Coolant leaking - head gasket?

1997 FORD RANGER

13,000 MILES • 6 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC

JIM RUSAK

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I am losing about one liter of antifreeze every two weeks.I 've had this problem for about a year now.Nothing is showing on the ground. I found some antifreeze under the black air intake plenum where it connects to the engine. I looked at the water pump gasket,( new one installed a month ago) themostat, and temp sending unit and can find no evidence of any leaking antifreeze. Anybody have any idea of where this antifreeze can be coming from? No evidence of antifreeze being blown under the hood, or any other engine part. Just under the black plenum

Thanks,

Jim

Jun 4, 2009 at 9:35 AM

KASEKENNY

CERTIFIED EXPERT
18,907 POSTS

This sounds like a head gasket issue. However, we need to confirm this by starting with pressure testing the system and making sure it holds pressure and that there are no leaks.

https://youtu.be/W8kra65m15c

If there are no leaks then we need to test the head gasket. Here is a guide that will show how to do this:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

The most common way to tell this is to check the oil and make sure it is not milky.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/coolantantifreeze-in-the-engine-oil

Also, we can do a cylinder leakage test. I am attaching the info from the manual on how to do this.

Please run through this material and let us know if you have questions.

Thanks

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Aug 2, 2021 at 5:26 PM