Well this has been somewhat of an ongoing problem for me for like the past year or so.

Here it goes, awhile back i just did a periodic look under the hood and found out that i was low on anti-freeze, just the reserve. When i looked at the "heater switcher valve" it had a s drip line of anti-freeze on it. So i went out to advanced auto and bought a new one for like $10 or something cheap. Replaced it and it seemed to work fine for another couple months, then the same thing again. It tends to happen more towards the summer months when its hotter outside, or at least thats when i notice it and have to replace the parts.

When the part went bad, or so it looked like the part went bad i took it back and got another part for free cause i told them it leaked here, and they said it was probably a defect. So iv been doing that with about 4 or so of these, but ive bought a couple in that time. I tend to think its not the part now, and that maybe theres too much pressure in the system? I know the lines when i unhooked them originally were put back right so its not a matter of me putting the part in wrong. I have also had some people tell me that i either overtightened or undertightened the hose clamps, which i dont really find them to be that big of a problem.

Its the switching arm that uses the vacuum to work, which is leaking. I think that the only way it can keep leaking is if there is too much pressure in the system. My radiator cap has a red overflow bar on it, if that makes anydifference, which i dont see why it would, i dont leave it up or anything, i just leave it like a normal cap. This has been the only ongoing problem i have had with this truck, works amazing other than that & its not like i notice any difference in the air conditioning or anything else for that matter, i just have to keep an eye on my coolant level from March to like October

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

You had a factory valve that lasted maybe 10 years. Now you have a cheap one from Advanced Auto that fails every 2 months. I would get a geniune Ford valve from the dealer and try that before looking for a problem in the cooling system.

 

I had the same problem...my stock one lasted 9 years.....i replaced it with a Genuine Ford Part! can't go wrong with a ford part......i am a firm believer that if Ford thinks it is good enough to put on the truck from the factory, then it is good enought to spend the extra money to put it back on when it wears out!!

 

So i should just to the local ford dealer and get it, how much do you think that would run? like $50ish or what. Thanks for your replies, i was hoping there wasnt too much pressure in the system or something worse :)

 

I paid somewere like $20 for mine.......

 

Cool, thanks i will call them later today or pick it up this weekend at the local ford dealer.

Why would it just start leaking out of the arm though, its only when the arm is pulled up that it leaks

 

Well i went down the street (for a walk) on my lunch break and theres a ford dealer right on the road so i stopped in and picked up the part i need. The guy sorta knew what i was describing as soon as i opened my mouth and told him the year of my car. He said that they sell about 10 of them a week, damn!! Do they go alot? or what? haha

Hopefully this fixes my problem, i plan on doing this tomorrow morning when my car is cooled down and i have some more antifreeze to add to the system, this morning i had to add my waterbottle since i didnt have anything else. I will keep you posted in a few months just as an update, which i hope to never have that problem again

 

if you bought a ford part to fix it with i can guarantee that it will fix the problem for another 5-10 years.....

 

I wanted to keep everyone informed as to that part i purchased to fix the leak. Well it doesnt seem that the part is leaking at all, the other one as some may have seen from a previous picture that the arm is what was leaking when it was sucked upwards. After i put in the new part i checked under the hood every couple of days and it slowly was going down, so i kept filling it thinking that it was just that low, which i didnt think it was, but i was hoping thats what it was.

I was on vacation the past couple weeks and when i got back (yesterday) i took it out for a little while and came back and parked on cardboard to see if it was leaking. Unfortunately it was, but its not that part anymore, i cant find where exactly it is, but its running down the wheel well (plastic outer part) WHich makes me think that it may be the heater core? Sounds like thats where its comming from, but i have yet to find any problems with my air conditioning in my car, i thought something would have gone first :( .....

So what do you guys think it is, i commute alot with this car to work, like 500 miles a week i would say, i think if i cant figure it out soon, before school starts back up i will take it to a local shop and get them to see if they can find whats wrong and give me a quote on fixing it. I dont want it to lead into anything worse and i also dont want to have to keep checking under the hood constantly :) (also it leaves marks wherever i park my car)

 

bump...

Just hoping someone saw this, if not i'll probably make a new thread dealing with my heatercore... << it will probably get more hits