Hello all,

I have a 97 F150 extended cab 4x4 with the 4.6 and a 5 speed manual trans. I looked for this truck for a long time and finally found one that is almost mint. A one owner garage kept and cared for truck that is now 27 years old. Now, to the issue. The truck runs great and has no issues at all, or didn't until a month ago. I started smelling coolant but I wasn't losing any and it wasn't on the ground. I finally found it on the passenger side behind the motor mount. Being mechanically inclined I thought it was the freeze plug although this is a southern truck with no rust the freeze plug looked good on the outside. I went ahead and jacked the engine up and took the motor mount out and removed the freeze plug. Everything looked pretty good so I went ahead and cleaned everything up and put a new one in. The next day I seen that it was wet again and that's when I figured out that it appears to be seeping from the head gasket. I am thinking the water jacket only because I do not have pressure in the coolant system. I started reading some and seen where there was a casting problem that may be the cause of this. With that, I have a few questions. Engine has 175000 miles but I have put all new timing chains and tensioners 5000 miles ago. Would a can of Blue devil fix this? With the leak being just a seep and not in the cylinder I am tempted to try it. I really don't feel like tearing the engine all the way down to do the head gaskets, but if do you may as well do both if you're going to go that far. I guess the big question would be is it at risk of just blowing and the pouring water leaving me on the side of the road in your opinion. Not sure how bad this casting problem was. Has anyone had this same issue with the passenger side head seeping like this and if so what did you end up doing?

 

Sealer generally will do nothing for a head gasket leak
And might plug up the heater core
Replace the head gaskets

 

Another question, If I do the head gaskets can I replace the heads with the newer PI heads without doing anything else? Also, if it is a casting issue does the block need any work done or is it just the head with the casting issue? Thanks for the information

 

Sure it ain't coming out of the heater /air conditioner drain hose ?

 

or the crossover hose under the intake?

 

​​​​Looks like it's seeping from the gasket. I took that freeze plug out because I got it in crooked so I replaced it again thinking it could still be the problem.

 

I have had some good luck with BARS COPPER HEAD GASKET SEALER... on a couple different problems. PN 1109.