Water coming out from under the car, sometimes? Carbed 5.0

[3D FFR]

2nd time this has happen...

Engine info: New 5.0 from Ford racing. It has about 1000mi. on the engine now.

I stopped at the gas station after driving on the interstate for about 12+ miles at 70mph. After few minutes the car had a small puddle of water under it near center, under the water pump. The dripping was fairly aggressive. I looked all over for a leak, the only thing I noticed was that the chain cover on top where it has the small pockets had collected some water/coolant.

I turned around to go home and the last part of my drive is just normal highways at 55mph. That made up the last 10mins of my trip. When I got home, the car was not leaking!? The car still had water in it (not full), but nothing was dripping out like it was at the gas station.

I am at a loss, I was unable to track down the source of the leak while away. But when I get it home it has stopped leaking and I can not track down where I have a problem... I originally thinking that my water pump gasket has failed. But if that was the case, wouldn't it be leaking all the time?

What scares me now, I am driving to Madison Wi. tomorrow for the hot rod power tour... I have never been afraid to take my car on any trip, but now I don't know what to do.

Any suggestions?

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Not sure how your heater hoses run but I had a bad push on 90* connector on the front DS of the engine. Had exactly the same symptoms as you describe. Just leaked on occasion always after the engine was shut down. Left small puddles right under the water pump.

[skullandbones]

If you run your car in the garage or just outside to avoid fumes, you can check the cooling cycles as it gets warmed up. With the hood up you can monitor the area around where you found water on the engine. You didn't mention if the temp gauge changed during your trip. Did you notice any differences in that or not? It might help if you drive for a while to get the engine up to temp first then do the check while you or a friend is watching the front of the engine and someone is also checking the water temp gauge. I have changed my water pump twice inside 4000 miles. It's always possible that the pump is leaking at the weep hole but you should check for tiny leaks around the hoses or fittings that might not have gotten sealed completely. It doesn't take much to cause a problem like this. Sometimes, it is one of the more difficult trouble shooting thing you will find.

Good luck,

WEK.

[3D FFR]

Thanks for the replies. All day it did not go over 180, but I think* that I was able to track down that it was leaking from the weep holes. I did almost everything you suggested Skullandbones, and I was unable to get it to leak again. But, I have a long trip tomorrow and I don't want to risk it. The local autozone has a water pump in stock, so I pulled mine off and it's ready for a new one tomorrow morning before the trip.

Something I forgot to include in the first post which might have helped. The first time I noticed it leaking from the pump area 2 days ago, I pulled the cap and filled the system with more water since I had no idea what was going on. But I didn't tighten down the water cap on all the way and it was puking water when I got home. For the last 10mins of my trip I knew something was up because the temp was bouncing from 180-210.

So I compounded any problems I had by maybe running the pump dry and warping something. So the a new pump is a safe bet, besides it is so simple to work on this engine. Not much in the way in order to get the pump off...


Not sure how your heater hoses run but I had a bad push on 90* connector on the front DS of the engine. Had exactly the same symptoms as you describe. Just leaked on occasion always after the engine was shut down. Left small puddles right under the water pump.
Are you talking about the top side of the engine where the water pushes back into the radiator? If so I have a bad angle here with a hose. I have never been a fan of it, it was what Whitby installed when they put my engine in. I wanted to change it because of aesthetic reasons, but did your hose look like mine in the photo?

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=42482&d=1433481869

[skullandbones]

One thing I forgot to mention is that a warped (even very slightly bent) water pump pulley can cause a premature failure of your water pump bearings. I found that I had used a pulley that was off just a little bit. However, I think this is the culprit in one of my failures. I put a true pulley on with the new water pump. I check mine by putting a straight edge close to the pulley will it is turning. You can see any variation if there is a problem with it. One of the down sides of using donor parts but I guess it could be possible with something off the shelf too. Good luck and safe trip.


WEK.

[Johnnymike]

If you cant find any obvious leaks you may want to look at your overflow tank if you have one. I had the same problem sometimes a puddle but usually not.
Long story short I had a standard but it turns out too small overflow tank and occasionally the engine would heat up enough to expel more water than the tank could hold.
Not all the time. I finally tracked down where the puddle was originating. Put in a larger tank. No more puddles the last year.
JMS

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Are you talking about the top side of the engine where the water pushes back into the radiator? If so I have a bad angle here with a hose. I have never been a fan of it, it was what Whitby installed when they put my engine in. I wanted to change it because of aesthetic reasons, but did your hose look like mine in the photo?

I was talking about the fitting in the red circle. It was leaking in such a way that the water came down around the water pump then dripped off the oil pan onto the floor. The engine has a cover over this so as it was intermittent it took awhile to find.

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