Lately ive been having a coolant leak it seems to be running down my lower hose of my radiator i believe that its coming from the 90 bend offf my radiator is this sound like something that might fail over time? and has anyone had this problem before thanks for the help

 

Do you mean the 90* bend from the water pump on the engine, where the lower hose connects? I believe most of the water pumps have that 90* bolted onto the straight outlet of the pump. That seal can sometimes go bad and start to leak. If it is that seal, it will only get worse with time, but I believe you should be able to get a new gasket for it to fix the leak. If you can't find a gasket, you could always use some Permatex Form-A-Gasket or similar to seal it up. Either way, you'll end up draining the coolant to pull the 90* elbow off.

 

Could be the pump, could be the gasket at the 90*.....oh wait u from WI too.....how rusted is it??? I know mines getting pretty bad....it'll end up like my oil pan soon

 

I had a leak at the lower hose a while back. Turns out the clamp was not tight enough. Be sure it's not the hose leaking. Much easier fix. But be ready for the 90* line to be leaking also.

Gool luck.

 

Just be sure of the source of the leak. Some members had a leak on the lower hose but it ended up coming from the weep hole on the pump shaft (where the pulley is). That means a failing water pump. Just double check. The fan can blow the water all over.

 

If it is the 90* bend, then you are better off replacing it and putting some Permatex gasket goop on it. I flushed my system, added the 203* thermostat w/billet housing (the stock housing is probably not going to be in any shape for re-use IMO) and replaced my hoses too. The flange off the water pump on the bottom was too far shot to keep using (and mine is a SoCal truck). It was so corroded and rusty from age and a small weepage that had been going on over time. I cleaned up the pump ends while I had both flanges off, put some Permatex magic gasket goop on it, let it skin up and then torqued the flanges on (I left the hoses off for a few more hours to let the gasket material set up before attaching the hoses and filling/flushing the system). The perfectly smooth billet housing for the t-stat will not match up well with the rough iron cast of the pump. Neither will the lower cast flange to the pump either for that matter. To make sure there would be no leakage I used the gasket material. Let's just say that I did one flush and TWO drain and fills (the second drain and fill was to gasket both flanges) because of the leakage. Don't end up like I did!

As a side note, to clean just about any stain (or coolant gunk buildup/corrosion) you can use a solution of vinegar and water and scrub with an old toothbrush. Simple, affordable and very effective. Just thought I'd share one of the many little things passed down to me from my mom (aren't mom's cool?). Another one is to pour a solution of baking soda dissolved in water on your battery terminals to clean off the corrosion (and an old toothbrush will help speed that along too).

Just my .02 and a hard learned lesson about cast and machined surfaces mating together.

 

powerstroke1869 did you find out what was leaking? I have a 2001 f-250 powerstroke and I am noticing the same thing.

 

What's the mileage since the pump was changed? Most last about 100,000 miles. Mine went a bit longer, but when she did go, it looked like it was the lower rad hose. But that fan does blow it everywhere. The weep hole is about impossible to see, but I think Lisa (Smokin') used a small mirror or just is one heck of a contortionist and actually saw it.

Best I can think of is to clean everything down there using Brian42's vinegar/ water solution. Then start it for just a minute, and see if you can find the source. The water pump is easy to swap out, the only part being the nut to get the fan off.

Keep us posted and ask whatever you need.

 

I have around 120,00 miles on the truck. Is the water pump pretty easy to change?

 

yes it is. the only 'tough' part is the nut to remove the fan. it's 1-7/8... friggin HUGE!! but you can borrow the tools typically from a local AutoZone or similar place. it's good to have extra hands for getting things lined up too. took me a lazy 3hrs to do mine, but could be done in 2

Here's a link to a thread where another FTE regular had her pump go out, with lots of good tips in there too:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ater-pump.html

 

When the water pump goes out does it leak pretty fast or do you just get a slow drip like i am getting now?

 

It will vary some, but it won't be a downpour. At 120,000 miles it's a good chance it's the water pump going out. Expected life is 100,000 miles, so that's pretty good.

You'll likely want to get the billet thermostat housing from dieselsite.com. The OEM one is crap and typically not reusable. Here's a parts list I'd recommend for the job:

Airtex water pump (northernautoparts has them on Ebay)
Billet thermostat housing (dieselsite.com)
new thermostat
bolts to secure thermostat housing (3 needed)
4 gal Shell Rotella ELC coolant
30 1-gallon jugs of distilled water
1 tube syl-glyde (NAPA)
Hi-temp RTV sealant (for the thermostat housing to water pump connection)
Upper radiator hose (NAPA has it - new design lets you change the serpentine belt without needing to remove the radiator hose)


The Rotella ELC coolant eliminates the need for adding SCAs so it reduces maintenance. The housing bolts tend to break, so having spares is a good idea. You'll need only 4 gallons of distilled water in the end mix, but you should completely flush out the system several times (removing the block drain plugs to do it completely) and the cooling system holds 8 gallons. I flushed mine 5 times b/c I'm paranoid... LOL.