Hello,

I seem to have a mysterious coolant leak that appears beneath the truck at the juncture of the engine and transmission. The color of the leaking stuff has the same greenish look that antifreeze has and it isn't oil when I touch it so I am pretty sure it is coolant. It sort of appears clear unless a drop forms and then it is clearly greenish. The coolant reservoir seems to go down slowly. The exasperating thing is it isn't consistent. The coolant system has been pressurized and nothing shows up. I just drove about 1500 miles on a long trip and nothing seemed to leak out. It almost seems if it sits for a while, like a couple of days, then I notice it. I was wondering if it was a freeze plug but I think the lack of consistency rules that out but I don't know.

2000 Ranger, 3.0L V6, manual transmission, 4x4, about 91,500 miles

Any suggestions? This quirk annoys the hell out of me.

Thanks.

Rick

 

does it look like it trails from somewhere else? like from the front to the back?

 

No, I checked that. It looks like it is seeping out between the engine and tranny and showing up at the little open gap at the bottom. It runs down and drips off the oil pan drain plug a little. I looked around the top of the engine to see if something weird was going on up there. From what I understand there is a channel or something that could allow a fluid to flow off the top of the engine and appear at teh engine tranny junction but I didn't see anything obvious. Thanks for the interest.

Rick

 

freeze plug

 

Some new information. The leak only shows up after the truck has been sitting for quite a long time, like days. If I drive it to work, park it, and come out to go home, maybe 10 hours later, there is no sign of the leak. Would a freeze plug behave like that?

 

You have the infamous 3.0L coolant leak. It's very common on the 3.0L. I know, I have it too. Another guy by my place got it repaired at the dealership for big bucks. A common mistake is assuming it's the waterpump seal.....when infact it's the seal behind the waterpump.....the front main seal or whatever it's called....where the timing chain cover is. You have to remove the front engine cover and replace that seal. Mine has had the slow leak for the past 5 years.

Just do a quick search on here and RPS. It's been talked about many times.......I've given my 2 cents before. I can't remember whick site it was, but I gave a better description of the problem and parts involved as at that time I was researching this too. Over the years \i have forgtten and just don't care any more.

It's a slow leak that appears after thr truck sits for awhile.

 

Hello Chris,

Thanks. I think I have heard about this problem. What I don't understand is why the seep shows up at the back of the motor between the engine and the transmission. I don't seem to be able to see anything flowing from the front of the engine towards the back.

Rick