Help with a weird Ecoboost leak

2012 3.5L Ecoboost F-150.

Over the summer I had occasional small coolant puddles under the center of the car.  Enough to make me think it was me, but I never found a problem when I looked.  Then it would go away.  Thought it might have been coincidence- someone else's drip.

I haven't had an issue in months.  

Today things are warmer.  I also did something I rarely do- stomped it for a short time.  Came home, parked the car.  An hour later I saw a pretty good sized puddle under the car.

Hard to tell where it was from.  Not radiator or hoses.  Rear of engine.

I pulled the skid plate and found a pretty obvious coolant line of drips which looked like they were coming from the joint between the engine and the bellhousing.

Then it got dark.  I will have to look harder tomorrow.

Don't think it would be leaking coolant at that joint... Any other thoughts?

Positive it's coolant, not water? Sounds similar to complaints I've seen where people bring vehicles in for "leaks", when it ends up being condensation dripping out of the holes in the exhaust (designed for that purpose). 

Don't mean to insult, I just know it's a common enough complaint/resolution in other lines of vehicles..

Turbo coolant tube?

I had a coolant leak on my old Toyota pickup that dripped on the exhaust manifold so it flashed to steam and never hit the ground. I caught it when I was under the hood for an unrelated reason right after driving and I saw the little drip actually hit the manifold. Maybe get your truck good and hot, then pop the hood and look?

classicJackets (FS) said:

Positive it's coolant, not water? Sounds similar to complaints I've seen where people bring vehicles in for "leaks", when it ends up being condensation dripping out of the holes in the exhaust (designed for that purpose). 

Don't mean to insult, I just know it's a common enough complaint/resolution in other lines of vehicles..

Green. Positive. Coolant. 

There is no coolant passing between the trans and the block- water jacket isn't even near there.  So it's not that.  Which means it's above that.  The only thing above that area is the coolant going into the heater- so you may have a leaking heater core- just outside of the cabin.

In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :

I thought of that. The coolant lines to the cabin are easily accessible. No evidence of leak. 

There is no evidence of any leaks anywhere on the top side.   Only on the bottom. 
 

Turbo coolant line may be a reasonable idea. 

I think my local Ford store stocks the turbo coolant lines.  

Are there any plugged coolant passages on the back of the block that could be leaking?  Or could there be a leak from the back of one of the heads that is running down the block/bellhousing interface?  

JBinMD said:

Are there any plugged coolant passages on the back of the block that could be leaking?  Or could there be a leak from the back of one of the heads that is running down the block/bellhousing interface?  

 

That's what concerned me.  

But Alfadriver is a Ford engineer, and I'm gonna follow his lead and assume this can't be the source for the moment.

Thanks for the idea.

I'm gonna explore the turbo coolant line this morning.  I'll get back to you.

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

All the auto parts stores will rent-for-free (tool loan) a coolant pressure tester. With just a slight pump your leak might be more evident 

In reply to John Welsh (Forum Supporter) :

Good thought

No freeze plugs on the back of the block?  I know SBC have some that would drip down inside the bellhousing.

Dude, I just did this on my '13. It's almost certainly the coolant line going into the inboard side of the turbo. Mine was the one on the driver's side. The coolant was running down the frame rail and dripping near the center if the truck.

The coolant lines snap in to fittings and use rubber o-rings to make the seal. Over time the heat from the turbo cooks the orings.

The bad news is you have to pull the turbo, the good news is it's a cheap fix. I replaced all the coolant lines and all seals with parts from the local Ford dealer for under $150. Its tight work but not impossible.  It took me a weekend working at a reasonable pace.

In reply to ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) :

I read your thread on it last night. 
 

I confused about the intermittent nature of the leak. It's very unlikely I will be able to get this done today- I could get it done next weekend.  But I really need to drive 800 miles this week first.
 

I wasn't at all concerned about it- it was so intermittent.  Is there something that cycles off the circulation (like a thermostat)?  
 

If I thought I could top it off and drive for a week gently, I'd be good to go.  
 

Of course if the leak has suddenly gotten much worse, that's not an option. 

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

Facing an 800 mile drive.  Rental cars are probably plentiful (and maybe cheap) this week.  

We see quite a few F150 Eco boost turbo coolant lines leaks. That's my guess. 

The leak is probably not as intermittent as is seams.  What's probably intermittent is how much burns off under different circumstances.  The leak itself has probably been getting progressively worse all along.  As far as wether or not you can drive it for another 800 miles goes.  Personally, I'd probably just keep an eye on the coolant level and run it but, I'd tell a customer to get a rental.  I hate not having my own vehicle.  Is that a single 400 mile round trip where if it gets worse you're stuck away from home or multiple trips where if it gets worse you kill an evening coordinating a rental?

I agree it's probably not as intermittent as it seems. On mine it had to run down a bunch of other parts to reach a drip point.

My impression is that it probably doesn't leak much eben at its worst. Small line, snaps into a fitting, even with no seal there sure isn't much space to let fluid out. I'd keep an eagle eye on the coolant level for a few days and see how much you're losing, but my guess is you could drive it. I don't think you're going to lose more than you can keep up with I'd bet of you vented the system and ran it ambient you wouldn't lose any, but the computer system might recognize that, I don't know.

I completely forgot I did a whole thread on that...

OK, I'm gonna have to change my diagnosis.

Once I got in there, it doesn't look like it is coming off the back of the engine (or the turbo coolant lines).  It's dripping on the electric steering rack- that's the front of the engine.  Favoring the driver's side.

There is a LOT of space between the radiator and the engine with no evidence of any leakage in anything coolant related.

Unfortunately, that makes me think water pump.  And the water pump on an Ecoboost is buried under the timing chains.  About 15 hrs.

Problem is the truck has 145K on it.  If I'm gonna dig that deep into the engine, I need to think about a lot of other things too- timing chains, tensioners, guides, belts, overdue reflashes...

Crap.  I think this just got expensive.

I'm also not sure about who to trust to do it.  I don't see how I could free up enough time to do this.  If I'm gonna spend some money on this, I want it done RIGHT.  I need to be able to trust this truck for 1000 miles per week.

Thoughts?

While we are talking about it, anyone know a mechanic in ATL who they would trust with this?

bumping for resolution as I'm looking at a f150 ecoboost soon.

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

I'm a bit late to the story, but Ford uses oring clip together hoses with hard plastic fittings.  I've certainly seen them leak.  The water pump would have a very specific drain hole that should be clearly marked on the googles.