I waited until the engine was cool and removed the cap from the plastic coolant reservoir. Immediately, coolant started leaking on the ground. It looks like it is coming from where two surfaces are joined; one of them being the block. The water pump is mounted on the other surface which is a housing maybe 6 inches deep which, in turn is mounted to the engine. This appears to be where the leak is. Is this the dreaded timing chain cover?
It looks like this engine only has pure water in the cooling system. ( ? ) Maybe that's a good thing if it's the glycol that messes up bearings. I'm not going to start it until I replace the gasket tomorrow.
Can anybody confirm that the water pump is in fact mounted to the timing chain cover? Thanks...

 

From what you describe yes the timing chain cover is leaking. The water pump mounts on the timing chain cover yes.

The leak you make mention of sounds like it is the timing cover gasket to engine block mate. Also tracks with what the failure can do.

I am a little confused by your comment about it being clear water. If you have anti-freeze in your coolant it should be dripping green coolant from the leak.

Leaking externally also means that you are able to suck water internally as well. I will take a picture of what that looks like so you can see when a leak to the outside means that water is also able to be sucked into the crankcase.

Kind of bad news to hear it sounds like.

Do you have the ability to take a digital pic of what you are trying to describe?

I am a bit confused by your description to some of this.

I mean you could have just a water pump leak at that is WAYYYYYY better than a timing cover. There is a weep hole in the water pump, besides it being mated to the timing cover with its own gasket.

Is the oil still clean?

If yes I would be looking to prove where that gallon of coolant has been sucked into.

Follow-up please so we may all learn.

Tom

 

Yes, the stuff dripping on the ground appears to be pure water. I can't explain that since I haven't had the truck all that long and never checked the quality of the coolant.

It looks like it is dripping from the timing cover, but it's really hard to see exactly where.

The engine oil looks great. No sign of contamination either on the dipstick or filler cap.

The " water " in the plastic coolant reservoir looks like it might be contaminated with engine oil. Just a guess.

I bought a Chilton book today. Changing that timing cover gasket is a bit of a job, but I think I can do it. I am not starting the engine until this is resolved.

I will be happy to report my progress. I sure appreciate your suggestions.

 

I just went out and checked one more time. Boy, when i remove that coolant reservoir cap, the stuff just starts pouring out! It's about 2 drips per second. With the lid on, it stops; I guess because it's pulling a vacum.

It definitely appears to be coming from where the timing chain cover meets the block. It is not anywhere out further towards the water pump. Pretty congested area, right under the alternator.

What do you think about my theory that no glycol means a better chance for bearings? Thanks--Jack.

 

Under the alternator is the fail area usually. It is hard to see as you can now see but usually it leaks at the point in that area. The reason is because there are 2 passages under pressure. One is water flowing in one direction under pressure and the other passage is oil being pushed under pressure into the crankcase in the opposite direction. There is a tiny gap between the 2.

The gasket doesn't stay seated and it begins to move with all the forces pushing and pulling on it. The tiny little strip of gasket has a BIG job to do keeping those 2 passages from mixing. Once it shifts it will either leak outside or inside but once it leaks, the high side of the oil intake will pretty much suck in rather than let it go out to the outside. When the speed of the engine is down or when it stops then some leakage to the outside can more readily happen.

This is only based on the failures I have seen thus far. Plus without being able to see it and show it it is kinda hard to visualize.

The no glycol thing is in my opinion kind of irrelevant. Lets assume for a moment you have no glycol whatsoever in the water for whatever reason. You are still lubricating your bearings and engine parts with water diluted oil. This will cause hot spots on all surfaces and galling. It may not knock, but it will definitely affect the life of the parts to early failure.

But I will repeat, you should also have water in your oil at this point. I woudn't go any further until you know whether or not that has happened.

If it hasn't by some stroke of luck, then you may have just been lucky enough to have it just be leaking externally and somehow not been able to suck it inside. I haven't seen a LOT of failures in the flesh to tell you that I know all possible scenarios, but so far yours would be the first that would have been limited to an external leak only.

The water should be green in color assuming of course you have green antifreeze.

I would also start calling the warranty company right now about it. My experience with them is they DO NOT want you to screw with the failure. They want to have the shop do the evaluation.

Save yourself grief if you plan on using the warranty, stop and call them and let them advise you how they wish to proceed.

 

Well, the truck is in the shop. The warranty company said that since I neglected to buy the additional " seals and gaskets" coverage, I was on my own for the repairs.

I took it in to get it fixed and the mechanic called to say that the timing chain cover itself had a 3 inch crack in it. The warranty company will cover repairs to the cover, so good news for me. I'm getting them to replace the gears and timing chain while they are in there at my expense, but the 8 hours labour and new timing chain cover and gasket will be covered by warranty.

The mechanic said there was absolutely no evidence of coolant in the engine oil so I'm pretty confident that they will put it together on Monday and I should get a few more miles out of the old ('97!) girl yet!

Thanks a million TallTomG for your suggestions. I am constantly amazed at the great help and friendly people who participate in these discussions.

Hopefully, this will be the end of my timing chain cover woes!!

 

Mashie,

Well this is a good thing to hear. I have never heard of an actual timing cover itself being cracked. So I'm glad that the mystery is solved.

Also glad that you at least get some help from warranty because the labor will be a chunk of the cost. The gasket is minimal for cost.

The really great news is that it was all related to it leaking externally. No major engine repairs now. Enjoy your truck

TallTom

 

Check your email...

 

"...timing chain cover itself had a 3 inch crack in it..."

There's a place in Heaven for your mechanic.

 

Indeed. There may be a box of beer in it for him!!!!

Shame about that crack!!

 

$860 later. I have a new timing chain, gears and timing chain cover. I went in and saw the crack with my own eyes. They had a used timing chain cover from another engine available @ $100 as opposed to a new one from Ford @ $450.

Truck is running great. I just have my fingers crossed that there was no internal damage to bearings.

The boys also fixed a vacum leak I had and reattached a loose seatbelt at no cost.

When I saw it all torn apart, I was glad I didn't try it in the carport!!