2000 Windstar coolant leak

[silermcjjj]

We have a 2000 Windstar that has a coolant leak on a metal line coming out of passenger side of block and going toward firewall and y's off into 2 rubber hoses. There is a leak in the metal line, I have both hoses off and one hex head bolt out of bracket but I cannot get the line to come out of the block. Any suggestions are welcome.

[CoachKarl]

Yeah, that thing is tight. On my 95 3.8 there is a metal pipe on top of the water pump that wyes of to two hoses. 1 goes to just behind the thermostat, (Bypass Hose) the other heads off to the heater cores. there is a large flange on the metal wye pipe through which an 8 mm hex bolt goes to hold that pipe firmly on top of the water pump. Golly a picture would be good here. On mine, the bolt is the only fastener that holds that thing on. I gently persuaded it out by gently pulling and gently rocking till it broke free. You could go buy the replacement and get a view of whats stuck.

Karl

[Wa jang chang]

My wife's 00 SEL with 87,000 miles had the exact same problem yesterday. The metal line (about 1/2 in dia) had a tiny hole squirting out the coolant. Luckily the leak hole was facing up and I was able to patch it up: Cleaned the surface by sanding it down, then I used the Cold Weld kit to patch it up. (The Cold Weld kit came with two part gel chemical. Follow instructions to prepare the compound.) Then I got a piece (1 inch long) of 3/4 inch diameter rubber hose and a hose clamp. I cut the hose so I could wrap around the metal pipe and used the clamp to fasten it up. Hope the problem does not come back.
Total cost of material for the repair: $8.85.

Wajangchang

Update as of 8/3/05: After three days of hard running (w/ full AC, it has been hot), the leak did not re-appear. I guess I did decent job.