Hello: Yesterday morning when I started the truck to warm it up and after about 10 minutes, I saw coolant dripping adjacent to where the oil filter is located. I looked underneath the water pump but no leaks there. I cannot see anything else. Thus far I have pulled out the fan, shroud and loosen the bolts of the bracket of steering pump. One bolt is about 8 inches long and came out without difficulty. I have service manual but it is not very user friendly ( operator error could be a reason). Service manual says, loosen 4 bolts marked A and 4 studs marked B. I spoke to a guy at the Ford Dealer in Topeka and he said most likely it is water pump but you cannot tell until you open it. It could be the pitted front cover?

Questions:

1: Am I on the right track with diagnosis and repair?
The cost of the replacement pump is about $200 from dealer. Is it worth it or should I look aftermarket?

Please help: Thanks in advance.

 

You may nwant to check the freeze out plugs before you go any further with the water pump.
I had my freeze out plug rust out on a 99 and the dealer had to pull the trans to replace it.
Good Luck

 

The 97 and early 98 engines had bad lower intake and front cover gaskets. This is what was causing hydrolocks.

 

thanks Guys, it was the water pump. Once I pulled it out, the upper weeping hole was the one that was leaking and sending water out to the back and sides. I replaced the water pump and hoses etc., and started it up. Thank Goodness, no more leaks. Took it for test drive and back, everything is back to normal.

The metal fan is very heavy. Why? After installing the water pump, I fired it up with the fan and the truck ran very smooth and quite.

GLC: The lower and upper intake gasket was replaced in 2008 on this truck before I bought it. the truck was running fine, the original problem was the coolant leak.

Thanks for the input.

 

That is why electric fan upgrades free up so much powuh... gets rid of about 30lbs of drag on the rotating system.

 

You are so right. The engine without the fan felt so light and accelerated so quickly. I will not understand putting this heavy metal fan when a plastic fan can do the same job.

My next mod is definitely the electric fan. There are several how to. I like a recent one from Fairlainer.

 

Well I spoke too soon.the truck started leaking again, same place it is dripping from.So apparently along with pump, there is another place it is leaking from. I noticed it starts leaking a few minutes after I start it and then when the thermostat opens, it drips very slowly. I took some pictures but do not know how to upload them.

Please help me decipher how to fix this problem. I think looking at the pictures, it seems close to the freeze plug that is next to the water sending unit. In one picture one can see the seepage, but I am not sure. It is cramped in there so hard to see.

Question: Is it something I can fix or tale it into the shop?

thanks in advance or oh how to upload pictures/ Mods Please educate.

 

Take a look at my front cover gasket replacement write-up ... you might be leaking there.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...150-4-2-a.html

 

Fairlaner: Thanks so much for this in-depth tutorial on the job. A couple of questions: Does the oil filter adapter (to which you screw the oil filter part of the timing cover? Would it be easy if I remove the filter first?
How many hours it took you to complete the job?

In this process, the most difficult part for me to break loose the Crank pulley bolt and the camshaft sensor process, even though you explained it very well.

The coolant drips from the front left bolt on the oil pan, means that is where you see it dripping on the cross member. I try to follow it up but it disappears behind the oil filter adapter and I cannot trace it any more. It is more when the engine is warming up and reduces to less frequent drops when the thermostat is ON and the coolant is circulating through the radiator.

thanks again,

 

Fairlaner: After looking at your pictures and comparing them to mine. I believe that the timing chain cover gasket is leaking. I mentioned above that I follow it next to the freeze plug next to the sending unit on the driver side.

Tomorrow morning, I will start it up again and watch it drip again and follow it to see if I can see where it is exactly leaking.

Thanks very much

 

Coolant flows through the front cover in two places. In the pic below, you can see the two ports ... they still have a little coolant in them. Your leak might be in the driver's side port (on the right in the pic below). It's very difficult to see this area, your best bet is from below with a strong flashlight.

The oil filter adapter comes off the front cover, but I didn't take it off (I used it as sort of a handle to pull the front cover off the block).

I probably spent 6-8 hrs taking it all apart and another 2-3 hrs putting it all back together again. I don't often do repairs like this, so when I do, I take my time so I don't screw anything up. If I had to do it again, I could probably do the whole thing in 3-4 hrs.

 

Thanks again Fairlaner. Appreciate your input. I am off today so I will gather all the gaskets and few more tools (big cheater bar) and start to work on it. I just replaced the water pump and so that taking that off is not a big deal and should come off easy.

I cannot pull the truck in the garage as it is too long so I have to work outside. Weather will be in the 40s today so should be not too bad.

I see that you had a plastic fan with clutch. Mine is complete metal and weighs like 30 lbs or so. How heavy is yours?

2: How critical it is to remove the studs of the water pump? Can the timing cover slides off of those or it is bolted by the studs. (two of my studs came out when I was changing the WP but I didn't try the other two)

Many thanks for your guidance

 

The water pump studs could be left in place, but I removed them for the following reason ... I kept reading about guys having problems removing the cover from the block (w/ everything unbolted), even in some cases breaking the cover trying to remove it. I didn't want the WP studs to in any way hinder the removal of the cover. If I was to do this job again, I would again remove the WP studs.

I didn't separate the plastic fan from the clutch, but it doesn't look like it would weigh much. The whole unit (fan and clutch) is pretty heavy.

 

Thanks Fairlaner: I started the truck today and to my surprise no leaks. I ran all errands with it today and no leaks at all. I went ahead and purchased some additional tools that I would need to loose the crankshaft pulley nut. Weather was not cooperating today so I decided do this repair this weekend, that will give me two days to start and finish.

BTW, I am trying to find your DIY seat covers post and cannot find it at all. can you PM me the link if it is not too much trouble.
Thanks in advance.

 

Mine leaked so slow, I smelled hot antifreeze for several months before I ever found where it was leaking from.

I did mine over two days, mainly because if I have the time I like to be fresh when I put stuff back together.