01 Windstar overheating and leaking water???

[momma_05]

On a 10 minute trip home from church my van started over heating. When I got home and saw all the steam I let it cool and added some water to it... it leaked all over the drive way. It's coming form the drivers side of the engine but it's not coming from the radiator hose... it looks like a metel tube with a bolt at the end.... anyone know what it is or could be?



EDIT: so after letting it cool and adding water I can clearly see where the water is POURING out... here is a picture

[Moppie]

Welcome to the community,

I'm not very familiar with Windstar, but I did make some adjustments to the photo so the leak is more visible.

If I was to guess, I would say its leaking from a heater valve, but I could way off.

[12Ounce]

This looks to be the 3.8 engine. And shown is the thermostat housing that is part of the lower intake manifold. Just behind the thermostat is a pipe-to-hose assembly that delivers coolant to the heaters in the cabin. It looks to me as though this pipe-to-hose assembly has broken. In fact, the coolant seems to be pouring down onto the rest of the hose assembly. Once the engine is cool, you can reach this hose and confirm that it is now loose and not connected. The repair will require some skill ... it could be that the intake manifold ... Upper, middle spacer, and lower .... will have to be removed to make a good lasting repair. But it may not require so much labor ... one can better tell when actually inspecting the broken parts.

[catvents]

Originally Posted by 12Ounce

This looks to be the 3.8 engine. And shown is the thermostat housing that is part of the lower intake manifold. Just behind the thermostat is a pipe-to-hose assembly that delivers coolant to the heaters in the cabin. It looks to me as though this pipe-to-hose assembly has broken. In fact, the coolant seems to be pouring down onto the rest of the hose assembly. Once the engine is cool, you can reach this hose and confirm that it is now loose and not connected. The repair will require some skill ... it could be that the intake manifold ... Upper, middle spacer, and lower .... will have to be removed to make a good lasting repair. But it may not require so much labor ... one can better tell when actually inspecting the broken parts.

The hose is connected to the metal tube which is "press fitted" into the lower intake manifold part. If the hose is leaking it will probably possible to fix ( repair or replace) it, however the tube is not serviceable (unless it could be possible to weld it), being not available from Ford dealership. (metal tube is part of the lower manifold.

[wiswind]

They may have changed it since 1996.
On my '96 3.8L windstar the hose connects onto this with one of those "quick connectors"......if that is still the case here....then it is possible that only the quick connector broke.

This is a view from the driver's side on my '96......the quick connector is that fat part on the hose coming in at about the 1 O'clock postion relative to the thermostat housing.
I have the throttle body removed in this picture.



Here is a picture that I took with the lower intake manifold off the vehicle (when I was changing the lower intake manifold gaskets).



What I ended up doing when my quick connector fell apart......certainly not "by the book".....I cut the quick connector off the hose, bent the support bracket for the heater hose slightly to get a little more slack in it, without the hose ending up against anything hot or sharp....and I just slid it onto the pipe and used a hose clamp to hold it in place.

Now, if your 2001 does not use the quick connect, it seems that you still have the same settup with having a pipe press-fit into the lower intake manifold.....as these pictures show.

[catvents]

You are right Wiswind and this also apply to the 2001 model 3.8 ( which I have). Tube going out from the L.Manifold and hose connected with this quick connector as per your picture.

[wiswind]

That nylon clip that is show in my picture #2 is what usually breaks.....all the heat cycles and it gets brittle.
The black outer body goes over the parts that I show on the pipe.

Its good to know that these pictures should help give some detail to the situation.
It is REALLY hard to see with everything in place on the vehicle....You can see that it is tucked in under the throttle body.
I am thinking that it is very likely the quick connector that came off.
The do sell replacement nylon clips at the FORD dealership.
It is IMPORTANT to get all the "O" ring gaskets and the spacer back into place, or leaks can result....

My hose clamp setup was on for a good 4 years.....and I felt better with it than the quick connector....but that is just me.
I read a couple of posts where folks did not get things just right...and the quick connector leaked or popped off under pressure.

[Sharif86]

Coolant is leaking from the quick connect on my 2000 windstar. Can anyone tell me what i will need to do(remove)to get to the hose and also what tools i will need?Thanx

[mark_gober]

Originally Posted by Sharif86

Coolant is leaking from the quick connect on my 2000 windstar. Can anyone tell me what i will need to do(remove)to get to the hose and also what tools i will need?Thanx

To get to the hose, you'll need to remove the air tube that goes from your filter to the intake manifold. Very easy....it's just the two hose clamps on each end and remove it.

To remove the quick disconnect, you'll need to squeeze the white tabs that are sticking out. Squeeze them hard while pushing in a little and it should free it up enough to pull it off.

If you want to replace the quick disconnect, it'll be about $30 from the Ford dealership. I replaced mine about 2 months ago. Not more than a month later, it was leaking again. After digging around and looking, the black plastic that's on the hose right at the quick disconnect was leaking. Frustrated and not willing to pay $170 for a new hose, I simply cut the black plastic part off and used an old school hose clamp to afix it back to the metal nipple on the intake manifold. It was quick and easy and it costs me about $3. It hasn't leaked a bit since I fixed it.

Mark

[Sharif86]

Thanks, sounds easy. Just picked up heater hose from autozone, Planning on replacing entire hose tommorrow.

[mark_gober]

Originally Posted by Sharif86

Thanks, sounds easy. Just picked up heater hose from autozone, Planning on replacing entire hose tommorrow.

Are you sure you got the right hose? The only reason that I ask is because parts stores did not carry the hose with the quick disconnect on it when I was looking. After going to the dealership, it's one HUGE hose that goes from the heater core to the nipple with the quick disconnect, but it also Y's off and heads to the rear heater core. It was a fairly long hose.

Mark

[Sharif86]

Yes its a pretty long hose, the quick connect is attached. Just having a problem getting the crimp clamp off of the other end