coolant leak

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guillotm

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I want to say hello everyone and to thank you all for posting some really good information. Here is my problem. I have a 2000 with 80,000 miles and a leak that only shows up every once in a while. I know its a coolant leak cus its green. It is leaking right under the front driver's side behind the tire. Has anyone ran into this problem and how hard is it to fix? Thank you for any replies.
 
That model year LS uses a hydraulic fan, so once the engine is off the fan stops and the engine cools down just sitting there - meaning the engine gets really really hot after running for a while, then the fan gets turned off. This means the coolant gets really hot and builds pressure.

A common failure is that the reservoir cap can't hold the pressure - causing the coolant to boil at a lower temperature - then spilling into the over-flow and onto the ground - right where you decribe it.

A $7 cap may fix the problem - it did me.
 
Quik LS said:
That model year LS uses a hydraulic fan, so once the engine is off the fan stops and the engine cools down just sitting there - meaning the engine gets really really hot after running for a while, then the fan gets turned off. This means the coolant gets really hot and builds pressure.

A common failure is that the reservoir cap can't hold the pressure - causing the coolant to boil at a lower temperature - then spilling into the over-flow and onto the ground - right where you decribe it.

A $7 cap may fix the problem - it did me.
Click to expand...



Will there be some signs like fluid around the cap or something to look for.
 
I just went through this mess (still going actually) - I've had a hose replaced, and the reservior replaced...Not sure if it's fixed yet. Time will tell.

-Matt

PS If it's the hose by the firewall, good luck. $45 hose. 10x that for labor. :-(
 
the fluid doesn't actually come out the cap - but since the cap can't hold the pressure the coolant boils at a lower temperature and then over-flows out the reservoir over-flow tube (by the reservoir) where is it suppose to. The pressure allows the coolant's boiling temperature to be higher than usual.
 
So the solution is to replace the cap on the resovoir?
 
Quik LS said:
That model year LS uses a hydraulic fan, so once the engine is off the fan stops and the engine cools down just sitting there - meaning the engine gets really really hot after running for a while, then the fan gets turned off. This means the coolant gets really hot and builds pressure.

A common failure is that the reservoir cap can't hold the pressure - causing the coolant to boil at a lower temperature - then spilling into the over-flow and onto the ground - right where you decribe it.

A $7 cap may fix the problem - it did me.
Click to expand...

There may also be a crack in the resevoir itself. This has happened to some folks in the past when they see an intermittant coolant leak. At cool temps (e.g., when the engine is off), the crack is sealed by the structural integrity of the resevoir. As the coolant gets hot and expands, pressure builds up inside the resevoir. The high internal pressure causes fluid to be pushed from the crack, which dribbles onto the floor.
 
i had the exact same leak, same location. Ended up being the reservoir bottle. Cracks began to form near the bottom of the bottle, from the inside out.

Here is a replacement tip. Remove your drivers side front wheel, and the plastic fenderliner. Behind the liner you will see a couple of holes in the sheetmetal. These holes allow you to slip a needlenose pliers in there to remove the hose clamp from the bottom of the bottle.
 
That bottle theory is making more and more sense. I just tooped up and no leak. Let the car heat up and sure as heck, I see drips. Also, I see some at the base of the fire wall to the left of the master cylinder. Still consistent with the bottle?

If so, I'll do that swap this weekend.

Lemme know
 
Asim said:
That bottle theory is making more and more sense. I just tooped up and no leak. Let the car heat up and sure as heck, I see drips. Also, I see some at the base of the fire wall to the left of the master cylinder. Still consistent with the bottle?

If so, I'll do that swap this weekend.

Lemme know
Click to expand...

Yeah, from what you describe, it sounds like you have a cracked resevoir bottle. Yours seems to be leaking at the right place and under the right conditions. I'll bet if you swap out the resevoir bottle, your problem will be fixed.
 
good point.

3 questions then:

how does the liner come off/on?

when i use the pliers to remove the hoses through those holes, do the hoses not just drop and make re-connecting impossibe?

where is the fuel filter and how do I re/re?

thanking you in advance.......while holding my 7 week old daughter which is why i couldn't use my left hand and no letters are capitialized..:)
 
Ok, so I'm under there. 1st problem. The aformentioned hole in the fender to remove the clamp is like 2inchs wide and the clamp mouth is facing the other side:mad: Any tips?

And is there one hose or two.

Thanks guys.
 
You may need to get a longer pair of needle nose pliers in order to get that clamp mouth.

There is only one hose that is going into the bottom of the reservoir bottle. When it drops down, it is stiff enough where it generally stays right in place, making it easy to re-attach. By the way, I ended up removing that goofy stock clamp and using a basic hose clamp that uses a screw.
 
the dealer replacement bottle comes with a lower hose attached to the bottle. I couldnt really figure out how to attach the other end to wherever it goes, so I just removed that hose, and re-used the one that was already there.
 
technical bulletin:

Much easier to remove the hose clamp from behind the motor and bring the bottle and hose out....
 
i just filled the bottle up with boiling water and no leak. The is what looks like a stress crack but no water coming out.

Is that what you guys had or was the crack more visible?
 
Just to be clear, I have the V8 (2002)..and I couldnt move the bottle upwards enough to be able to get access to the clamp from above. Not enough play/length to the hose. Not to mention the fact that..even if I were able to get the hose/clamp off, there was NO way I would have been able to get the hose/clamp back ON the replacement bottle. The fender holes underneath the liner made all the difference in the world to me.

Pouring boiling water in the tank doesn't nearly place it under the same amount of pressure as running the engine to full operating temp.

I actually had dozens of thin 2-4 inch vertical stress cracks on mine. Visually, NONE of them appeared to penetrate all the way through, but one DEFINITELY did open up when hot/under pressure JUST enough to let coolant spew out in a mist type of manner.

I initially tried one of those goopy type repair kits designed for plastic tanks. I did it WELL..let it dry ROCK hard overnight. But once it was under that pressure, it didnt hold on the edge. That repair kit is prolly fine for a Windshiled washer reservoir, but not for something under so much pressure like a Coolant Tank
 
Asim said:
i just filled the bottle up with boiling water and no leak. The is what looks like a stress crack but no water coming out.

Is that what you guys had or was the crack more visible?
Click to expand...

Pouring in boiling water is not the same thing as when the car is running. Remember, the whole coolant system is under pressure, which you do not have in your experiment.
 
Ok. I'm no Bill Nye the Science guy so I just wanted to see how bad the crack was for you guys. I can feel a line with my finger nail but no water. I agree that pressure is a huge variable. Plus, given all the above, I can't think of anything besides the tank or hose that would leak in that area anyways.

Let you guys know what happens.

Thanks so much.
 
Thank you for asking, I was just going to wait a few days but.....

I THINK it went well. Didn't break anything, swapped the bottle, and fuel filter (thanks 2001LS8Sport )drove anound and no leak. Went under the car today and there were probably 4/5 drops that fell. Now I don't know if that was old coolant that was lying around or maybe cuz I overfilled past the fill mark a bit so some got pushed out. Certainly much less than before so hopefully if I do not see any in the next couple of days I'm good.

I changed the hose too so not sure what else it could be anyways.

Thanks very much for all your help. Your time to share your knowledge-base does not go unappreciated.

Oh btw if you remove the lower hose from the far end, you do not need to jack the car or remove the tire either.
 
Good to know for the next time. I actually never saw where the hose connected to on the other end. Did you remove it from above the car, or did you crawl under without having to jack it up?
 
A pressurized plastic coolant overflow bottle. Is this another one of Ford's "better ideas"?? Or is this unique to the LS? I've owned and worked on ALOT of cars over the years, and this is the first one I've seen that pressurizes the flimsy plastic overflow bottle. :mad:
 
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