Coolant leak

Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 FORD TAURUS
  • 6 CYL
Coolant leaking into the blower motor on a 2001 Taurus
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Thursday, February 10th, 2011 AT 9:16 PM

21 Replies

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,938 POSTS
Get the cooling system pressure tested, I feel that you will have a leaking heater core.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
FIXITMR
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A lot or a little? You might be able to fix(temporarily) with stop leak. And some stop leaks have a money back guarantee!
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
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I don't advise using any stop leaks. You will usually end up plugging up the radiator with that junk.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
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I would not advise stop leak products as they can sometimes cause more harm, they may help in some cases as a temp repair, but this should be fixed correctly, but first confirm the diagnosis first and if it is a core, I will advise on probable repair costs.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
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Have not bought it yet, the guy says about half a jug of coolant a year.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
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That's nothing if he is telling the truth. I doubt he is as that amount isn't even worth mentioning.
That may not be coolant at all. It may be a plugged condensation drain accumulating water in the housing.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
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This is what he told me, There is a small coolant leak into the AC blower motor, I put 1/2 a jug of coolant in it in the last year. All you have to do is run the AC fan every once in a while to burn up the coolant. What happened is, a couple years ago, the AC stopped working, and when the blower motor was taken out, it was loaded down with coolant. Obviously if enough coolant builds up over time, the fan wont be able to turn and the motor and resistors burn out. So I replaced the blower motor and resistor and put stop leak in the coolant, which plugged the leak for the most part. Now you just have to run the fan every once in a while, and put some coolant in, which isn't much.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
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I don't buy a word of that. First off, coolant rarely migrates all the way to the blower motor because the heater core is on the other side of the evaporator and the evaporator has a drain system. It just doesn't add up. I would suspect it more to be condensation build up from a plugged drain and not coolant in that area.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
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I would assume that the guy knows the difference between green antifreeze coolant and plain water.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
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OK, if you say so.
I've never seen it happen in 40 years but he's the one selling the car. I guess you should believe everything he says.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
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I e-mailed him and asked him if the liquid was green or clear and told him your reply, I don't buy a word of that. First off, coolant rarely migrates all the way to the blower motor because the heater core is on the other side of the evaporator and the evaporator has a drain system. It just doesn't add up. I would suspect it more to be condensation build up from a plugged drain and not coolant in that area. Now I will see what he says, what if the evaporator drain holes were plugged, would coolant that was leaking from the heater core than wind up in the AC blower motor?
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
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No, it wouldn't. It would drain out on the ground through the condensation drain which it hits before the blower housing and if the drain happened to be plugged up, you would see a lot more water accumulating than coolant. A half a jug of coolant a year is certainly not enough coolant to make it into the blower housing.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
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So than there is ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY no way for coolant to wind up in the ac blower motor?
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
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It would have to be gushing out and have the drain plugged too while the A/C is not working so there would be no condensation, none of which appears to be the case here. Sounds close to impossible to me.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:33 PM
Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
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  • 10 POSTS
Than I will have to pass on the car and it is too bad as Taurus is one of my favorite cars. Thanks for your help.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:34 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
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I wouldn't say that. A plugged condensation drain is a whole lot easier to fix that a bad heater core. Just make sure it's not leaking through a crack in the case or anything.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:34 PM
Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
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He says it is antifreeze and you are a professional mechanic with 40 years experience and you say it is impossible for the antifreeze to wind up in the blower box so I have to believe you.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:34 PM
Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
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This is what he JUST sent me, I know its coolant because when I noticed the coolant going down, I put stop leak in the reservoir, which turned the coolant orange. When the blower motor was taken out, it was the same orange fluid that came out.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:34 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
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That would mean that the leak had to accumulate well over an inch deep and the drain would have to be plugged too. I think he's wrong.

Here is a TSB on the problem that blames it on the air intake leaking rainwater.

https://www.2carpros.com/images/external/TSBonwaterintheblowermotorTaurus.jpg
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:34 PM
Tiny
ITISJUSTJOHN
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But he said the fluid in the blower box was the same color as the coolant after putting stop leak in it that turned it orange so I have no idea what could have been in the blower box.
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Friday, August 21st, 2020 AT 1:34 PM

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