Hi All,

Occasionally I have thought my truck smelled like coolant, well yesterday I popped the hood and the primary cooling loop is a little low. I took it to the dealer and they topped it up and I am going to watch it for the next week or so and see what it does. It doesn't leak onto the ground and I haven't been able to find any leak under the hood. Has anyone dealt with this that could give me some specific places to check?

Thanks!

 

There are a few threads about this and it seems many of us have the issue. My dealer just replaced my primary reservoir but I'm not convinced it's fixed. I'm getting low on coolant again. I'll likely have to bring it back in. Others have found a leak at the secondary water pump and head freeze plugs. Not sure on mine...

 

It's consuming or leaking coolant, which is abnormal. A leak is more likely. A tight cooling system will never need any coolant. If the dealer didn't put a dye marker in the coolant, they did not do their job.

 

Mine had a small leak on the upper radiator hose (driver's side). The hose has a heat shield wrapped around it, and the fibers inside the shield started to show a red stain (from coolant seepage). Look closely for the red coloring or for "crusties" on top of the thermostat housing.
Good luck!

 

 

I just got my truck back from getting a leak fixed. They said it was a degas bottle hose. They installed a clamp until the back ordered part came in and it stopped the leak and smell. They just replaced the hose and all is good. The P/N they changed was HC3Z-8075-D if you were curious to take a look. I could smell the coolant on the passenger side mostly after driving and the coolant went down very very slowly.

 

Ford still uses freeze plugs????? Many manufacturers have eliminated them. Does GM still drop two Bar's Leaks Tabs into the block during assembly to prevent freeze plug leaks?

 

In a closed system...the type used by all manufacturers since, well, a very long time, the coolant doesn't get consumed. In an open system; the kind where coolant and gasses might evacuate to an open recirculation jug or recovery tank, yes some loss is normal. But with a degas container, there is nothing open to atmosphere so you won't see evaporation or pressure escaping unless the pressure cap is not doing its rated job.

Now, a manufacturer might consider some loss as normal. Not because it should happen but because a loss of a couple ounces of coolant over a six month period might be very difficult and costly to find. The '12 F-150 I traded in never lost an ounce of coolant over more than five years.

 

Update: So I left my truck at the dealer today to check the cooling system for leaks, they said they pressure tested it and it passed and they couldn't see any leaks and wanted me to pick it up and keep an eye on it. A couple hours later they called back and said that they reported their findings to Ford and Ford said they wanted more testing done because they have had quite a few cases of disappearing coolant, they are now going to do an overnight pressure test on it and report the results of that to Ford. They said they have seen issues with the EGR system leaking coolant internally and then burning the coolant which would explain why I haven't been able to find any external leaks.

 

Good info! Glad you posted. Mine goes back in on Wed as my res is empty again. I'll pass the info along to the dealer when I drop it...

 

No problem, I will post again once I hear from them tomorrow.

 

Perfect. The more info the better for when I head in on Wed. Most dealers don't want to hear what you read about on the net but my current one is very good and listens so maybe it will help. Thanks again...

 

 

I'll post up what I find out after tomorrows visit too...

 

thanks- I am dealing with this as well