Help guys, My '97 F150 X-cab with the 5.4L is leaking coolant. It looks like it's coming from top of the trans and around the firewall area towards the center. I think it could be the heatercore or something related to it. Has anyone had this problem? how hard is it to replace the Heatercore in this thing? If anyone has done this, where is it located exactly? Any input would be great... It seems that it only leaks when the engine has been shutoff after running, it does not leak when engine is running.

thanks,

Larry

 

 

Hey,,just noticed you are having the same problem as i am. Did you find a fix ?

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 19-Jun-02 AT 09:19 AM (EST)]If your Core is leaking, Most of the time the carpet will start to get wet on the passenger side front floor board. You probably will smell a sweet smell, it kind of reminds me of the smell of pancake syrup.
reach up under the dash on the passengers side and easily pull your carpet back and feel around for wetness.
If you find it, probably the heater core. I used to remove the whole glove box compartment and then you can see where the core is at. Not a easy job by any means.
Remove the two hoses from the fire wall.
Remove the cover from the inside up under the passenger dash
and just keep working it around and it will come out.
I've seen them where other pieces such as air ducks and vents have to be removed.

 

>Hey,,just noticed you are having the same problem as i am.
>Did you find a fix ?


Yes I did fix this problem. I searched hi and low and found that the problem is that on the 5.4 engines (at least mine) has a some sort of plastic drain valve (it's round and plastic right above the 2nd/3rd coil pack). Well, the engineers at ford were just not smart enough to figure out that plastic will expand and shrink more than metal, especially in an engine bay and especially where liquid is flowing right above the coilpaks. Well the problem is that the "drain valve" was leaking coolant only when the engine was shut off (this is when the plastic cap on it would shrink causing coolant to be leaked out onto the coilpak #3 and fill that up, then run down to #4 and fill that up, then finally overfills and leaks down the firewall area and onto the tranny, the engine is slanted a bit towards the back so liquid will flow towards the back.

That through time (although it won't take much of it) will cause the plugs to be rusted and ruin the coilpaks. I went to the ford dealer and told them about this problem and they did not even care nor think this problem existed. I know that with this defect on the truck, I can't be the only person that's had this problem. I even asked them to lookup recalls and there was none on anything like this. Really, I can't see how ford not do a recall on this problem.

The fix is to remove the coilpaks, and replace the plugs. My #3 and #4 plug were soooooo rusted that I hardly got it out since the heads of them were rusted till they're round! But with the right tools and lots of elbow greese, I got them out and replaced the plugs and reset the ECU and no more check enginelights and smooth idle.

I hope this helps,
Larry

 

Hey again. I figured i would drop this info incase it might help anybody. If you see coolant under the truck, my case 97 ford f-150 look on the firewall above the transmission. There are two drains. The bottom one is for the heater core overflow. If your core goes bad it leaks into a box and this is the drain that it will come out. It will not leak inside your car anymore. Per the guy that is replacing my heater core. And yes, mine was bad, and yes..what a mess. About 350 and the whole dash needs to come out. I cant believe such a early model would have this kind of problem. It has 100 k miles, but i guess Sh@# happens....