Have a coolant leak that appears to be coming from the water pump weep hole. I do not see it leaking when the engine is running. However, after it sits overnight, there is antifreeze on the floor under the water pump and the area around the weep hole looks wet . I am looking for a way to stop or slow the leak without having to replace the pump. I know there are a lot of additives available but don’t want to take a chance plugging up the cooling system. Can anyone recommend a stop leak product they have used successfully? I am looking at K-seal as a possibility.

 

Your water pumps shaft seal is worn out letting coolant into the bearings. Your pump is toast and it can not be stop leaked. Fix it soon or it will determine the timing of the repair. You certainly don't want to overheat the engine.

 

I was wrong. The antifreeze is not coming out of the weep hole. That is perfectly dry. Fortunately the hole is on top of the pump so it is easy to see. It is leaking somewhere below the pump. I let the truck idle in the garage this morning for 15 minutes after taking it on a drive to heat it up. No leak was seen. Several hours later I saw antifreeze on the floor. So it appears to leak only after it sits for awhile but not when running. Seems strange.

 

A common issue with the Vulcan engine is that the timing cover seal will start to leak on either the left or right side. Either way address the issue before it gets worse and you end up with an overheated engine.

An easy way to double check on your leak is to go rent a coolant pressure tester from your nearest O'Reilly, or AutoZone or whatever you have close to you. They Charge you for the tool on your card and you have something like 30 days to return it and you get the whole amount back, FREE RENTAL!.

By using a Coolant Pressure Tester you will NOT need to warm up the engine, just use it on a cold engine and find your leak source.

I hope this helps you out, good luck and keep us posted of your progress

 

after doing some research, I think I understand where you are thinking the leak is occurring inside the timing cover. My question is wouldn’t the antifreeze show up in the oil rather than only dripping on the floor?

 

When mine leaked it leaked out not in the oil. After the job was done and I did an oil change fearing that some went into the oil, I had no coolant in the oil.

 

Timing cover leak very, very common on the 3.0 Vulcan. The used engine I bought recently had very obvious stains from coolant leaks from the area where the timing cover contacts the block. It seems that the previous owner of the truck let the leaks go on for a long, long, long time and coolant got into the bolt holes in the timing cover. All of the bolts were seriously stuck and a couple broke off during removal. That meant that the timing cover was horribly stuck to the block by the rusty bolt shanks. It took a couple hours of patient work to get the timing cover off without damaging it. Fix your coolant leak soon!

 

At what point did yours leak, left or right side and at the top or bottom of the cover?

 

How did you determine there was no coolant in the oil?

 

The oil would look like chocolate milk

 

I inspected the oil that I drained and found no trace of coolant in it.

 

I would follow Pete's advice and fix it now, if you haven't done so already. It isn't that difficult. Ford tech Mokoloku(sp?) has an easy to follow, step-by-step video of the entire procedure on YouTube. Mine happened at around 180k and leaked toward the top of the timing cover on the passenger side.

 

Just want to update everyone. I finally found where the antifreeze is leaking. It is leaking out of the timing case cover on the left side (passenger side) at the bottom corner right where the cover and oil pan meet. At that point I would expect the antifreeze would be contaminating the oil. When I look at the antifreeze on the floor there is no sign of oil. When I check the dipstick the oil looks as it should with only a couple thousand miles of use and the oil level has not increased. So I bought water detector paste and put that on the dipstick. I first checked after the truck had sat for a week and there was no indication of antifreeze on the dipstick. I then drove the truck until it was up to temp. annd again no indication of antifreeze on the dipstick. It is now time for its annual oil change and I will be able to confirm no antifreeze is getting in the oil. If that turns out to be the case, then I will just continue to monitor the situation, adding antifreeze as needed. As for doing the repair, my physical limitations would require me to take it to my local independent shop. I think before I would do that, I would try using a leak sealer additive and hope I can buy some time without causing other issues. Has anyone used a sealer that worked for them?

 

I think you are correct that a radiator sealant could probably stop the leak, however if it were mine I would likely have someone fix it as it should be fairly easy to do and therefore not too expensive. Bars Leaks makes a line of leak sealants. I have experience with their "Radiator" sealant. I have been using it to stop a coolant leak to the outside from a head gasket on an old Mercedes diesel. It would cost twice what the car is worth to put in a new head gasket. It has been working for more than 5 years. I periodically have to add a few OZ to the radiator when coolant begins to show up on the garage floor. I have just recently started on my second bottle, but I recently changed to fresh coolant due to a cracked radiator plastic end tank. I think Bars says to add the whole bottle and run it for 30 minutes. My approach is to add just enough to do the job and then add more if needed, I would start with about three oz in the radiator and run it for 30 minutes with some highway running to mix it well and build enough pressure to force the stop leak into the leak. You can always add more if needed.

 

Thanks for your reply. Using a stop leak would be a last resort for me. If I can be sure the antifreeze isn’t getting in the oil, and now it doesn’t seem to be, then I will be happy to just add antifreeze as needed. I am going to get an estimate on doing the repair. But as labor intensive as this appears to be, $120/hour would end up convincing me it is time to retire it.