Coolant leak

A friend of mine has a Ford and discovered anti freeze all down the right side of the engine. My first thought was water pump. Any ideas? I am not sure of the year.

The waterpump is on the right(passenger) side of the engine. Also, you can develop a leak at the block/housing joint. Try pulling the serpentine belt and doing a visual inspect. That should allow you to isolate a waterpump leak or other leak.

Use a pressure tester and identify the leak. Once you know what is leaking, you can repair.

I got a call from the people who own the car and the people at the garage people told them that the timing chain cover has to be replaced. Also they got antifreeze in the engine from the timing chain cover, whether it was loose or not I don't know. The mechanic also said that the bolts holding the cover on are not that easy to get out and hopefully they won't break when they remove them. If they do break it will be a week before they can have there car. Hopefully once they have the right side open they will change all belts to. They also have to do an engine flush.

Ouch, is that a 3.8 engine?? Not only headgasket issues, also the front cover problem.. if you've got antifreeze in the bottom end, you may be looking at some trouble down the road, namely engine failure.. did they discover the antifreeze in the bottom end??? Or did they allow it to get in there fartin' around with the cover??

I am not sure how they found antifreeze in the engine but they say when it is fixed they have to flush the engine out. I do not know what size of engine it is only that it is a 1997 Taurus. They said it would be around $925.00 to fix it. The place they are fixing it is Canadian Tire. Myself I wouldn't take my wheelbarrow there. If the antifreeze got in behind the timing chain cover, I wonder if the bolts backed off or did the gasket crack somehow? Surely to god not all backed off at the same time. I originally thought headgasket myself.

Well, if it's a 97, it's a 3.0,,,, I don't know about the SHO models, what their engines were???? I'm believing that these types of problems are generally uncommon with the 3.0 engine.... Don't know about you, but speaking for myself I wouldn't be taking my car to a tire store for engine repair..

Well, if it's a 97, it's a 3.0,,,, I don't know about the SHO models, what their engines were???? I'm believing that these types of problems are generally uncommon with the 3.0 engine.... Don't know about you, but speaking for myself I wouldn't be taking my car to a tire store for engine repair..

The 1996-1999 SHO had a 3.4L V-8 engine with timing chain. I don't believe the 24V 3.0L has a chain, but the Vulcan probably does.

I don't think you'd get headgaskets on an SHO for under $1k, so I suspect this is the 3.0L Vulcan 12V engine.

-Rod

RUN AWAY FAST!!! Don't use Crappy tire; have it towed if necessary to the nearest REAL mechanic and get a 2nd opinion!!!!!!!! It's possible it's leaking at the timing chain cover ,which is costier but on a 1997 I'm skeptical. My 1990 with 300K on it finally popped the timing chain cover gasket and had a small leak. It's more highly likely that it's the water pump or a hose.

crappy tire is ok for ..tires and mufflers and the occasional windshield washer fluid but that's it !!! I can tell you a real horror story about crappy tire ! In fact if you leave it at crappy tire I may have to drive out there and bitch slap ya ! hehe


<kasnip> The place they are fixing it is Canadian Tire. <kasnip>

Let's keep away from downgrading businesses. If you have had a problem with them, you might say you have had a problem, but do not run down the entire chain of shops. It could have been just the person at the specific shop where you have had problems. So, please keep personal experiences personal. There are a lot of places I do not like, but I do not judge the entire chain of shops by only one.

I got question of my own ... can i swap 97 eclipse front seats for 06 eclipse bucket seats ...i found some at a junk yard ..in perfect condition.. the 06 was mostly stripped from outside but i reserved the seats for myself i just need to know if they will fit with the tracks that i have or do i need to pull the seats with the 06 existing tracks>?...but over all just need to know if i can put them in aither way.. thanks:banghead:

Hey Evil--- If you start a post in the proper forum in AF, you will get more replies. Thanks for using AF

I've heard of the timing chain cover issue on the Vulcan, I was talking to someone that had the same problem with a Vulcan Aerostar.