What could be wrong with a 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis leaking antifreeze if the service department at the dealer cannot find a leak?

Answer 1

Two of the more common problems are a leaking heater core and a ruptured intake manifold. For the heater core, check the carpet on the front passenger side to see if it is wet. If so, you're heater core may be bad. If it's the intake manifold then you may see coolant under the intake manifold just behind the alternator. For detailed info on the manifold probelm see link below... http://www.autoclinix.com/Manifold.htm Run car at operating temperature then park car and let sit at least 30 minutes .Be sure to check under car for any spots of previous leaks and take note of where the are. Then check again under car for any new spots on ground that were not there before. Spot should be wet. Run finger through it,it should look clear to very light green for antifreeze. If no leak is prsent under car from previous check it is possible that car may be burning antifreeze out of tail pipe. With car running see if white cloud is exiting tail pipe, along with a sweet smell. If ether is noticed you could be burning your antifreeze instead of it leaking. paul Is the carpet wet? Does the defroster seem to make matters worse? It could be the heater core. I'll assume that the leak is visable on the ground and appears after the car sits for awhile. The water pump has a weep hole in it, it could be semi clogged but after the car sits and the clog saturates the fluid will run out of the bottom of the water pump. It's a indication of failing water pump, if so then it should be fixed before it gives out. Sounds like a blown head gasket. Check cylinder compression or test the radiator for carbon monoxide.Autozone will loan a tester. You need to buy the solution for the tester. The solution will change color if CO present. Is it a 4.6L? This is a very dependable engine except for the composite intake manifold. Check for leak near the rear passenger side of the manifold. The dealer may be trying to weasle out of replacing the manifold since a recent class action settlement extended the warranty of the composite manifold to 70,000 miles. Try taking to Midas or another and see what they say.