1999 Ford Taurus, have several questions

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by darkestdays30

I stuck a dish cloth up in there by the freeze plugs on the back of the engine block, if it's a hose, or the water pump, or heater hoses or whatever, maybe leaking water down through there, though it's not visible, I figured that towel would get wet, but it didn't.

Do you think it's coming out from the centre V of the engine? Between the heads?

[darkestdays30]

I don't have enough knowledge of vehicles to answer that one. I know that anything above the oil pan, right below the freeze plugs on the back of the engine block, is not leaking down into my car, the leak is down at the bottom of my engine block. That rules out alot of things that could be leaking, and there are no signs of the heater core itself having a hole in it, as I don't have any puddles inside my car, or a problem with the windows fogging, though the heater core was stomped up as much as the rest of the cooling system was. Maybe I could remove the oil pan & transmission pan and get a closer look as to where that leak is coming from.

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by darkestdays30

I don't have enough knowledge of vehicles to answer that one. I know that anything above the oil pan, right below the freeze plugs on the back of the engine block, is not leaking down into my car, the leak is down at the bottom of my engine block. That rules out alot of things that could be leaking, and there are no signs of the heater core itself having a hole in it, as I don't have any puddles inside my car, or a problem with the windows fogging, though the heater core was stomped up as much as the rest of the cooling system was. Maybe I could remove the oil pan & transmission pan and get a closer look as to where that leak is coming from.

All the water lines will be at the top of the block, or heads.

Taking the pan off shouldn't show anything, unless it's a crack in the block (which is a bad thing....)

Whats obstructing your view of where the leak could be coming from?

[darkestdays30]

It looked like the leak stopped at the area between the transmission pan and oil pan, and it's so small up in there, you can't even put your hand through it. So I figured it was the engine block. I knew the leak wasn't sipping down from the back part, where the freeze plugs were. Well the leak deceived me because it's just dripping down over there.

Behind the oil pan toward the driver's side, not passengers side, there is something that looks like metal or aluminum or something behind it that connects to the engine, the water is coming out of that. I took a photo, just look for the silver part on the photo to show where I'm taking about, you can see part of it to the right of the oil pan. Maybe it's some type of engine block plate that goes on the engine?? The leak is on over in between the oil pan and engine, but if I press on that silver piece in between there, the leak stops. Is something supposed to seal that plate to the engine? It doesn't appear that the leak is dripping down from where the oil filter is, I also see a freeze plug beside the oil filter, it looks okay. It just looks like that plate is loose.






Here's a close up showing what I'm talking about..

[Moppie]

Got me I'm afraid.


Lets see if we can find someone who is a bit more familiar with the engine layout.

[Moppie]

Right, I jumped into chat, and got the following:

It may still be a hose.
You need to find every hose coming out of the block, and out of the firewall and trace their full length, including any steel sections.

Could be the intake manifold gasket.

Or, it could be a hard to see and reach freeze plug in the back of the block.....

[darkestdays30]

Thank you...

However, lol, there is no leak coming down from the back. The freeze plugs look fine, I felt up in there and did not feel any water dripping from them, stuck a towel up in there and down where the leak was, the towel up by the freeze plugs came out dry, that also proved the hoses to the firewall was not leaking, it's not coming from the back. All coolant hoses have came off, been cleaned out, and inspected, except for the one's on the firewall, and so it's not the hoses. It's coming from that plate or shield or whatever the snot that is. It doesn't appear to be coming from down the front either but it could be possible, I felt up in there, nothing, I saw one freeze plug by the oil filter, felt around it, no water is dripping from it, it also looks fine, no rust. So apparently if this plate is not supposed to be sealed or have a gasket around it, then there is a crack behind it on my engine. Which stinks!!!!!

blah blah blah... Stupid fords!

I saw your chat, haha, I am not a man!! But it's funny, haven't found one yet that knows anymore about this than I do. I've had two look at it, and they don't know..

But you guys have been awesome. I wouldn't have made it this far without your help and encouragement. I may check it out more next week if it quits raining or just relieve myself from the stress and take it to the auto shop, if it will make it there, water goes out pretty fast but the shop is just 4 minutes away.

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by darkestdays30

I saw your chat, haha, I am not a man!! But it's funny, haven't found one yet that knows anymore about this than I do. I've had two look at it, and they don't know..

LOL, I think it an automatic assumption about anyone on a car forum, unless they make it pretty clear in thier user name

All the Taurus's sold here have long since gone to the wreckers. We only got the mid 90s models, and they were never very popular or reliable.

Might see if I can find a picture in google and see what that back plate is.
Might be something simple to fix.

[darkestdays30]

And neither are the late 90's models. No wonder they go to the wrecker. I almost took mine there, but decided, what the heck, maybe it's not the engine that's the problem, get my radiator out and hoses off and see how serious that was, thankful I found the problem, get all that fixed, though I never did car repair ever, except for once when I was a teenager, changing a carburetor once, and since I didn't get it back on tight before it got dark, I drove it in the garage and take a wild guess what happened. Caught the car on fire and the garage. There's a reason women shouldn't work on cars!! I should do carb work to this car, it would make me feel better. But pick up some full coverage insurance first. This car might look pretty good, but since it has 160,000 miles on it, isn't worth putting alot of money into..

[inafogg]

hey dark, any way to get a clearer/briter picture. i no my eyes are'nt the best but
having a hard time seeing what im looking at. my nieghbor had a 96 now shes got a
01. i work on both, maybe i can see if the 01 is simular

[Moppie]

Inafogg, if it makes it easier, darkestdays has the DOHC Duratec motor.

[darkestdays30]

Originally Posted by Moppie

Inafogg, if it makes it easier, darkestdays has the DOHC Duratec motor.

I don't have the double overhead, I just have the overhead 3.0 V6 engine, and I will try to get a better picture.

[darkestdays30]

Car is going to the shop tomorrow. I give. Am so tired of trying to figure out what is wrong with it. That plate/shield looks like it connects to the transmission and maybe it's an oil shield for the tranmission, I don't know, but water is coming out of it like crazy, and still leaking from the top of the oil pan. There appears to be two different leaks..

[Moppie]

Originally Posted by darkestdays30

Car is going to the shop tomorrow. I give. Am so tired of trying to figure out what is wrong with it. That plate/shield looks like it connects to the transmission and maybe it's an oil shield for the tranmission, I don't know, but water is coming out of it like crazy, and still leaking from the top of the oil pan. There appears to be two different leaks..

Good luck at the shop.

Let us know what they say, be interesting to find out where it's coming from.

[darkestdays30]

It made it to the repair shop but I figure he will be a week or so before he gets the chance to look at it, where they are so busy over there. Definetly will let you know what I find out. Someone is going to sell me an engine for $250 if I need one. He bought it for his car and didn't use it, decided to junk the car, and buy a new one. My nephew said he would put the engine in for me for $400. I guess that isn't too bad with pricing to get this car fixed considering what it is that needs done. My income is pretty awful as I am on social security from a disability I am trying to overcome, but I had to sell my puppy (yorkie) to get the money for this engine and it was really depressing. I would give her the money back and give her my car too if I could get him back. I wish I had her number,,, because I miss that little turk like crazy. It wasn't worth it.. I would rather have my puppy back than get that stupid car fixed..