1997 Ford Explorer coolant leak

BILLKANGAS

MEMBER
1997 FORD EXPLORER
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
118,000 MILES

I have a coolant leak, appears to be near the rear of the engine, drips down on the left side, near the transmission and onto the exhaust. I can see throught the l. Wheel well coolant leaking from somewhere onto an electrical connector of some kind. It could be coming from the head gasket, but appears to be coming form above the head. I have ck'ed the oil, looks good, no discoloration, no bubbling in radiator, Engine does notrun rough at all or have white color or coolant smell at exhaust. Fearing the worst. What do you think?

Saturday, February 20th, 2010 AT 12:16 PM

3 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
110,176 POSTS

Have you checked the heater core hoses?

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Saturday, February 20th, 2010 AT 5:27 PM

BILLKANGAS

MEMBER
3 POSTS

The heater core hoses seem to be further to the right, and seem to be dry. Firewall also appears to be dry. Before I noticed the coolant leak, when I started the vehicle, the temp gauge would stay on cold, then would move toward warmer, but would get no heat from heater. Then temp gauge would rise rapidly, would have heat, then drop to normal or sub-normal, then back up. I could see no coolant leaking but could smell coolant and see some steam. Then the next day, I noticed the same symptoms, so I pulled off of the road when the gauge showed hot, and coolant was pouring out underneath.

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Saturday, February 20th, 2010 AT 5:47 PM

HOMER1967

MECHANIC
875 POSTS

Sounds like an intake leak to me it is very common on these vehicles, you need to pressurize the system and look for the leak while under pressure, you can use a small mirror and look at the area were the intake meets the head, if you have access to the underside of the vehicle it should be visible from the bottom also. Jeff

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Saturday, February 20th, 2010 AT 6:05 PM