Another leak… Here is what I have already replaced as they were leaking.

I replaced the water pump, both rad hoses, the rad itself and rad cap. I replace all hose clamps with good ones. This was all done back in July. No leaks, the engine was completely dry. I checked it every week, didn’t lose a drop of fluid. The engine runs well, and never over heats. Doesn’t even go above the N.

Now there are drops of anti-freeze under the engine. I went under and it appeared wet everywhere. I dried the under side completely and drove it for 30 minutes. When I got under it, I noticed that the bracket holding the A/C unit to the block is wet with antifreeze. There are two nuts on a bracket just below the last bolt on the passenger side of the water pump, but the pump itself appears dry. The entire A/C bracket is wet with antifreeze dripping off it. Where could the leak be? I never touched these nuts. Could it be this last bolt on the water pump? Or something worse? I won’t be able to do any major repairs until next summer, but would like to get an idea if it will make it through the winter. One thing about leaks, they only get worse. Need a temporary solution or an idea of what to look for.

I checked the oil and anti-freeze. No mixing so I think it is an external leak. The oil stays clean and the anti-freeze is nice and green, just like it was when I replaced everything in july.

I average between 80 and 100 kms per day now so I am worried that this much driving may make it fail before I can get to it.

92 Aerostar 2wd
3.0 L engine
233,000 Kms.

 

I would try retightening the water pump bolts first. If that does not work I would try stop leak. Alot of people are going to disagree with the stop leak suggestion saying it plugs up the cooling system. I have never had a problem using stop leak, in fact Ford, GM and Chrysler use it from the factory.

 

Rusted frost plug?

-Matt

 

I believe there is a freeze plug behind the AC bracket....might have a pin hole in it....

 

I'm going to try retightening the waterpump, but I don't think thats the problem. It looks dry.

Is there a way to see the frost plug behind the AC bracket without removing the bracket?

I guess that stop leak would be a temporary solution, maybe it would hold through the winter.

I don't look forward to doing a lot of work when it is -25 outside.

 

How about the gasket between the timing chain cover and the block? The coolant must pass through there as well. I had a longtime slow leak that only became apparent when it really started to leak bad. It is hidden well back there and not easy to see. If this is the case you have to remove that water pump again and move the ac pump as well as the timing cover. Use the opportunity to replace the chain while you're at it.

 

If it's the timing chain gasket, I'll be waiting till spring to fix. I will be adding the Bars Stop Leak later today to see if it stops the leak.

Interesting thing though. I went under and noticed all the hoses and rad were a little wet with antifreeze. I tried to tighten all the hose clamps as well as all the bolts that I could access on the water pump all were a little loose and needed to be tightened. I guess when ever replacing something, you should go back in a few weeks later and recheck the tightness. The leak is down to a couple of drops a day so I am assuming it's not the parts I replaced so in goes the stop leak.

 

you can get to the freeze plugs from the right side with the wheel removed, if one of the freeze plugs it leaking, a good temp fix is to fill the plug with jb weld or some other water resistant epoxy resin, these plugs are very difficault to replace as you can't get a straight hit on then with a hammer, I had to replace mine with a small jack on the frame rail.

 

I tried to get a look at the freeze plugs on the side by the ac bracket, it doesn't look any wetter than anything else. Funny thing is that the leak seems to be down to only about a drop a day since I tightend all the hoses. After tightening all the hoses I realized that I missed the top rad hose where it connects to the thermostat housing. I gave that one a few turns and that made a difference. I'll have to wait a few days as it seem that everything is a bit wet.I wiped as much of the antifreeze away that I could. Now I'll watch to see where it is leaking from. Funny thing, is it seems to take a few days before the antifreeze starts to drip.

 

If everything is a bit wet then I would think that it is one of the hoses on top of the engine, I had one that only leaked badly when the engine and cooling system was up to full working temp and it was on of the hoses that connect using the push in type connector, it would hold while the water temp was cold but when it got hot it was popping out of the connection, I cut out the connection and replaced it with a piece of copper pipe and hose clips. worked fine and is still there.