So.. I've searched and not found..
My V10 seems to enjoy drinking cooling fluid.
Not much, but still..
I can't find any leaks. I've tried to run the engine to work temperature in order to pressurise the system. Could not find any tiny holes in any of the hoses or in the radiator.
So now I'm starting to think..could it be the head gasket.
I can't see any water in the oil or oposite. My limitied engine knowledge to these gaskets leads me to belive ther could be a minor gap between a cylinder and the cooling passage.
Can you great "full of ford knowledge" guys help me think here.
I'd rather not yank off the heads if I don't have to...

Jan
Norway

 

Jan,

You need to do a full cooling system test. A mechanic can pressurize the system manually (and without all the heat) to find out where it's going.

 

i had exactly the same problem... i have a few thing i have to do right now, but can point out a few things to check...

in the mean time go out and take the oil filler cap off and see if it as any foamey looking stuff on the end of it even a little bit... and make sure you look at all the freeze plugs and back of the intake manifold...

i will be back later with some sugestions...

 

i had some cooleant loss and did a visiul check of hoses clamps and freeze plugs... found nothing but the rust mark in picture one... never saw any fluid there though.. so i replaced the clamp.. and still had a leak some where...
so i did a pressuer test and it held perssure for 12 hours... i suspected it was getting into the oil, but the oil didn't seem to be comtaminated, and only lost fluid while the motor was running...

picture 1

the small hose in pic 1 runs over and around the pvc valve then runs up and into the intake where the vacume line from the pcv goes into the intake (like it is heating or cooling the vacumed air)... i have and no one else has been able to tell me why it is this way...
since i wasn't able to find the leak, the intake was pulled and there were the tell tail sign of the water leaking from that area and running down into the head...
picture two

thinking the leak was found the intake was reinstalled and since this part wasn't replacable i had it by passed to keep the coolant out of that area...

the following pic show where the coolant lines were just spliced together and a new smaller hose looped from the top nipple to the botton so it didn't suck air instead of coolant...
picture 3


pictures 4 & 5


for two weeks the coolant stayed steady then it droped some... every time i filled it it droped to a unsafe level then stayed there...

tho oil still looked clean but no water leaking outside no oil in the coolant... the next step was a dye test... that revield dye in the oil but the oil didn't show signs of the coolant...
i changed the oil again and found a few drops of water in the filter so now it seemed to be the engine oil cooler leaking... after changing that the leak remained as before leakind so much then not leaking any more...

looking back when i had the intake off i should have just pulled the whole top of the motor off... the head gasket in the first cylinder on the drivers side was leaking also and the coolant going to the exhaust mostly and the little bit getting in the oil that would evaporate instead of collecting in the oil... all the while there was no smoke of any color out the exhaust...

a easy way the check that part of the intake, now that i know about it is to just remove the coolant lines and test for vacume... if there is any vacume it is bad...

i hope this makes some since to you it was a long drawn out process... i could not find it and had it to three garages and severel other mechanics to look at that couldn't find it either...

sorry i don't know how to edit the pictures smaller so you don't need to scroll like that...

 

Thanks. This was really usefull.
I will dive in to this during easter (if the weather allows me..)
Yesterday I checked the level after a good 150km drive. The level was still topped.
No foam on the oil cap. Seems like it is acting up every now and then.
I have not pushed the engine ever since I noticed the problem. I've kept it below 2500 rpm.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the pictures and explaination. I will post my findings as soon as I've checked it all.

J.

 

I had this problem but I have the 6.0L PSD. Mine was blown head gasket. If you take it into the shop they will die the coolant and have you drive it a week or less and check it with a black light to see if it is leaking anywhere outside the engine. They found the gasket blew in the back of the head where you can only see if its lifted all the way over your head on a jack.

Not sure if the gassers blow like the diesels but might want to have the shop do this if you cant figure it out.

 

the problem i had is mine passed pressure test and the dye test showed no external leaks and it only leaked while running, we warmed the motor shut it off and still held pressure even when hot... the real puzzling part is it would not lose coolant all the time, but had only a trace of dye in the oil, but the oil didn't look contaminated but no oil in the water... it had a lot of people scratching their heads and other places... i am glad that is over...

 

My problem is quite similar to the one jjbirish describes.
I have been driving for days now, without any change in the fluid level.
Yesterday I tried to push the engine a bit more. No difference.
I've checked the oilcap and also been crawling underneath the car to look for leaks.
The thing that troubles me most is the fact that I can drive for days without any change in the fluid level. All of a sudden it starts drinking. But it will not get empty. It only consumes the fluid in the expansion tank. No more..
The engine temperature will not raise as a consequense of low fluid level, nor will it engage the warning light. As far as I understand, it must mean the radiator it self contains fluid.
Seems like my case is similar to jjbirish's.
Now we have a nice easter with snow and wind.. no more searcing before I can get my Ex in a garage after the hollydays..
Happy Easter guys :-)

 

You might want to check the exhaust, guy also said it will blow out exhaust sometimes.

 

i think you will find it is the head gasket that is the bulk of the trouble...
if it is you might as well plan on sending the heads out and have them done...