2002 coolant burning smell

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tony and anita dell

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Thunderbird Year
2002
Forum-My wife and I bought our Bird in 2005 with 21K mile now has 80K miles, we have been experiencing a burning Anti-freeze smell so we took car in for inspection the shop could not find any leaks only a crack in the thermostatic housing which they replaced, unfortunately we still have the same smell the car has never had any overheating problems..........please help, any thoughts? could it just be the catalytic converter?
 

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It was about 1000 miles ago, it’s been the same problem for years. When the car is driven long distances and I shut it off I can see white smoke coming out of the hood on the drivers side. I jump out open the hood and see smoke coming up between the trans bell housing and the fender following the front of the firewall.
 
If it smells like antifreeze and you can find or see a leak Motorcraft makes a cooling system stop leak pellets that work, here is a picture from the work shop manual.
This is not your everyday coolant stop leak.
I had the same problem and couldn't find the leak the pellets took care of it and is been a year since.
I don't know if the Motorcraft WSS-M99B37-B6 is still available you can also use the AC Delco 10-108
20230820_150532.jpg
 
Wow, this could be great news I really appreciate your response…….thank you I will give it a try!
Regards…….Tony
 
Before you start adding stop leak pellets, have the repair shop perform a pressure test of the cooling system. Here is how it's done:

1. Turn the engine OFF.

2. Remove the cowl vent screen.

3. WARNING: Never remove the pressure relief cap under any conditions while the engine is operating. Failure to follow these instructions can result in damage to the cooling system or engine and/or personal injury. To avoid having scalding hot coolant or steam blow out of the cooling system, never remove the pressure relief cap from a hot degas bottle. Wait until the engine has cooled, then wrap a thick cloth around the pressure relief cap and turn it slowly one turn (counterclockwise). Step back while the pressure is released from the cooling system. When certain all the pressure has been released, remove the pressure relief cap (still with a cloth).

Check the engine coolant level.

4. Connect the Radiator/Heater Core Pressure Tester to the degas bottle nipple and overflow hose. Install a pressure test pump to the quick-connect fitting of the test adapter.

5. NOTE: If the plunger of the pump is depressed too fast, an erroneous pressure reading will result.

Slowly depress the plunger of the pressure test pump until the pressure gauge reading stops increasing and note the highest pressure reading obtained.

6. If the pressure relief cap does not hold pressure, remove and wash the pressure relief cap in clean water to dislodge all foreign particles from the gaskets. Check the sealing surface in the filler neck.

7. If 8 - 9 kPa (13 psi) cannot be reached, carry out the pressure relief cap component test. If more than 12 kPa (18 psi) shows on the gauge, install a new pressure relief cap.

8. CAUTION: If the pressure drops, check for leaks at the engine to heater core hoses, engine-to-radiator hoses, coolant valve hose (if applicable), oil cooler return tube gasket, radiator and heater core or other system components and connections. Any leaks which are found must be corrected and the system rechecked.

Pressurize the engine cooling system as described in Step 4 (using a pressure relief cap that operates within the specified upper and lower pressure limits). Observe the gauge reading for approximately two minutes. Pressure should not drop during this time.

9. Release the system pressure by loosening the pressure relief cap. Check the engine coolant level and replenish, if necessary, with the correct engine coolant mixture.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue
 
OK, a few words about the degas bottle having replaced one in my 04. There are 3 openings; the filler cap, the upper nipple hose connection and the lower nipple hose connection. There is also a system vent valve almost directly below the upper nipple that connects elsewhere in the system.

Two things: 1
that upper nipple broke apart when I disconnected it so I got a new tank at $52 and put it in. The owners manual has a venting procedure, follow it.

Step 4 is a little vague on which nipple and where to vent. I hope this helps.

And there is no overflow hose, just the fill cap.
 
tony and anita dell said:
Forum-My wife and I bought our Bird in 2005 with 21K mile now has 80K miles, we have been experiencing a burning Anti-freeze smell so we took car in for inspection the shop could not find any leaks only a crack in the thermostatic housing which they replaced, unfortunately we still have the same smell the car has never had any overheating problems..........please help, any thoughts? could it just be the catalytic converter?
Click to expand...
Had beginning of a small leak on Power Steering unit. Smelled and had some smoke. Replaced PS unit.
 
JoseG said:
Have you checked the plastic coolant reservoir or degas bottle for cracks?
Click to expand...
the service shop that replaced the thermostat housing checked the entire engine compartments for leaks and also did a pressure check, the only thing they found was a small crack in the plastic housing, hense the replacement. the told me when I picked up the car they were not 100% sure that was the problem?
 
doug7740 said:
Before you start adding stop leak pellets, have the repair shop perform a pressure test of the cooling system. Here is how it's done:

1. Turn the engine OFF.

2. Remove the cowl vent screen.

3. WARNING: Never remove the pressure relief cap under any conditions while the engine is operating. Failure to follow these instructions can result in damage to the cooling system or engine and/or personal injury. To avoid having scalding hot coolant or steam blow out of the cooling system, never remove the pressure relief cap from a hot degas bottle. Wait until the engine has cooled, then wrap a thick cloth around the pressure relief cap and turn it slowly one turn (counterclockwise). Step back while the pressure is released from the cooling system. When certain all the pressure has been released, remove the pressure relief cap (still with a cloth).

Check the engine coolant level.

4. Connect the Radiator/Heater Core Pressure Tester to the degas bottle nipple and overflow hose. Install a pressure test pump to the quick-connect fitting of the test adapter.

5. NOTE: If the plunger of the pump is depressed too fast, an erroneous pressure reading will result.

Slowly depress the plunger of the pressure test pump until the pressure gauge reading stops increasing and note the highest pressure reading obtained.

6. If the pressure relief cap does not hold pressure, remove and wash the pressure relief cap in clean water to dislodge all foreign particles from the gaskets. Check the sealing surface in the filler neck.

7. If 8 - 9 kPa (13 psi) cannot be reached, carry out the pressure relief cap component test. If more than 12 kPa (18 psi) shows on the gauge, install a new pressure relief cap.

8. CAUTION: If the pressure drops, check for leaks at the engine to heater core hoses, engine-to-radiator hoses, coolant valve hose (if applicable), oil cooler return tube gasket, radiator and heater core or other system components and connections. Any leaks which are found must be corrected and the system rechecked.

Pressurize the engine cooling system as described in Step 4 (using a pressure relief cap that operates within the specified upper and lower pressure limits). Observe the gauge reading for approximately two minutes. Pressure should not drop during this time.

9. Release the system pressure by loosening the pressure relief cap. Check the engine coolant level and replenish, if necessary, with the correct engine coolant mixture.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue
Click to expand...
thanks for your comment, much appreciated. The service shop did a pressure check, and went thru the entire engine compartment to check for any leaks or cracks, however only found a small crack in the thermostat housing which was replaced.
they told me that was on the only place they could find any issue.
Doug-I don't want to go back to the same service shop after spending $1200 without solving my real problem, should I go to another shop with a print out of your comment and have them perform this well described service process?
 
There are times when I have pressure tested a cooling system over night only to find the next day that the pressure did not drop and no leak could be found. Some times you need the heating and cooling of the engine, along with the engine movement, for the leak to appear. In those cases I have added dye to the cooling system and had the customer return a week later so I can inspect for leaks using a U/V light.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue
 
The entire cooling system (except for the radiator) is made up of plastic parts, linked by rubber parts. These cars NORMALLY operate at 220F coolant temp. You may have noticed how, when you turn on the fan for outside air/ventilation, it is always WARM. These cars run a VERY high engine compartment temps. So much that the entire firewall, and the components in it (the ventilation system) get warmed up. Plastics must be carefully Engineered to be able to withstand this environment (I am one of those Engineers). The long and short of it is that virtually EVERY component in your cooling system should be replaced to address this as they WILL fail, and it seems that 60-80k miles is the useful life of these parts.

As for leak detection, a static engine is a very different beast than a running one. My '96 Mustang GT (first year of Modular engine), like clockwork, blew the intake manifold water crossover pipe literally weeks after I received a notification that I should go to my dealer and have it exchanged. Ford calculated that it was about to blow because of a molding defect where the plastic was thin and the pressure of an engines' coolant system under wide open throttle, plus the high heat would weaken the plastic. I was entering the Freeway and hopped on it and suddenly a cloud of steam shot out of the hood, temporarily clouding my windshield. I had it towed home and replaced the coolant. At idle, no visible leak, but tweak the throttle and there it was, a 3-4" "seam" would open up and water stream out into the VEE of the block.

I replaced EVERY component in my 2004 (70K miles) with new Ford parts two years ago. It's very involved because the intake manifold must be removed to get to a hose that sits in the front of the valley between the heads. About $1K in parts.

Some of the symptoms that warned me there were problems:
1) smell of coolant during and after shutdown
2) coolant reservoir needing top ups
3) no evidence of puddles/leaks under car
4) after shutdown, electric water pump would keep running, it turns out for longer and longer periods before battery finally died which prompted my investigation for root cause

It's VERY annoying that elements on these engines which in earlier generations of American/Japanese/European cars rarely gave anybody trouble. Main reason was they were manufactured out of brass/aluminum/zinc/copper. Metals can easily take the heat/pressure/cycling between hot/cold for almost life of car. "Engineered" plastics where introduced under the hood in the late 80's/ early 90's to cut costs. We all know the T'Bird was rushed to market with the looks of the car as the number one priority as it has MANY Engineering failures that should have been tested/developed/eliminated out of the car before it hit the market. The cooling system was one of them.

I feel like if you are going to replace any component, replace ALL of them. Part cost is a non issue compared to what you will pay for repeated labor as each component starts it crack/pinhole leak, steam escaping, with you by side of road.
 
Just a thought: the area you are describing is under the bleed hose for the cooling system. It's a rubber hose that runs about a foot towards the front bumper from the firewall, in front of where the driver's left hand would be if he punched it through the dashboard. It has a plastic screw on the end. If the screw is loose coolant will leak right where you say. It (and the bleeding procedure) is described in the owner's manual. I'd generally look in that area, there are hoses from the heater and the degas bottle too, lots of places that might leak. I'm not sure a mechanic would look there if he wasn't experienced with this motor, as most shops would use a machine to bleed the system and not bother with the bleed hose.
 
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