01 Taurus Coolant Problems

Hey all just joined today. Needing some opinions on my 01 Taurus.
01 with Flex Engine
180,000 Miles
Prior Government Fleet Car

So It is apparently leaking coolant from somewhere but I am not getting puddles on the ground. I smelling coolant in the cabin and have very little heat, which suggests heater core. Usually don't drive it unless I have to. But I needed to take it to a job interview yesterday about two hours of highway driving. Filled coolant reservoir prior to leaving. Was fine when I got there, but after getting home and parking the reservoir boiled over quite badly... roughly about half of what was in it.

Also I keep an eye on my temp gauge and it didn't seem to run hotter on the way back. It seems to vary with engine temp but could that possibly be failing too?

I have no cash so I'm thinking about bypassing the heater core and possibly flushing the coolant system see if that cures my problem. Should I concerned about anything else?

Please any help or suggestions would be great I really don't wanna have to replace or invest alot in this car.

Nothing?

Wow, you need to realize that many of the volunteers on this forum have full time jobs and don't get e-mail notifications when new threads/posts appear. Even if you go somewhere and pay for an answer you won't likely get an immediate response.

As stated in the forum guidelines which you were supposed to have reviewed prior to posting, a search of the forum would likely have yielded several things to consider, and that response would have been relatively immediate (several seconds for the search to complete). If you had searched, you likely would find several hits related to both water pump issues and plugged heater cores that need to be backflushed and in some cases, retrofit with a grounding strap. Have you checked the temperature of the heater hoses to and from the heater core?

-Rod

perform cooling system pressure test. if you see a pressure drop on the gauge; inspect for leaks while the system is pressurized.

I meant no disrespect. I have checked older posts. Nothing seemed to fit exactly so I figured I should make my own. Sorry its really cold here and I've been dealing with it all day, I'm frozen and grumpy. We are going to really tear it apart tomorrow I was just hoping to hear back from someone.

I'd suggest you start by reviewing some of the threads on water pump impeller issues, I don't recall what all years were affected, but the impellers have a tendency to disintegrate on some years. You could also backflush the heater core to see what kind of gunk you get out of it. If it looks like it could be dissolved metal, then you'll want to check the water pump at that time. It might make sense to start with the backflush since if the impeller is the problem you'll want to backflush anyway. And to minimize the chances of it happening again, check the threads on the ground strap. I think the backflush threads touch on the grounding anyway so that shouldn't require a third forum search.

-Rod

It's also possible you have an internal leak (i.e. head gasket), which would explain no coolant on the ground. In that case, it usually shows up as white smoke from the exhaust which smells like coolant. You should do further diagnosis to confirm.

Thank you both. I about to go out and freeze while I deal with it. I'm praying it isn't the Head Gasket... Will report as soon as I have more info. Thanks for all the help again. =)

Do a coolant pressure test, and repair any bad rubber hose's.
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