Radiator problems

Hi all,
I have a '98 Mountaineer, 5.0 with AWD. The vehicle has 115,000 miles and
is in good shape, I like it very much, so I plan on keeping it for quite a
while.
I noticed a small area of anti-freeze on the garage floor yesterday, it is
coming from the lowest transmission cooler line. The leak is between the
large nut and the radiatior, not the small nut around the hydraulic line.
Is there a way to re-seal that fitting or am I looking at a new radiator in
the future.
Thanks to any and all who respond.
Steve

"Esteban" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
> I have a '98 Mountaineer, 5.0 with AWD. The vehicle has 115,000 miles and
> is in good shape, I like it very much, so I plan on keeping it for quite a
> while.
> I noticed a small area of anti-freeze on the garage floor yesterday, it is
> coming from the lowest transmission cooler line. The leak is between the
> large nut and the radiatior, not the small nut around the hydraulic line.
> Is there a way to re-seal that fitting or am I looking at a new radiator
in
> the future.
> Thanks to any and all who respond.
> Steve
>
>

If you have antifreeze leaking from your transmission cooler lines you may
have some serious problems. Hopefully it is leaking somewhere else and
simply showing up at the trans cooler line. How does your transmission
fluid look? Is your coolant inside your radiator still green or is it
brown? You can probably tighten the big nut somewhat but they don't look
like they will take a lot of torque.

"Ulysses" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Esteban" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hi all,
>> I have a '98 Mountaineer, 5.0 with AWD. The vehicle has 115,000 miles
>> and
>> is in good shape, I like it very much, so I plan on keeping it for quite
>> a
>> while.
>> I noticed a small area of anti-freeze on the garage floor yesterday, it
>> is
>> coming from the lowest transmission cooler line. The leak is between the
>> large nut and the radiatior, not the small nut around the hydraulic line.
>> Is there a way to re-seal that fitting or am I looking at a new radiator
> in
>> the future.
>> Thanks to any and all who respond.
>> Steve
>>
>>
>
> If you have antifreeze leaking from your transmission cooler lines you may
> have some serious problems. Hopefully it is leaking somewhere else and
> simply showing up at the trans cooler line. How does your transmission
> fluid look? Is your coolant inside your radiator still green or is it
> brown? You can probably tighten the big nut somewhat but they don't look
> like they will take a lot of torque.

Hi Ulysses,
Thanks for the quick response.
I am convinced the problem is in the seal between the radiator and the big
nut.
Have you heard of anyone backing the big nut off and putting another
seal/gasket on it
and then putting it back on?
The hydraulic fluid is still red and doesn't smell like burnt popcorn. The
anti freeze is still green.
Steve

"Esteban" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ulysses" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Esteban" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> Hi all,
> >> I have a '98 Mountaineer, 5.0 with AWD. The vehicle has 115,000 miles
> >> and
> >> is in good shape, I like it very much, so I plan on keeping it for
quite
> >> a
> >> while.
> >> I noticed a small area of anti-freeze on the garage floor yesterday, it
> >> is
> >> coming from the lowest transmission cooler line. The leak is between
the
> >> large nut and the radiatior, not the small nut around the hydraulic
line.
> >> Is there a way to re-seal that fitting or am I looking at a new
radiator
> > in
> >> the future.
> >> Thanks to any and all who respond.
> >> Steve
> >>
> >>
> >
> > If you have antifreeze leaking from your transmission cooler lines you
may
> > have some serious problems. Hopefully it is leaking somewhere else and
> > simply showing up at the trans cooler line. How does your transmission
> > fluid look? Is your coolant inside your radiator still green or is it
> > brown? You can probably tighten the big nut somewhat but they don't
look
> > like they will take a lot of torque.
>
> Hi Ulysses,
> Thanks for the quick response.
> I am convinced the problem is in the seal between the radiator and the big
> nut.
> Have you heard of anyone backing the big nut off and putting another
> seal/gasket on it
> and then putting it back on?
> The hydraulic fluid is still red and doesn't smell like burnt popcorn.
The
> anti freeze is still green.
> Steve
>
>

I can't swear to it but I'm pretty sure I've done it--I probably put a
little Ultra-Black silicone on it and tightened it down carefully. It would
probably work a lot better if you drained the radiator below the leak level
first and let it dry before sealing it. There may be a seal for that
connection but I don't recall any off the top of my head. I seem to recall
that I replaced the radiator not long after it started leaking (same place
as yours) so I can't really say if it held up or not. In my case it was on
a '91. You might want to resist the temptation to use radiator stop-leak
because some brands could clog your heater core and possibly mess up your
thermostat and Explorers have enough problems with thermostats already.