serious problem..HELP PLEASE

[rags]

Another place to check is the rear of the lower intake! Because these bolts are prone to loosen and cause vacuum leaks they also cause coolent leaks!

Happened to me! It is hard to see back there so you may have to feel for antifreeze where the intake meets the passenger side head.

 

[woodyedmiston]

You say potato I say patato

Freeze plug, expansion plug, core plug - whatever. Looks like a bottle cap.

At the checkout line at Autozone, purchase a little pocket mirror. Get a flashlight. Jack your truck up - use a jack stand - remove the right front tire. Pull off the rubber shield between the fender well and the frame.

Looking just above the oil filter, hold the mirror in a position where you can examine the side of the block above the oil filer housing. Shine the flashlight directly on the mirror and it will allow you to see in the mirror what the light is reflecting onto. Look sort of under the exhaust manifold.

There is a round thing in the block right there. That is a freeze,expansion, core or whatever plug. They leak and the coolant runs down on top of the oil filter. If you are lucky enough to be able to remove it while the motor is in the truck - you are a heck of a man and better than I. Should that happen the quick fix is the rubber plug - and I agree it's sort of a temporary fix.

 

[mweidner]

So did you ever figure out what the problem was? My truck is having the exact same issue (94, 4.0 liter) Just getting it jacked up and pulling the plastic inner fender to see what I can find. Would help to know what it was on your truck though as mine sounds identical to your issue (Antifreeze seems to be coming out of the oil filter)

Thanks

 

[woodyedmiston]

Coolant leak near oil filter.

Although all of these guys are right about leaks - I have both a early and late motor and some specific experience with that darn plug. Both have a freeze plug, or core plug, or expansion plug - whatever you want to call it right above the oil filter adapter. If you've been running your radiator fluid a little more water than coolant - it's probably leaking. Don't know why that is...just my experience.

Get one of the little mirrors that Autozone has at the checkout counter and a good flashlight. Shine the flashlight on the mirror then check it out. Angle the mirror until you can see what you need to see. If you take the wheel off the left side and look it will be sort of behind the exhaust manifold. There may be a splash guard inside the wheel well you can take off. A leak might look like an accumulation of crud, a scab, a small dirt dauber nest. Generally nothing hits the ground because it disperses on top of the oil filter and then either the exhaust or engine heat drys it. Good luck.

 

[30coupe]

As Makg said, if you wait long enough, you will find out that it is the freeze plug, but it will be a darned expensive lesson. Changing the freeze plug is not difficult. Getting at them is VERY difficult. If that is what is leaking, it won't get better. The "stop leak" you put in may prolong the inevitable. Unfortunately, if one is leaking, the others will probably follow suit before long. I had a Plymouth with a slant-six that started to leak like that. I had the dealer work on it. He changed the leaking plug. A few weeks later another one was leaking...fixed that one. A few weeks later...yup another one, so I told him to quit screwing around and change them all...problem solved!

Long story short: if it's a leaky freeze plug, I'd pull the engine and change them all. It is really not all that difficult if you take your time and mark EVERY wire and hose before unhooking. The plugs aren't bad to get out. Either drive them in and grab them with a pliers to pull them out or punch a hole in the center and pry the plug out. I usually have better luck with the former. Then you simply tap in the new plugs and you are good to go. The whole set is pretty cheap. The expensive part is if you have to have someone do the work for you. Even if you do, it's cheaper than replacing the motor.

 

[mweidner]

So I had the exact same problem as the poster did and I just finished fixing mine so I thought I would post back here with what mine was.

Turned out to be the lower intake seal, I rented a radiator pressure tester from Autozone and I pulled off the passenger side front tire and plastic wheel well, once I did that and put pressure on the radiator I could see the coolant shooting out the back of the engine and it was easy to see what it was then.

So it took about 14 hours for me and a friend of mine who is also on this board (simple_serf), while we had it all torn down we replaced the spark plugs and wires, all the vacuum hoses, and one of my valve covers was leaking out the side so we replaced that.

All in all it cost about $250 and the truck is running better now.