Coolant Leak

doublediz · Feb 22, 2015

Hi,

Just picked a 85 GT Vert, drove it home which was about a 30 mile trip and saw steam coming out of engine and could hear the coolant boiling. Turns out that the coolant is leaking pretty bad but cant figure out where its coming from. Hoses look in tact and its pooling on the drivers side, take a look at the pic and let me what you guys think. Any help would be great!

mikestang63 · Feb 22, 2015

Welcome.

steam out of the engine? Explain- what did the temp gauge go to. I can't tell a thing from that pic. Any white smoke or water from the tailpipe?

1. I'd be taking the car back and get my money back-
2. it could be anything from a bad hose, cap, thermostat, overflow tank, radiator, water pump to head gasket
3. If you are keeping the car- go to Autozone and rent a coolant pressure tester and coolant exhuast gas tester

Pray to the car god the blue fluid in the test kit doesn't turn green.

doublediz · Feb 22, 2015

This is where it is pooling up and yes there is a little white smoke from the exhaust and you can smell the antifreeze when its running

mikestang63 · Feb 22, 2015

You are not going to like what I have to say. Sounds like you have a blown head gasket. The coolant is boiling out of the cap and pooling in the inner frame. Smoke and coolant out of one or both sides.

Pull some spark plugs- hope they are not white. Do what I said in my earlier post.

I take it you did not have the car checked prior to buying it?

doublediz · Feb 23, 2015

mikestang63 said:
You are not going to like what I have to say. Sounds like you have a blown head gasket. The coolant is boiling out of the cap and pooling in the inner frame. Smoke and coolant out of one or both sides.

Pull some spark plugs- hope they are not white. Do what I said in my earlier post.

I take it you did not have the car checked prior to buying it?

Yeah unfortunately I did not have it checked out, the car is very clean and when I looked at it I saw no leaks and it ran fine when I test drove it. The owner claims the car never overheated but he never drove it for long periods of time. Car only has 92k and is bone stock. The leak is constant and is leaking pretty good on the drivers side by the door onto the floor. Gonna try to get it to a local shop to pinpoint it, if it's the head gasket then I'll just take the loss and resell it

jka · Feb 23, 2015

If it's leaking on the floor inside the car then the heater core could be the problem.

doublediz · Feb 23, 2015

Well its not leaking on the inside of the car just outside right below the drivers side door close to the door hinge and front tire

7991LXnSHO · Feb 23, 2015

Oh oh! WHAT DOES THE OIL LOOK LIKE? If it looks like a bad chocolate shake, that is much different than if the oil looks normal.

That side of the car is not the heater core. Are we looking at the recovery tank or battery on the 85? Wishful thinking, if someone over filled the system, then it got up to full temp, it could overflow the tank, piddle and puddle there and steam off the exhaust.
An immediate leak down test really is the best idea.

Is the rest of the car in good enough shape to justify a head gasket? Let's assume you did not drive it with the coolant light on until it is badly hurt, but it is the gasket. If no rust, clean title, decent cosmetics, it should be less wasted funds to fix and drive than sell broken.

doublediz · Feb 27, 2015

7991LXnSHO said:
Oh oh! WHAT DOES THE OIL LOOK LIKE? If it looks like a bad chocolate shake, that is much different than if the oil looks normal.

That side of the car is not the heater core. Are we looking at the recovery tank or battery on the 85? Wishful thinking, if someone over filled the system, then it got up to full temp, it could overflow the tank, piddle and puddle there and steam off the exhaust.
An immediate leak down test really is the best idea.

Is the rest of the car in good enough shape to justify a head gasket? Let's assume you did not drive it with the coolant light on until it is badly hurt, but it is the gasket. If no rust, clean title, decent cosmetics, it should be less wasted funds to fix and drive than sell broken.

Yeah the rest of the car is in good shape and very clean, it was a one owner. So it looks like the recovery tank is split with the windshield wiper fluid and the lid is not sealed at all which would explain why it splashed out everywhere, so this may be a silly question but how do I check what the coolant level is then without a true reservoir?

7991LXnSHO · Feb 27, 2015

It has been a while since I sold my fox with that style of tank. But it seems the lid was supposed to snap on, but Tupperware it was not.

Is there a molded in mark or a level sticker on your tank? I filled up the radiator and about a third in the overflow tank. Then I got it warm enough to purge the bubbles. When it cooled, I made sure the tank was about a third full.

Btw, you will want fresh fluid in the windshield side of the tank or any antifreeze in it can smear.

Was you oil OK?

doublediz · Feb 27, 2015

7991LXnSHO said:
It has been a while since I sold my fox with that style of tank. But it seems the lid was supposed to snap on, but Tupperware it was not.

Is there a molded in mark or a level sticker on your tank? I filled up the radiator and about a third in the overflow tank. Then I got it warm enough to purge the bubbles. When it cooled, I made sure the tank was about a third full.

Btw, you will want fresh fluid in the windshield side of the tank or any antifreeze in it can smear.

Was you oil OK?

Oil looks good, the lid on the tank is pretty loose and there are no markings or stickers for fluid level on it. Also the windshield wiper fluid does not work so i'm not too worried about it splashing in to it. Im bringing it in tomorrow to finally have checked it out, hopefully its not too bad

Dave2000GT · Feb 28, 2015

How this got instantly diagnosed as a blown head gasket I still don't know...

7991LXnSHO · Feb 28, 2015

Dave2000GT said:
How this got instantly diagnosed as a blown head gasket I still don't know...

Don't know either. I hope it is the thermostat, cap or overlooked hose.

doublediz · Mar 1, 2015

well so far it looks like its the waterpump

7991LXnSHO · Mar 1, 2015

Be gentle removing the studs and bolts. If they are corroded, (unless recently replaced, they probably are), replace them and make sure to use antisieze when putting them back. There was a very recent update under the bolt thread sticky thread about where to get replacement ones, especially stainless.

doublediz · Mar 3, 2015

Well the water pump was replaced but still have a leak, the shop is recommending the valve cover gasket and intake gasket as well as its leaking but would it cause this leak in the picture below?

mikestang63 · Mar 3, 2015

Did you ever do the coolant pressure and exhaust gas tests, or would you prefer to keep throwing parts at it?

7991LXnSHO · Mar 5, 2015

I vote to throw parts, big heavy parts, at it. The heavier the parts the better. But only if it an ugly rust bucket. If not,Ike has a good question. How did they determine the location of the problem?

On many cars, removing the valve covers makes cleaning the intake gasket surfaces much easier. On many V-8 models, the valve cover flanges get in the way of removing the intake at all. If they have good readon to install new lower intake manifold gaskets, PLEASE insist they use the steel vote ones from Fel-Pro. They end in -S. Car Craft (or Hot Rod) just had an article on sealing Ford 5.0 intakes. It looked like it was stolen from old threads on here.

7991LXnSHO · Mar 5, 2015

Here is a post with a horror pic and jrichker's how to install it well guide.
Lower Intake To Head Gasket | Mustang Forums at StangNet

1250s-3 looks like a good gasket, but no EGR hole? And a whole kit set will have the middle gasket and a different part number. But use search and read "steel core intake gaskets".

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