This is a 3.0L V6 and I noticed there are two black hoses that go from the heater hoses to the top of the intake manifold. I looked in my maintenance book but cannot identify them. I suspect it is some kind of vacuum control for the heater. If the valve has an internal leak it could suck radiator fluid.
Has anyone seen this? Know what the vacuum hoses are for?
Any help appreciated
Dave
My 95 F150 I6 has been doing the same thing for about 3 years now. No problems anywhere, it just disappears. I will be following this one to see what anyone else has to say.
My 1994 F150 was doing the same thing and I finally tracked it down. The radiator was leaking between the plastic tank and the core. Now this is the truth, when cranked up it would drip until it got hot and expanded and stopped the drip. I noticed a bit of antifreeze collecting on the frame crossbrace under the radiator but never could find evidence of a leak anywhere ont he radiator. It was winter when I found it, very cold day and I noticed a drip by the petcock drain when I started it. Damn thing quit by the time I got to the shop. After sitting overnight they pressure checked and found it. Had to replace radiator at 75000, yep I do not drive that much anymore.
This is an update - The two hoses on the top of the intake manifold carry radiator fluid and seem to be heaters like the old heat riser that helps it run better in the winter - just a guess here.
Figuring that may be the source I blocked them and all of a sudden the fluid loss greatly reduced! So I figure the leak is in the intake manifold gasket or a cracked manifold. I looked at replacing the gasket but did not feel like doing that job just now. I decided to try one of the leak stop concoctions and picked Prestone super Radiator stop leak. Low and behold at least for now the leak is fixed! Lets hope it holds for a long while and does not stop up the radiator!
Are those the hoses to the heater core? Where do they go from the engine, to the firewall?
Don't hold your breath on that. If not the radiator then the coolant passages in the block. You just made whatever proper repair would fix it into a twice as hard job.
>See below:
The two hoses are tapped into the heater hoses with a big plastic tee.
The new stuff is not like the old barts which did stop up the radiator. We shall see as I plan to drive it a long time.
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