1993FordAerostar coolant leaking 4 gallons every6 miles HELP!!!

[Cvkitty76]

1993 Ford Aerostar 100,000+ miles. Just bought and had to add water every 6 miles, stopped to put 4 or more gallons of water each stop 4-6 miles or so. When I stop it is bone dry. I can see the water leaking in 2 places. front center and next to the passenger front wheel. leak is fast and almost looks like a drain is open. Any suggestions? also someone told me it needs a new "freeze plug" not sure what that is.

[KimMG]

Freeze plugs (also called expansion plugs) can corrode and leak over time. They look like disks or cups and are used to plug holes in the block during manufacture.
A bad water pump can cause a major leak. Is one the leaks near a pulley?

[Cvkitty76]

I am not sure, I just know that I was told that it was attached to the engine

[navydad]

I have a '94 XLT and the most common problem I've had is the cooling system. I've had four or five problems in this area.

Because it has rear air there are long lengths of metal tubing between the engine and the rear of the van. Several of the plastic connectors where a metal line and a rubber line join have broken, causing a leak at the connector. I put a hose clamp on each line for an anchor. Then I ran a strong wire around each clamp and tightened it, pulling the two ends back into a tight seal with each other. Has worked in three different locations now. Two of the connectors are near the block on the driver's side and not real easy to get to.

Another problem ocurred where the water lines connect to a valve for the heater core. Water was leaking here (but showed up by the tire/passenger door). It was hard to pinpoint the leak because the water showed up somewhere else. The metal nib the rubber input hose connected to had disintegrated and finally fell apart. There was nothing to reconnect the hose to, so a temporary fix was to use a hose repair kit and bypass the valve. It's about 95 with 100% humidity in Atlanta, so I wont' need the heater anytime soon!

[imelkhunting]

I have the same problem as we speak (type) I found that if you turn on the heater it will also leak in the passenger compartment. it turns out that all that fluid leaking comes from the heater core and to get that little sucker out you will need to rent a heater hose disconect tool I got mine from auto zone for a refundable 12.00 or you can buy one at napa for nearly 80.00 (ouch) my only problem now is that I havent been able to get the hose off I dont want to yank to hard but its looking like that will be the trick. Hope this helps because it gets old carrying around all that water. I also tryed raderator stop leak and it worked for nearly 10 miles then back to filling up the raderator every 6 miles.