supv6

Hi, I am new to this forum and I've been looking around to see what to call this part that I noticed a leak coming from. I have a 2007 v6 with about 140 thousand mile on it.

I was driving for about 20 minutes the other day and when I got out of the car I noticed a steady stream of fluid coming from a hose located in the corner of the engine compartment closest to the driver. It quickly slowed to a drip and then stopped.
I was told a week or so ago that I have a coolant leak somewhere which needs to be diagnosed; could this be the source?
I don't know much about cars yet, but I followed the pipe back to the radiator, so I thought it might be part of the coolant system. The leaking fluid seemed like water to me. I touched some on the ground and it didn't feel oily, and it was clear.

Could someone tell me what to call this part, and whether or not it's easy to replace? I'd like to do it myself if possible, but I don't know what to search for to buy a replacement.
I also haven't yet decided where exactly the leak is coming from.

I (hopefully) attached a picture with the approximate source of the leak pointed out.

Derf00

Those look like A/C lines, not coolant lines to be honest.

Coolant lines don't often have metal in them except for maybe an elbow or tight turn.

If they are coolant lines they will be listed as heater hoses or a heater hose assembly.

How is your A/C system working?

supv6

I haven't noticed any problems with the AC but the heater was pretty bad this winter. The air temperature wouldn't seems to go up unless the engine was rev-ing high.
Thanks for the quick reply.
Do you think that a leak in the line could cause heater issues like I was having?

Derf00

Yes, a leak in the heater hose could cause issues with the heating inside the car.

How is the coolant level? I would imagine you would need to add coolant often?

If the coolant is low, I would check for other hoses coming out of the firewall for leaks first. Heater hoses are usually rubber. There may be one behind the hose you are looking at that is leaking onto it and making it look like the metal line/hose is leaking.

in fact...have a look at this page (page 2) ...that is your A/C accumulator/receiver-drier and those lines are from the A/C. So that cannot be leaking radiator coolant. Freon yes, coolant no.

http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/Ca...Mustang#Search

JimC

Those aren't coolant lines, AC. AC will drip.

If you are leaking coolant then take a look at the thermostat housing. That is the source for 99% of the coolant leaks on the 4.0. Check the back side to see if it is spraying coolant under your intake manifold. It is often mis-diagnosed as a water pump issue.

The good thing is it is an easy fix, about a half hour.

supv6

Thanks guys.
The coolant leak is pretty slow. I'll be working on my car this week and I'll see what I can find out. Hopefully I'll be able to find the coolant leak.
From what I hear I'm thinking that there is a leak in the AC line and a separate leak for the coolant. I'll be sure to check the thermostat housing first.

Mnuckolls

Heater core is my guess. Hard as heck to spot, if the core leaks, it end up dripping on the transmission, then ground. First symptom? No heat. Only water w/o coolant(antifreeze) will rot them out fast. May be a hose, couldn't view pics as I'm new here. Had my core come apart three years ago, it's not fun. Gotta discharge freon, remove console, dash, then diassemble the heater box. If it's a heater hose, they attach w green pita clips near an aluminum block( ac lines in middle of rear engine bay.
Good luck

07 Stang

supV6 keep us informed as to what you find. Like what was mentioned, there have been reports of numerous thermostat issues especially with cars that have high mileage. Hopefully it's something that will not take too long to fix.

supv6

I managed to fix most of the issues with my car, so I wanted to give a summary of the symptoms and the fixes. Sorry it's late!

Mystery Leaks
1: I saw fluid coming out of (what has now been identified as) an AC line
2: Ocassionally, after a heavy rain storm, I would have water pour out from behind the passenger side glove compartment onto the floor.
Solution
Turns out as Derf00 suggested, the fluid seeming to be draining from the leaky pipe was actually coming from somewhere else. In fact, it was just rain water that had run off the windshield and accumulated behind the firewall (if that's what it's called) and was pouring out from the drain onto the AC line. There was a bunch of crud that had been blocking water from draining out, especially on the passenger side, allowing it to accumulate, and on the passenger side when the water level got high enough it would come through the cabin airfilter and out from behind the glove compartment.
Funny, I noticed the passenger side leak right after I bought the car (used)
and when I took it back to the dealer the mechanic said that there must be a hole somewhere and he couldn't fix it. Really all I had to do was pull out some decomposing leaves from a drain.

Coolant Leak
1: my heater wasn't working very well unless the engine was reving high
2: my coolant level was dropping slowly
Solution
Eventually my coolant leak got to the point that I was adding water everytime I drove it (for about a week), until I got a thermostat housing off ebay and replaced it. I didn't spring for the aluminum one, I just got another cheap plastic one. That fixed the coolant leak and so far, although it's been a mild fall, my heater seems to be working better too. I don't know if the heater has anything to do with the coolant, but I thought they may be related.

Other
The mechanic said I needed my outer tie rods replaced, a new wheel bearing, and new front brake pads and rotors, and he wanted somewhere around $1000 to do it all, but I ended up doing it myself for around $350 I think? I got an evolution brake kit, so it was a little more pricey than it needed to be. Looks cool though. I bought the parts from Rock Auto.
I also replaced the inner tie rods while I was at it, but in retrospect I don't know if I really needed to. The new ones looked flimsier than the originals.

FYI I got my car with 90,000+ mile on it, and she's currently sporting 145,000.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I never would have diagnosed the thermostat housing leak without this forum.