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radiator leaking coolant?

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Old Feb 23, 2015 | 05:09 PM
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radiator leaking coolant?

Today while I was working I walked back to my truck after finishing the job and saw a red fluid leaking from behind the front bumper, I crawled underneath and saw that it was leaking from somewhere between the plastic cover for the fan and the radiator but I couldn't find exactly where it was coming from, I drove 30 miles before I got to the job site with my ac on, and my ac was making a noise that seemed like a whirling noise but I kinda brushed it off as the condenser going bad or whatever. After I found my truck leaking I decided to drive 20 miles to the next job site but this time I left the ac off and nothing happened the temperature gauge didn't even go up, I checked underneath when I finished driving and there was no more coolant leaking from the radiator. I drove it an additional 50 miles before I got home and still no leaks. Could the bad ac system cause coolant to leak? I have a 2000 excursion 5.4L V8
 
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Old Feb 23, 2015 | 05:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Adam.34
Today while I was working I walked back to my truck after finishing the job and saw a red fluid leaking from behind the front bumper, I crawled underneath and saw that it was leaking from somewhere between the plastic cover for the fan and the radiator but I couldn't find exactly where it was coming from, I drove 30 miles before I got to the job site with my ac on, and my ac was making a noise that seemed like a whirling noise but I kinda brushed it off as the condenser going bad or whatever. After I found my truck leaking I decided to drive 20 miles to the next job site but this time I left the ac off and nothing happened the temperature gauge didn't even go up, I checked underneath when I finished driving and there was no more coolant leaking from the radiator. I drove it an additional 50 miles before I got home and still no leaks. Could the bad ac system cause coolant to leak? I have a 2000 excursion 5.4L V8


You have RED coolant ?? The trans & power steering coolers are right there as well
 
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Old Feb 23, 2015 | 06:01 PM
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Originally Posted by harley4jcs
You have RED coolant ?? The trans & power steering coolers are right there as well
Yes it is red, I have no clue what kind it is because it came with the truck but it does smell like coolant, its in the container in the very front on the left side (facing truck) of the fan. I thought it was trans fluid at first but it was coming from only the radiator and I could smell it when I got closer
 
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Old Feb 23, 2015 | 07:04 PM
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If you did not leak the coolant from the cap of the overflow bottle ( there is a small weep hole under the cap) & you did not leak from a hose Or the weep hole at the bottom of the water pump You need to pull or have pulled the radiator. Things could go catastrophic quickly.
 
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Old Feb 23, 2015 | 07:40 PM
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Originally Posted by harley4jcs
If you did not leak the coolant from the cap of the overflow bottle ( there is a small weep hole under the cap) & you did not leak from a hose Or the weep hole at the bottom of the water pump You need to pull or have pulled the radiator. Things could go catastrophic quickly.
What could it be? A bad radiator?
 
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Old Feb 23, 2015 | 08:11 PM
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Originally Posted by harley4jcs
If you did not leak the coolant from the cap of the overflow bottle ( there is a small weep hole under the cap) & you did not leak from a hose Or the weep hole at the bottom of the water pump You need to pull or have pulled the radiator. Things could go catastrophic quickly.
Also how can I tell if it came from the weep hole on the water pump?
 
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Old Feb 23, 2015 | 11:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Adam.34
What could it be? A bad radiator?


Sure, You can assume every part that you do not know has been replaced is 16 Y/O... At the base of the water pump is a weep hole to give warning it is going bad if you are lucky, get a good light & start looking top to bottom & feel around with your fingers as well if needed (Engine not more than warm).
 
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Old Feb 24, 2015 | 07:20 PM
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Don't discount a trans line, they feed into the radiator
 
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Old Aug 4, 2015 | 05:32 PM
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So I found out what it was, after the incident I never turned my ac back on till this weekend when I got really hot and I decided to turn it on. After I shut the truck off it poured out coolant but this time it didn't stop at all. I let it cool down then tried added coolant but it poured all that out too. So after digging around I finally found out my radiator was bad. Took me less than 2 hours to replace it and now everything works perfectly again!
 
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Old Aug 4, 2015 | 05:44 PM
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Old Aug 4, 2015 | 05:50 PM
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Maybe someone used red coolant, and that might have led to the leak.
 
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Old Aug 4, 2015 | 06:40 PM
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Originally Posted by kennisonxgs
Maybe someone used red coolant, and that might have led to the leak.
Probably, I don't think the system has ever been flushed either. I find a lot of things that the previous owner didn't both taking care of
 
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Old Aug 4, 2015 | 06:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Adam.34
Probably, I don't think the system has ever been flushed either. I find a lot of things that the previous owner didn't both taking care of
So was the coolant that you drained out RED? I don't think Ford makes red coolant. I do know you don't want to mix old green and new gold. I learned the hard way.
What coolant did you put in, and did you clean out the old stuff real good?
 
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Old Aug 4, 2015 | 07:17 PM
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Originally Posted by justgetmethere
So was the coolant that you drained out RED? I don't think Ford makes red coolant. I do know you don't want to mix old green and new gold. I learned the hard way.
What coolant did you put in, and did you clean out the old stuff real good?
Well actually all that I drained out was dirty water since I had to drive it to get the new radiator and I had to stop a few times and add new water. Bad idea I know but I had no other ride. And I put in autozone brand extended life coolant with distilled water from the store. What happened when you mixed them? Sounds kinda dangerous haha. I flushed the system really good and I replaced all the hoses just to be safe
 
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Old Aug 4, 2015 | 10:02 PM
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Originally Posted by justgetmethere
I don't think Ford makes red coolant.
A Heavy Duty Extended Life Coolant meeting Cat EC-1 specs for diesel engines is red in color.

I do know you don't want to mix old green and new gold. I learned the hard way.
While it's not ideal, nothing bad happens when a person mixes a conventional green coolant with the Ford "Gold" (Zerex G-05) coolant.

Stewart
 
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