Coolant leak 2002 T.Bird Red Bird Trouble

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RedBird trouble

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Jun 15, 2020
Thunderbird Year
2002
I have a 2002 Deluxe edition T Bird with a coolant leak at the back of the engine pooling on the bell housing, it does not leak when driving, but after it sits overnight I will have a puddle under the vehicle. Any suggestions ?
 
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Put some Barr’s Stop Leak in it and drive on. That is what I did with my 2002 TBird annoying coolant leak 16 months ago and haven’t thought about it since.
 
I had the same leak form the bell housing and it was the freeze plug on the back of the engine which means that the transmission will need to be removed to get to it.
 
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Accident? I was forced off the road recently by a guy passing on a 2 lane street. City of Colleyville has deep ditch along road hidden by grass. Engine overheat later was not attributed to incident for days. Remember leading edge of lower side is the radiator. Use caution when off tarmac.
 
I have already had the thermostat and housing replaced, also the water pump and plastic hose lines . Definitely only leaks after driving and overnight it leaves a good size puddle. In fact the only thing that hasn’t been replaced is the radiator . As a retired utility fleet mechanic , I hesitate using anything in the cooling system that will contaminate the cooling system ,if it were an old beater I wouldn’t hesitate . Thank you for your. suggestions. By the way, does anybody know if a 5.0 can be easily transplanted into this vehicle ?
 
My freeze plug leak was leaking in to the bell housing. I finally found it buy wiping the bell housing dry and laying there watching for a leak. There is a small plate on the lower front of the bell housing that I assume is to inspect the fly wheel. That is where the leak was coming from and not having way to drop the transmission I had to break down and take it to Ford. The mechanic said the freeze plug had pushed part way out allowing the leak to fill the bell housing up to the plate. I am 80 years old and have had a lot of cars but that was a new one to me.
 
RedBird trouble said:
I have already had the thermostat and housing replaced, also the water pump and plastic hose lines . Definitely only leaks after driving and overnight it leaves a good size puddle. In fact the only thing that hasn’t been replaced is the radiator . As a retired utility fleet mechanic , I hesitate using anything in the cooling system that will contaminate the cooling system ,if it were an old beater I wouldn’t hesitate . Thank you for your. suggestions. By the way, does anybody know if a 5.0 can be easily transplanted into this vehicle ?
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You could look at the plastic bottle, i had a hairline crack in mine that leaked but i could not see steam escaping anywhere. It's located at the back of engine bay on driver's side; might be worth a look.

That's the filler bottle where you add water/coolant, i should have been more specific.
 
Took the Bird to a friend of mine with better eyes, found the thermostat housing leaking , flowing back to the rear of the engine via the intake manifold valley pan . Thank you all for your input about my situation ,this whole overheating problem started after I purchased the vehicle, and found out it had been retrofitted with an electric fan purchased from Ford. The problem was that Fords electric fan pulls 43 Amps and when the system was converted , they only set it up for 40 Amps , so it was blowing fuses and melting wiring and relays . I was curious and checked the output of the fan .so the shop that performed the work changed to an aftermarket fan that now only pulls 14 Amps no more electrical problems now .i drove it home to Ohio from Orlando FL. Where I Bought while on vacation and had no problems till I started seeing coolant on the floor. I will keep you posted after the thermostat housing unit is replaced ? Hopefully I will be able to drop the word “ Trouble “ from my user name ?7
 
My o4' Bird has 111,000 miles on it, has been losing water (coolant long gone) at about a gallon every other week. I could never find water or steam anywhere, just poof, it was gone and car started overheating. Well, finally, the radiator failed ($760.00 later) and had to be replaced. The upside is now my A/C works better than it has in a very long time. Not sure if they had to recharge it as part of disassembly, or just that the whole engine is running cooler that the A/C is not overworked - not matter, i'm digging it.
 
RedBird trouble said:
Took the Bird to a friend of mine with better eyes, found the thermostat housing leaking , flowing back to the rear of the engine via the intake manifold valley pan . Thank you all for your input about my situation ,this whole overheating problem started after I purchased the vehicle, and found out it had been retrofitted with an electric fan purchased from Ford. The problem was that Fords electric fan pulls 43 Amps and when the system was converted , they only set it up for 40 Amps , so it was blowing fuses and melting wiring and relays . I was curious and checked the output of the fan .so the shop that performed the work changed to an aftermarket fan that now only pulls 14 Amps no more electrical problems now .i drove it home to Ohio from Orlando FL. Where I Bought while on vacation and had no problems till I started seeing coolant on the floor. I will keep you posted after the thermostat housing unit is replaced ? Hopefully I will be able to drop the word “ Trouble “ from my user name ?7
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I know what it is,I had that problem ,there is a cooling line under the manifold ,it rots and leaks ,looks like the resivore !I had too pull the manifold to fix it !
 
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