2003 Ford Explorer XLT sport 4.0

Asked by carrie Apr 12, 2018 at 02:04 PM about the 2003 Ford Explorer Sport XLT 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My 03 Explorer XLT sport 4.0 is loosing coolant and
I don’t know where it’s going. I check my oil and
there are no signs of coolant in my oil. So now
where do I go from here??

7 Answers

25,610

The leak maybe small and is evaporating or just being burned by the heat of the engine. The coolant can be leaking from the radiator, a head gasket or the thermostat housing which is made of plastic and can develop a crack letting the coolant to leak slowly. Also, there is the heater core, if it has a leak the coolant is going inside the car, so look under the floor mats and see if it is wet in that area.

I checked for the heater core my floors are wet but I also don’t have any heat. I didn’t see no water in my oil some I’m almost positive I can eliminate heads. So maybe it’s the thermostat housing

25,610

If the car floors are wet as you say, the heater core has a leak and the coolant is going inside the car. If I am understanding you correctly, then the thermostat housing is fine. Even if you don't have any heat blowing into the car or never turn on the heater, there is coolant circulating through the heater core unless the hose taking coolant to the core is removed.

Sorry I didn’t word that correctly. But no there is not a drop inside my truck at all

25,610

O.K. then the thermostat housing may be cracked and leaking. Run a dry clean paper towel around the housing and see if there is any indication of coolant, remember it is hot be careful. If you need to replace it, remove the hose that goes to it from the radiator and the heater hoses first. The housing is attached by three 8 mm bolts, once it is loose, carefully unplug the sensor. You should be ready to install the new one and, at this point, I would drain the radiator and put new coolant (antifreeze) as recommended in the manual. Ford says to use the orange coolant, but you may want to check.

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