have to show up in a radiator pressure test, if you are burning it your plugs would show it. And if its leaking into your crankcase your dipstik would show it. Its goin somewgere u just gotta find out where

 

[Nomad767]

Just a quick thought......check for hairline cracks down the plastic sides of the radiator....I ended up having to replace my radiator after I finally noticed the coolant smell under the hood when I left it running at a friends after a long trip. Seems the crack didn't really leak until it was hot and under pressure. I never really saw any puddling...I guess it tended to just steam out.

 

[anthony1993418]

I have no clue where its going. Im going to buy the test to make sure it is the head gasket. there are no puddles the oil is clear and no vapor or sweet smell from the exhaust. also i dident see a crack on the radiator

 

[Kamel]

I hadn't realized my water pump was leaking for a very long time until it finally completely went out. No puddle, no obvious signs on the engine, etc. Might be worth checking into. Mine was coming from the bottom weep hole which is covered by the fan pulley, so there was also no good way of putting my finger right up on it to see if it was damp prior to it going. To be completely honest, I had a little trouble finding it once it was gushing out and had to have a friend pour water into it while i looked for the source under the car.

Right before it went, the smell of coolant was strongest. I'm assuming it was getting onto the engine block and boiling off, causing the smell.

Whatever it might be, good luck with it