Water leak -- 2000 Ford Windstar

Look for tell tale signs under the bonnet such as brown trails. Do you find water loss when the car is standing still unused or only after having used it. Be methodical, the coolant follows a pretty basic circuits: Primary: engine, thermostat housing, top radiator hose, radiator, radiator bottom hose, water pump (has the drive/fan belt running around its pulley) Secondary: engine rear top pipe, heater matrix for the cabin, return pipe to heater solenoid valve ( allows water to circulate to the heater matrix when you demand heat inside the car), return pipe to the water pump. If you find there is water loss irrespective as to the use of the car the fault should be easy to trace because it means that obvious drips should be forming or puddles created in the car. Note that many leaks in the coolant system only begin to show themselves when the engine is hot. The reason for this is that the coolant system in creases in pressure Checks 1) the coolant filler cap is on securely and that it has a good seal - if this leaks the coolant system fails to pressurize and the engine heat will evaporate the coolant or even steam off. 2) The water/coolant pump is common to both circuits and is worked hard. I always start here; if nothing else just to rule it out as it is a fairly expensive part to replace and the replacement procedure is involved. Check the interior of the engine bay for any sign of splash stains on a line perpendicular to the fan blade rotation. If the front seal on the water pump is leaking it dribbles water onto the pump pulley. When the engine is running this water is spread around in an arc like a garden sprinkler by the pulley and fan rotation. If no apparent engine bay stains are apparent look at the 'chin' of the pump for a vertical drip stain. A slow leak here can occur when the engine is running but the heat of the engine causes almost instantaneous evaporation of the evidence. During engine 'warm up' the water leak will leave evidence of itself as a vertical line of brown running down from the pump centre. 3) Having ruled out the pump another quick check, open the oil filler cap. An abundance of 'mayonnaise' on the underside of the cap and around the entrance to the oil filler means an internal water leak and this will require a cylinder head gasket renewal. ouch! 4) Check the radiator for stains front and back, even a tiny pin hole will leave evidence. 5) check that all the hoses are good and that there are no leaks where they are attach and that all jubilee clips are tight and intact. 6) Check the foot-wells of the car for wet carpets - a sure sign that either the heater matrix or the tubes attached to it are leaking behind the dash board is a soggy carpet. Dab a paper kitchen towel to the dashboard under side to locate the leak 7) Again check all the hoses and connections thereof for leaks. 8) Now a final check. The engine must be cold before you start this!!! Remove the coolant filler cap and top up the coolant to the normal level. Start the engine. Does the water in the coolant filler tank behave really violently and try to bubble out of the filler entrance. If so there is leak into one of the cylinders. This is frequently accompanied by very thick white exhaust gases as a result of steam and burnt glycol antifreeze. The only fix here is to renew the head gasket. If there is still no sign go over the list again but more thoroughly.. the water has to getting out somewhere. If all else fails take it to your garage and have them pressure test your system. Lack of pressure in the system and leaks are synonymous.

Theres 3 common places for coolant leaks on these vans.

1. large steel tube below the water pump near the crank pulley passenger side (remove wheel and small plastic cover to inspect.)

2. heater core routing tube on top of the engine ( its beyond me why they route the thing like this but it awlays rusts out)

3 heater core itself under the dash.(if your carpet is wet theres a good chance this is the problem.)


fill up the coolant bottle and allow the van to heat up. then turn off the van and hava a look.

Check the metal pipe coming from the water pump leading to the back of the motar.it splits into 2 or 3 diffrent ways.right where the weld is, when the motar is warm you may see a little stream of water shooting out from the weld.the replacement part is like 280.00 dollars,and the windstar is bad for this.....