coolant leak

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Hammer Handle

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I own a 1995 bronco with 351m, had a slow coolant leak at thermostat and timing cover. never leaks when the truck is running, turn it off come back an hour later and coolant on the floor. Was getting ready to change the gaskets and started noticing coolant around the lid on the coolant overflow bottle. The truck has 107935 miles on it and i changed the timing gears and chain, water pump, and thermostat 20,000 miles ago. i was adding coolant to it in the winter time just to get by and now it still leaks but the radiator is always full. If anyone else has experienced this or just knows what it could be feed back would be greatly appreciated... thanks

 

Bully Bob

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Hi Hammer., welcome...!

Chances are it leaks when the eng. is runn'n as well. The ram air & fan are likely disbursing the small amount.

"Was getting ready to change the gaskets and started noticing coolant around the lid on the coolant overflow bottle."

With the eng. cold, the radiator full, the bottle should only be about 1/4-1/3 full. (there's coolant level marks on the bottle... hot & cold)

If you're filling this bottle completely., there will be spillage & overflo.

Also., check rad. cap. Always use torque specs for waterpump bolts. (alum. threads) Same for therm. housing., don't over torque.

Real clean surfaces & a good gasket sealant helps.

Waterpumps have a "weep hole" to warn of impending failure. From underneath, you can usually see a water trail. This will leak most at rest.

Check all your water hoses & clamp connections for cracks, seepage, etc. while you're at it.

HTH

B

 

Rons beast

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Hey Hammer,

I had the exact problem, in my 96.

Ditto Bully on checking everything.

It seems that when the engine is turned off, the temp rises for a few min. ( heat soak ) and the coolent would seep from the T-stat housing. I got a better gasket and used silicone sealer designed for the job. I also went with a 160 thermostat, ( works great here in Fla. )

When I put it back together, I left the sealer dry, for about 6 hrs, before adding coolent and running the engine.

I have a little coolent around the expantion tank cap, almost all the time. ( after a drive)....the cap isn't watertight, and the coolent sloshes alot in there, even when the level is correct. I don't lose enough to see much difference, or see it on the ground. The T-stst fix took care of the coolent leak for me.

Good Luck

 

DNBELOWBRONCO

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I own a 1995 bronco with 351m, had a slow coolant leak at thermostat and timing cover. never leaks when the truck is running, turn it off come back an hour later and coolant on the floor. Was getting ready to change the gaskets and started noticing coolant around the lid on the coolant overflow bottle. The truck has 107935 miles on it and i changed the timing gears and chain, water pump, and thermostat 20,000 miles ago. i was adding coolant to it in the winter time just to get by and now it still leaks but the radiator is always full. If anyone else has experienced this or just knows what it could be feed back would be greatly appreciated... thanks
My '96 did everything you're talking about. I changed the radiator cap and then the thermostat and gasket and still it leaked. I finally replaced the water pump and hoses because the pump started leaking out the weep hole. I was working on it in my garage one day and the neighbor's handyman came over and said man not another freakin' Bronco, I hate those things. I looked at him and said dude this truck is in killer shape other than this coolant leak I've been trying to fix. He looked at me and said no offense man it's just that I worked for a used car dealership and everything one of these came in I had to replace the timing cover. The gaskets basically turn to jelly and leak like a sieve. Oh, I had also replaced my intake manifold gaskets but the leak was still there. I would find it on the ground but couldn't trace it down. The reservoir would always leak coolant from the cap even if I had just a splash of collant inside and if it had a 1/4 full it was everywhere. Wait till you can afford to, but use a Motorcraft water pump, thermostat and radiator cap and replace the hoses and coolant with whatever brand you like. I use Prestone 50/50 pre-mixed because I've always used Prestone and the pre-mix is just easier! If you can or want to, rot out the radiator or replace it and your problems will be over. Make sure you use good sealant. I used to swear by gaskacinch by Permatex but have been using a new Permatex called ("The Right Stuff one minute gasket" item # 25229) in an aresole can sort of like "cheese wizz" but the nice thing about it is you can bolt the parts together "immediately" to the correct torque setting without waiting for it to cure or set and it says you can put the vehicle into service right away with zero leaks! They're right I've used it for my trans pan, all the cooling stuff, and my wife's thermostat yesterday and she was driving it 10 minutes later, no leaks.... >:) -Kevin-

 

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