Thermostat leaking what do you think?

[jhelton001]

I have a very minor coolant leak. The expansion tank after months is down 3/4". I noticed the thermostat had a slight Drip nothing major and I plan to replace the gasket no biggie.

Well today I was under the truck and noticed a very small trace of coolant where the head meets the block on the drivers side. Not even enough to make a drip. Never any coolant on the ground and Everything is normal as far as temp. No overheating, no check engine light, and truck has never run better. I looked all over thinking head gasket was starting to go and or vally pan gasket. Well I used a mirror and a flashlight to look all over and came up with nothing, I do not think either is leaking.

Now for your input. Could the thermostat drip over time and run to the back of the engine to show this trace of coolant?

 

[singingcamel]

it sure could run back, but sounds like it was'nt a big leak to begin with? right? a drop or two probably would'nt.
keep a eye on it! you start loose alot of anti freeze i would change the intake gasket.marc
http://singingcamel.com

 

[Swa j-Ten]

Your local dealer might give you the gasket for free. That being said-

What year is your Disco? Based on my little.. experience.. last month, I'd suggest pre-emptively replacing the thermostat at the 10-year mark. It's $25 (from the dealer!) and takes 5 minutes to install.

 

[jhelton001]

Sorry, 97 D1. I plan on a extensive clean up and thermostat gasket tomorrow. I was just wondering if I could be Lucky this time.

 

[Swa j-Ten]

what, like you mean you want a worse problem?

 

[jhelton001]

NO, lucky as if it's only the thermostat gasket easy fix.

 

[chuck c]

Do the 'stat while you're doing the gasket, and look at the hose while you're there. Then clean the area on the head where you saw the coolant and drive it for a month. If it's gone, bravo. If it's still there, the head gasket is going.

I just tried Bar's head gasket repair in my minivan. It was almost undrivable because it was leaking into the cylinder and snuffing it. V6's don't run well on 5. It's a bit of a pain because you have to throughly flush the system, put the stuff in, drain and flush again before refilling. Less pain than a head gasket job. I tossed in a bottle of regular stop-leak, too. I seems to have worked. It didn't make much difference at first, it's taken a few weeks. The missfire is gone and the mileage is back up to normal. Wife and I are because the paid-for '96 Windstar isn't worth the cost of a head gasket job and we don't want a car payment right now.