leaking coolant

[88ranger]

i finally got my valve cover gaskets redone, and i started and realized there was something leaking from under my truck.. i figured it was just snow that was melting but nope it was coolant leaking from what looked like where the transmission mounts to the motor? any help

 

[mhughes165]

sounds to me like u popped the rear freeze plug not a fun thing, check ur freeze plugs on the back of the heads first, if u cant find it then its the freezeplug behind the flywheel, and u will need to drop the trans to get to it

 

[88ranger]

what causes them to pop?

 

[IMenriched]

Age, corrision...poor mix of anti freeze, mixed with extreme cold...BTW 60/40mix tends to be the best,(60%antifreeze ~40%distilled water)

a multitude of things can cause them to go

 

[88ranger]

could it possible be that earlier in the year my anti freeze froze up in my radiator and over flow tank?

 

[IMenriched]

If your antifreeze was weak at that time (mostly water) and it got down around 10* or less at night...yeap it maybe possible that when the frost plug took the hit.

sometimes the plug just gets thin from fuild going over it over time and lack of maintenence of antifreeze. & over time the anti rust agents in antifreeze breaks down and corroision starts from the inside out.

as Forest Gump would say "It just happen's".

 

[mhughes165]

ya, this is actually what happened to the original engien in my first ranger, except during the day i had flushed the system, it got dark so i was gonna drain all the water out the next day....freak cold snap that night, got to -10....in november....well i didnt know it, next day i go out to try and start the truck and it wont even crank, warped the cylinder walls and was holidnt the pistons in place, so the whole motor is toast, most people dont place alot of importance in antifreeze....u definatly need the right mix, but if ur like me i say **** mixin it, just straight antifreeze

 

[88ranger]

how hard are these to change, cause i cant even see them when i try to look for them... i think i might just bring them into a shop to get them changed?!