Windstar losing coolant

[Grabber5.0]

I've decided I just don't have time to fool with this right now. I threw a bottle of Bar's pellets in it to try to make it until after the first of the year. The van is going to have to sit until then if it doesn't seal it.

[Grabber5.0]

Well, it did not stop it completely. The van is sitting. I am going to take it in for the axle recall work, and hope they offer me cash. I really don't want to do this job, or take on a new payment, so I know what I *should* do... :'(

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[Windstartled]

Originally Posted by Grabber5.0

Ugh. Started up the van and let it idle while I was moving leaf bags, and after it heated up, I noticed a puddle under it. Saw a very fast drip from the back side of the water pump! The cooling system flush must have dissolved the crud that was sealing it, because I would have seen this by now. Ugh!

Could be of some comfort to you to know that yesterday my 00 developed a massive coolant leak of such magnitude that I lost power steering due to belt slipping wet. Stopping by the side of the road with hot smelly steam wafting out of every seam I could hear liquid cascading -not just trickling- to the ground. Looking under the engine I saw antifreeze dripping from every part of the engine on the passenger side. Got a tow to my mechanic who took a look at it this morning. Had to be something catastrophic had happened right? Nope, just a hose clamp failure.

The mechanic said he had guessed it was a broken or disconnected hose because such a sudden rush of coolant could not have been caused by anything just "leaking". When I started the van to leave I noticed it was still spewing a lot of white vapor from the tail pipe but he said that was normal water condensation, and it did not smell like coolant. Winnie has always been a "puffer" in wet conditions anyway.

[Windstartled]

Originally Posted by uzzo2

One thing that may not show up on a pressure test is the heater core leaking. If that's the case, you should be able to smell it inside the vehicle.

Indeed. However coolant smell in the cabin does not necessarily mean the heater core is to blame, but it's a strong indication that the leak is external. Steam resulting from antifreeze dripping from a leaky hose onto a hot surface such as exhaust components is often drawn into the cab through the HVAC fan, causing the smell.