I just had my 4.6L rebuilt and I was under it looking for a places to grease when a noticed a streak/drop of green coolant on the side to the motor block. The part it was on looked like a starter but I don't know enough about this truck/motor/setup to tell what it was on. It is located on the passanger side rear of the block. I never notice any coolant on the ground and I have been paying extra attention to it now. It is not getting any worse, just that one drip hanging but I can see where a little bit has dripped on the unknown part.

Any ideas??

I just don't want the ford boys to bill be for 2 hours of labor to find out it is something simple.

could this be a result from the engine getting rebuilt??

 

do the new modular engines have freeze plugs like the old pushrod ones? if they do, thats probably your problem. they look like ottle caps on the side of the block that hold the coolant in the block. i have 1 of mine damaged right now and it looks like the coolant would be coming right out of the block, but in fact its the freeze plug.

 

I would get that checked out. The coolant leaking on our 97 F150 blew the engine last week. Dealer wants $7,000.00 to replace and we're still paying off this truck. Anyone else familiar with this problem?

 

OUCH! were you aware you had a coolant problem before the engine blew on you?

 

My husband had the truck out running fine one day with no indications of coolant leak. He takes very good care of this truck. Next morning he starts it and it's making a knocking sound like a diesel. Got it to the dealer and that was it. Not a good feeling!

 

check your heater hoses if they werent replaced at swap time that could be it good luck

 

Hi There...I had a similar problem with mine losing coolant in my 97 4.6...I had found that the factory clamp that is sort of a tension spring type allowed the coolant to leak out from the radiator...I changed all the clamps on my coolant system to the regular threaded type and it seemed to take care of the problem...Until I had a recall on the engine for a gasket that needed changing between the oil system and the cooling system...It ran for about a week after that and the engine started knocking and I lost the crank shaft...I still think the dealer made a mistake on this one and somehow caused the damage because it was operation okay before I took it into them for the repairs...Of course it was out of warranty at the time and I too had to take the cost of the repairs for the new motor...The dealer told me they had nothing to do with causing the problem because it had nothing to do with the crank shaft knocking...So I just had to smile and bite the bullet so to speak...Now I found it to be quite a coincidence that the dealer had worked on the motor just a week before and all of the sudden the problem appeared when it was working fine prior to that point in time...but that is water over the falls now...I ended up getting rid of the pickup because the value to repair it was more than half of the value of the loan that I had on the pickup as well...So I traded the pickup in against a 99 extened cab 4x4...I got 1000 less than blue book on the pickup against the new one even with the bad motor in it...So I could spend 4500 and gain 1000 on the blue book value or I could just trade the pickup in which is what I ended up doing...I made the mistake of not having the extended warranty on this machine...I have it on the vehicle I now own because it has had quite a few problems...It has only 34K on it now and it has seen the shop 14 different times with a lot of problems...I can't afford to just up and get rid of it so I did the next best thing and stuck on the extened...I am hoping for the best here on this one...Good luck with this situation...Steve

 

$7000 to replace an engine?????????????? Is it a Robert Yates Rebuilt Triton??

 

I should clarify, that's $7,000.00 Canadian - but still a ridiculous amount. We just got the truck back last night. We decided to go to a private mechanic, not the dealer and had a rebuilt put in for approx. $3,000.00 (canadian).

Note to the previous post - I've being doing some research on this and came across quite a few people complaining that their engine issues started after having the same recall repair you did. I've been told by someone who used to work at Ford's customer service that these problems (with the 97 engine) are well known by Ford and by dealers and there may be a recall in the next 8 - 9 months. I was told to document all of this so that hopefully there will be a chance for some form of reimbursement.

 

Hi mhussey

Just check every where theres a water connection. It may seal itself/may not. Check water level. Some ive seen even had leak at the heater hose connection at rear right side engine. You should..with a good eye/light and detective work..find it.

TimS....does your engine have fail-safe cooling. The 98 models and i assume to date..all have this feature..and what happens when a cooling system malfunction occurs.

If your engine has this feature..apparently it wasnt working?

Sorry for the headaches...

Good luck...OT

 

Unfortunately, ours is a 97 so no fail-safe cooling and no warranty. We're just going to have to tighten our belts, no vacations for a while and keep our fingers crossed that Ford decides to address this problem. Thanks for the best wishes!

 

Hi guys and gals, I have looked for leaks and found none. There has not even been a drop on the ground...just that small stray streak I spotted. The coolant level is up and I am not loosing/dripping any but I am going to mention it to a ford tech this week so they can check into it a bit more.

Three months from now I will have approx. 100k miles and I am going to have a major checkup/service done...change hoses, plug wires, tranny/coolant flush, etc.

I can not stand owning a vehicle that is not routinely maintained with maintenance records!