Mysterious fluid leaqk

[gt pony]

Like the title says, I have a mysterious fluid leak that only happens once in while and it dries to white spots on the bottom of the front sump of the oil pan and drips onto the painted sway bar. At first I thought it was a coolant leak but there is no antifreeze residue, it simply dries like hard water spots. It comes and it goes with no real pattern, and there is no coolant loss, and it's only in that area with no indication of traces above on the timing cover or the water pump.

I've been thinking about this for the last two days, in fact I couldn't get to sleep last night thinking about it and even had a dream about it. What and why is it only leaking there, and why does it dry and leave white spots?

Well today I think I have figured it out, it's AC condensation that is wicking down the wire loom that is directly under the front sump and collecting it the split loom at the bottom, then the electric fan blows it out when it fills up and, viola, it dries and leave those white spots with no apparent leaks on the floor of the trailer. So, what I'm trying is putting a larger piece of split loom on the harness to contain it and see if that solves the problem.[ATTACH]122477[

[gt pony]

Sorry about the picture, It's not far enough forward to indicate the area but I hope you guys get the idea. It's just above the sway bar.

[gt pony]

Well boys, I just found out something very interesting, at least to me about my mysterious fluid leak.

When I replaced the HCI along with the heater core a few years later I decided to switch to Fords gold coolant. I just found out that when it leaks and dries it turns into a white powder, that's exactly what I've been finding traces of on the oil pan. Now, I've also noticed that this residue is on the inside of the water pump pulley and blowing back to the timing cover. By the time I notice it it's dried. As far as I can tell it appears that the coolant leak is coming from the front water pump seal. That's a first for me, they usually leak out of the weep hole.

So, I have to take the water pump off again and replace it again. I'll keep everyone posted of the results. This is driving me nuts because it has been so intermittent, but, it seems to be getting worse.

[gr79]

Tiny leaks evaporate before leaving trace of source. May be able to smell it.
Green for older cars like ours. Whatever owners manual specs say.
Newer coolants are for newer cars with different metals and seals.
Not good for old as old is not good for newer.
http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com...ng-antifreeze/

I add a splash of water pump lube from time to time no matter what they say.

[emerygt350]

Water pump lube?

[erratic50]

Put a little glow dye like you usein AC systems in the coolant. It will make the area glow bright when using a black light.

[gt pony]

Tiny leaks evaporate before leaving trace of source. May be able to smell it.
Green for older cars like ours. Whatever owners manual specs say.
Newer coolants are for newer cars with different metals and seals.
Not good for old as old is not good for newer.
http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com...ng-antifreeze/

I add a splash of water pump lube from time to time no matter what they say.

Thanks for your reply. The reason I went for the newer coolant is because everything has been replaced from the heads, intake, radiator all aluminum, plus the hoses and heater core. The newer coolant is much more friendly and corrosion resistant to those items, plus the old coolant was flushed out so there's no residue. One more thing about the newer coolant is that it has a bitter taste (nasty) versus the sweet taste of ethylene glycol antifreeze, which has an additional benefit of not poisoning pets.

[mikestang63]

My Lord that car is clean!!

[dagenham]

The newer stuff might be more Eco friendly and great for newer cars but my experience has been to leave the more modern style fluids for the more modern style cars. And stick with tried and true for older cars like our foxbodies. Unless of course you've swapped a newer engine into it.

[gt pony]

Just finished it up yesterday with a new water pump and am happy to say success. That was one strange and annoying problem because it was so intermittent.

Now it's nighty night time for both of the cars until next spring.

[erratic50]

My stock pump leaked a quart of antifreeze every 3000 miles for years.... just under 100K miles once. Started showing there would be a problem eventually in 1994 with 110K mi, held in there until 1998 with 215K mi.

Sometimes they do that mystery fluid intermittent leak thing. on a daily it’s not a problem until it’s a problem when repair funds are nonexistent

What sucked was the stupid thing went out in the dead of winter when it was F- freeze your privates off cold outside. I was in a puddle of antifreeze in my driveway during a blizzard for 16 hours changing it. Twisted off 5 bolts and broke 6 extractors getting them out. Grr

Did that about a week after the water pump went on my wife’s 89 convertible all at once with 90K mi while she was still daily driving. That one was not much easier or better to change. 4 twisted off bolts


note to self — antiseize and routine disassembly just might be the only way to avoid that....

Hopefully there wasn’t too much drama for you!

one thing I learned is pinch off the upper hose and let the motor get 235-ish before shutting it down and trying to break loose the bolts. Try to slightly tighten and tap with a hammer before attempting to back them out.

a damn good impact, not some cheap mcparts or harbor jobber makes all the difference in the world on avoiding twisting off bolts.....

these days i do as much as I can with my 1/4 hex to 3/8 square drive on my dewalt electric impact. Lots fewer twisted off fasteners.


that all said if someone made a perminant housing and an easy change pump I’d buy it in an instant

[gr79]

Sometimes i use the impact dialed down less than the bolts torque spec just to let tool vibrate penetrating oil in.
Tighten, loose, tighten quick one sec blips. Then let everything sit as long a patience allows before actual attempt.

Temp seems to cause havoc on stuff ya don't want to fail in dead of winter or peak summer heat for us no garage people.
Pumps, fluid related items, clutches, brakes, exhaust. They never fail on a nice day. Learned not to wait that long if possible.
Lucked out more than once having something fail in driveway. Bad luck it happened, good luck happened there.

[gt pony]

Sometimes i use the impact dialed down less than the bolts torque spec just to let tool vibrate penetrating oil in.
Tighten, loose, tighten quick one sec blips. Then let everything sit as long a patience allows before actual attempt.

Temp seems to cause havoc on stuff ya don't want to fail in dead of winter or peak summer heat for us no garage people.
Pumps, fluid related items, clutches, brakes, exhaust. They never fail on a nice day. Learned not to wait that long if possible.
Lucked out more than once having something fail in driveway. Bad luck it happened, good luck happened there.

As these cars get more years and miles on them they're a lot like people that get older in the sense that things tend to wear out and require more attention. The best way that I've found is to check over your vehicle and catch the little things before they turn into big things

Just like as we get older we need to have more frequent check-ups at the clinic. Believe me, it's the aging process, but it's necessary because we're all doomed from the womb too the tomb.

[erratic50]

Yea, the biggest problem is the good OE parts are now mostly gone and many are old enough to go to **** in the box.

meanwhile the aftermarket parts are either stupid expensive or junk or both.

Would be nice to go back to parts quality and price and availability of 1994. Dream on, I know.

I should not have waited so long to swap pumps. They don’t get easier to take off with age!