Our son has our 1997, f150, 4x4, 5.4L, V8 with 90000 (bought new in 1997) at college. He just called and said he smelled antifreeze and looked under the truck and saw that it was leaking. It is coming from the rear of the engine on the passenger side. He can't tell exactly where. The truck has not ever been overheated and he has not driven it since he discovered the leak. Any clues on where to start to tackle this problem -- freeze plug, head gasket, ...?

 

Be sure there is adequate coolant in the system and warm it up to see where the leak is. More than likely a freeze plug.

 

the heater hose that goes over the spark plug right by the firewall. that would be my frist guess. because mine leaked a little bit and it took me about 3 hours to get that spark plug out bc of the anti freeze on the plug. i would look at those hoses frist. is there any leaking on the ground?

 

could also be coming from the heater core. This will put antifreeze on the ground on the passenger side back toward the rear of the engine. It drips down on the exhaust shields and then to the ground. Just did mine on my '97 a few weeks ago. Not fun.

 

We'll need more detail to know for sure, but my guess is that the heater hose under the intake is leaking.