Well, that was weird...

[IIGood]

Being off work today and with the weather fairly cooperative (albeit it still a bit on the chilly side), I finally managed to change the oil in both of my vehicles...the Explorer and the Mustang. Both were overdue...the Mustang just crept over the 3K mark, while the Explorer last had it's oil changed 6K ago. Oops.

Anyway...I did the oil changes and after I cleaned everything up and put everything away, I put the catch pan in the Explorer to take it down to Pep Boys to dispose of the used oil. The Mustang is almost out of gas and right now the trunk is loaded down with other stuff I gotta install on that. I went to Pep Boys then went to grab some lunch at Wendy's...when I pulled up to the speaker at Wendy's, it suddenly became very difficult to turn the wheels on the Explorer. I moved up to the window and then it was fine again. Then I headed home and after stopping at each light, I'd hear a squeal as I was accelerating.

Once I got home I popped the hood to see what was going on. I found the front half of the engine soaked with fluid...I wasn't sure what it was at first but then I saw a little puddle of green in one of the pulleys. I tried looking around to see what the culprit might've been but couldn't really tell. There was also a puddle on the ground under the front of the truck. I realized that I hadn't paid attention to the temperature gauge so I got back in the Explorer, started it up, and went for a short ride. The temperature stayed at the normal range, just a hair below the halfway mark on the gauge.

When I got back to the house I checked under the hood again...some of the coolant that was sprayed everywhere had now dried up/evaporated/whatever. No more dripping underneath the truck. And the coolant reservoir was still full.

So now I'm wondering what it could've been. All the hoses seem intact, although I can't see the body of the hose that goes from the reservoir to the radiator...it has some braided sheathing around it. Any ideas? I'm gonna keep an eye on it and if it resurfaces, off to the shop. Hopefully it's just a hose.

 

[SyberTiger]

You don't happen to have an after market Dorman intake manifold installed do you? Probably not since you have a 2003.

 

[07gtman]

if you checked your antifreeze, and opened the cap it may be the cap. same thing happened to me one day could find a leak anywhere. about two days later it happened again and it overheated a bit, not pinning the needle but on the hot side, lucky i was only a few blocks from home. Cleaned the motor up, no leak took it for a short ride and pulled in the drive and sure enough it was the cap to the over flow tank,and the needle was on the hot side again antifreeze all over... go to ford and get a cap not the local parts store brought thee back thought it was the water pump. till i was telling a friend about it and he said get one from ford.. same thing happened to his f150. I havent had a issue since. i think it was $13..good luck

 

[IIGood]

I don't think there's an aftermarket intake manifold on there...it looks like the factory one to me. I've only had this one for just over a year and I'm not sure of its full history with the previous owner.

I'll start with the cap...seems easy enough. Would be great if that's all it was.

 

[IIGood]

I just found the source of the leak. The underside of the upper radiator hose was split because the alternator pulley is rubbing against it. It was of course doubly hidden due to being on the underside of the hose, and the NAPA sticker was still wrapped around it.