coolant

[powerstokeDnut]

i have a 2003 Ford F-350 with the 6 liter in her. she has 87,000 miles on her and the guy i baught it off of had head gaskets done on it and studded the heads too. i have coolant comming out front above the starter when running and its a pretty good drip. wondering if its a head gasket or could it be something else. any advice is appreciated.

thank you
Mike

[powerstokeDnut]

anyone????

[dannyboy950]

Could be just a leaking freeze plug. Ya been running the right antifreeze right. Time to break out a good flashlight and an inspection mirror.

[powerstokeDnut]

yes i have been. i was wondering if it could be some cooling line on the top end of the engine that i just cant see. but when you slide under the truck you can see the anti-freeze dripping right off the starter

[jvest]

Do you actually think it's coming from the head gasket or could it be running (wicking) down the top of the head gasket that sticks out a little. I had a leak similar to this and also thought it was coming from the headgasket since coolant was dripping off the head gasket just above the starter. It actually turned out to be the little short hose that connects the EGR cooler to the coolant port under the turbo. The hose has a metal insert on each end that's clamped inside this hose with orings retained inside it. The hose was loose on the metal insert allowing coolant to leak by. While I had the intake off I went ahead and deleted the EGR cooler. I shouldn't have this problem anymore and hopefully no future head gasket problems either.

Jim

[dannyboy950]

Well if I remember right there is a freeze plug above the starter. Yer just gonna have to look with a light and see if you can see where it is comeing out. Ya can do the ultraviolt dye thing, but ya still gotta do the same thing. Look at the freeze plugs and along the edge where the head meets the block. If you see nothing then look at the thermostat houseing it could have a small leak from the gasket on the inboard side.

[jvest]

As dannyboy950 mentioned above, ya gona have to get a good look. You can get it up to operating temps and crawl under it while running and start looking. I took a blow gun and dried the wet areas to narrow down where it was coming from. A telescoping inspection mirror would be handy as well.