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94 Explorer Coolant leak

Many thanks in advance to all those people that are replying to help!

My problem is with my Explorer, it leaks coolant at an alarming rate. I first noticed when i got back form spending about 30 minutes shoping and then a great deal of my Antifreeze was on the blacktop. I checked beneath the hood and the engine, looks like both upper and lower hoses are ok. then i looked uner the car itself, i notices it was dripping dramaticly from the transmission. Now its my opinion that its just leaking above the trans and then running off the transmissions lowest point, rather than FROM the trans. No smell in the car. no leaking in to the cab. Ive basicy got it down to Head Gasket, Freeze Cap, Water Pump, Various Hoses. Not much, i know but i know didly about cars. looked in other forums, nothing like my problem. if some one would shed some light on this, it'd be awesome! Here are the specs.

Automatic

4 door XLT 6cyl.

hope that helps.

Reply to
ryko6669
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You can probably eliminate the water pump if you see coolant dripping from around the transmission - it's the wrong end of the engine. Otherwise, for a significant coolant leak like you are describing the answer is simple: someone needs to equip themselves with a flashlight, get under the vehicle and take a good look. It's that simple, and it's much easier for a properly equipped service facility, where they can just lift the vehicle on a rack. No sense in speculating.

Reply to
Happy Traveler

Forgot to state the obvious. You are absolutely correct: there is no coolant in the transmission. At least normally there isn't... A failure of the radiator may result in coolant mixing with transmission fluid, and if it's really gross, perhaps in the transmission overflowing and discharging a mixture of transmission fluid and coolant. But it's hard to imagine how something like that would not manifest itself as a transmission problem long before you even noticed the puddle. Just to be sure, pull the transmission dipstick and take a good look.

Reply to
Happy Traveler

yeah, i had 2 "car people" take a good look and they dont know WTH is going on. I know its stubborn, but id like to do the actual work myself (with some one supervising of course, dont wanna mess things up further) and avoid taking it in unless its nessisary, or enough people tell me to. This way i can learn more about my car. hehe. Thanks for the info!

Reply to
ryko6669

I'm not sure how the heater core hoses are routed from the thermostat and the water pump to the firewall, but I would take a good look at both lines for holes/cracks. Somewhere under the engine bay, they probably are secured to (a) bracket(s) that runs from the front to the rear of the engine, and then to the firewall, which would make it easy for them to drip onto the transmission if they were in fact damaged. Pressure test is the best way to test this. Or if you can pinpoint the drip from underneath the truck and place a drainpan under it, start the truck (make sure the antifreeze level is OK) let the system pressurize for a minute or two (not very long), shut the engine off and carefully search for your leak. Remember that this should be done with the engine cold, you don't want to deal with hot antifreeze spraying you in the face when you suddenly "find" the leak. Honestly, since you don't know how large this leak is, it is probably a better idea to pressurize the system with the engine off. It may be time for a rad. shop to test it for you.

If it is the heater core lines, replace both and not just one. I would also take a real good look at the radiator hoses, as it is probably time for their replacement as well, even though they may be OK now. Preventive maintenance can save you big time down the road, believe me.

Good luck Sharky

Reply to
Sharky

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