Please help 95 3.8 Windstar coolant leak

[sirdeeker]

I have two cars out of service and this one seems easier to fix but I need the group's help.

I have a 95 3.8L windstar with a large coolant leak from the right rear area of the engine under the coil pack area. When I refilled the radiator with the engine off and I can hear a steady stream of coolant running out in that area. I can't see where it is coming from so I removed the cowl assembly but still can't see anything. I'd like to remove the large fresh air intake that bolts to the cowl but I can only see two nuts that hold it onto studs. The lower nut is really rusted on so I drenched it with a solvent overnight. I don't want to miss bolt or break that housing as it looks rather expensive to replace. The two bolst I can see hold the intake through slotted holes in the intake so I think there has to be a lot of adjustment needed to remove and install this piece.

Any suggestions to remove this air intake would be helpful. It appears the top left side of it has vacuum lines attached.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Sirdeeker

[busboy4]

Hi

Are you having trouble getting the cowl off, or is it off and you want to dig further? Sorry if I'm missing the obvious.

Anyway, if you are loosing coolant near the coil pack, I would first suspect the heater hose attachment at the thermostat, under the throttle linkage. It is an O-ring type setup with a plastic retainer. You can pick up from Ford a kit that includes the O-rings and a new retainer. Here is a close-up of the retainer and O-rings detached.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2306...11220610LKbEKH

[sirdeeker]

Hi busboy4, thank you for the quick response.

I probably should have said the passenger side of the engine under the coil pack area is where the leak seems to be. The throttle and thermostat is on the driver side of the engine. I was able to get the cowl and wiper assembly off without a problem. Probably because I've had to do it so much!

I'm just trying to find some parts I can remove to see that area better with making that in itself a major project. That large air intake seems like the right choice to allow visual access but removing it isn't covered in my Haynes manual or anywhere else I can find. I think the area may be too high to see through the passenger front wheel well. I'm hoping the leak is in the heater hose coming off the water pump and not a engine gasket that opened up. However I've heard replacing that heater pump hose is not much of a treat either.

Thanks again for the feedback

[busboy4]

Hi
well I was confused because on my '96 3.8L the coil pack is on the Driver's side just behind the thermostat area.

For seeing up into the right side I start the vehicle, turn the wheels to the left stop and look up through the right wheel well. You can see a lot of the "front" of the engine, see the front cover and get a good look at the water pump. I lost a water pump seal and could see it clearly leaking using this method - with the engine running -as it did not leak significantly when static.

Good luck

[sirdeeker]

Problem partially solved. The fresh air intake has only two screws to the firewall and one to a bracket just below the windshield. The PB Blaster softened the rust a bit and I coated the stud it with anti seize before taking off the nut and that helped. There are a couple of vacuum lines that are attached to a valve on the fresh air intake and they are easily removed.

With that off I also removed the serpentine belt and could partially see under the coil pack. The hose is leaking there of course. That's the good news. The bad news is the part has to be ordered and it will take 4 days. Oh well.

I plan to remove the coil pack to be able to see the hose better.

Thanks for the help everyone.