So, I notice a little spot of antifreeze on the concrete this morning. Trace it to the rear of the passenger side of the block. Start it up and notice little drops of coolant blowing out of the rear most exhaust port where I obviously have an exhaust leak. Looks like the head gaskets are toast. Just looking for some confirmation here...

 

Guess that post was a bit vague. 2003 screw 5.4l 204K miles. Oil is clear, anti-freeze is clear but a little low. Doesn't blow smoke and exhaust doesn't smell heavy with coolant either.

 

Sorry if it sounds redundant...but I would really check again where its coming from.

I say that because the water pipe runs out the back of the block on the passenger side. Depending on different models, there is a smaller pipe that comes off that which is notorious for leaking due to rust or other reasons. Sometimes when that leaks...it will drain down the block close to the area you are faulting at the moment.

But you could be right, that could be a possibility as well...just a much more costly one.

 

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking about that too while searching the forums. It doesn't seem like the amount of coolant around that area and the small spot on the ground would come from where I saw while it was running this morning. Then again it was sitting all night. I'll have to try and get farther in there to try and see. Just couldn't locate any other spot while crawling in and under it.

 

Keep in mind, there is a valley between the heads. The same valley the pipe runs through. Sometimes it will fill the valley up, then trickle over the block. That can be confusing as hell too

 

Yeah the valley looked dry this morning, then again. I didn't have the best of light to see in there. Gonna get it nose down and look in there real good tomorrow.

 

Do a block test.

 

I had a problem like this as well on my 5.4. Engine coolant was pooling up in the valley of the top part of my engine. In the end, had to replace the intake manifold as the gaskets were toast. Once replaced, no more issues... and it cleared up my CEL's for running lean.

 

Typical.....

 

So the intake is cracked in the usual spot, gasket too. Valley was dry and the bypass tube in there looks ok but I should probably change it for piece of mind. Anything else I should look over while it's all apart?