My explorer is leaking coolant and i'm wondering how hard it will be to fix this myself. If you look at the engine from the front of the car (V-6 SOHC), there is a black thing with a coolant hose coming off it in the front under the plastic shield but just above the serpintine belt. coolant is leaking out of the side of it. is this a gasket that I can replace??? if so, what is it called? thanks for any help!!!

 

Sounds like the Water pump is leaking at the weep hole.

When your in there to do the gasket, you might as well as replace the pump at the same time.

 

from what you are discribing it sounds like the water pump but I'm not sure if it is the pump and you yhink you know what your doing try changing it the leak you are seeing is probable coming from the packing and you can not repair that only replace
if you never did this before I would suggest you take to your local garage otherwise have fun

 

I have found that the problem is that the thermostat houseing has warped!! go figure ford would use cheap plastic on a part that has to be heated constantly. well, just so you all know...i'm replacing the housing tonite. i'll post how it goes

 

I just purchased a 2004 ford explorer xls and i was leaking coolant . Luckily i purchased a bumper to bumper warranty for it at the dealership. I kept noticing that there was this fluid collecting in the valley between the heads. i took it to the dealership and they told me that the thermostat housing was warped and that they had to to replace it. I am wondering as to what could have caused it to happen. I think that that if ole henry Ford was alive today to see what is going on with ford he might roll over in his grave. But i also belive that if he was alive today ford wouldnt be in the shape that it is.
Long live FORD!!

 

Ol' Henry believed in engineering all right.
The Model A had forged valves.

But ol' Henry was a belligerent ******* too and not overly fond of change.
Were he running Ford we'd still be buying B Models with a vaporiser.

I hope that bumper to bumper warranty works out for you.
I had one years ago and the substandard work they did repairing the problem eventuated in destroying the motor years later.

I had a water leak in the head so when they fixed it they used an acid cure silicon gasket sealer that killed the oxy sensor and they didn't put the timing chain pulley back on properly causing it to slip in the keyway thereby destroying the entire top end.
It was years after the repair and much less trouble to just replace the engine so I didn't pursue it.

 

well so far the warranty is working fine. no leaks and all is well. I am just hoping that this explorer that i bought is not going to be troublesome like i have heard that they are to some people.

 

I had similar problem earlier this month this what the Diag. at the dealer.

1.Check and Found Bypass Hose Leaking. Had To Install New Bypass Hose.
$110.00

2.PARTS
Hose-Heater $34.00
Clamp-Hose $1.57
Anti-Freeze $3.00 (drain and added new)

Total Parts and Labor = $159.14

All together with tax = $172.47