Coolant coming from Unknown Fitting

[Will_05]

I started my 2.3 Bronco this morning only to walk outside to a coolant leak on the ground. I noticed that coolant was coming from this fitting beneath the vehicle almost directly under the passenger seat above the vehicle frame. I checked my coolant and the tank was below minimum. What is this fitting where the coolant was dripping out of? It doesn’t appear to
Be connected to the coolant bottle. Bronco has just under 5,000 miles.

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[GMC]

Looks like an interior drain. The heater core is about the only thing I could think of that would leak coolant inside the vehicle. Check your footwells/carpet for moisture.

 

[Will_05]

Looks like an interior drain. The heater core is about the only thing I could think of that would leak coolant inside the vehicle. Check your footwells/carpet for moisture.

You are correct! I Looked under the passenger side plastic footstep cover and there’s a little coolant. I pulled the glovebox and. And quite see nor feel the piping to the heater core to check for leaks. I live in a rural area only accessible by dog team so there are no dealers nearby.

 

[GMC]

I'm not sure how easily accessible the heater core is on these. Hopefully one of the techs on the board will chime in.

 

[Ducati1098]

I'm not sure how easily accessible the heater core is on these. Hopefully one of the techs on the board will chime in.

Not very accessible at all really. Whole dash will need to be removed, then the whole climate control housing unfortunately.

 

[Kyle McQ]

I started my 2.3 Bronco this morning only to walk outside to a coolant leak on the ground. I noticed that coolant was coming from this fitting beneath the vehicle almost directly under the passenger seat above the vehicle frame. I checked my coolant and the tank was below minimum. What is this fitting where the coolant was dripping out of? It doesn’t appear to
Be connected to the coolant bottle. Bronco has just under 5,000 miles.

IF you removed your Hard Top recently, and parked at an angle, chances are good that the leak is from the rear windshield fluid rubber hose that was not reattached. Liquid travels… I lost a gallon that way last month.

 

[Will_05]

The bronco was parked at an angle when the leak was found. The color of the pool on the ground was consistent with the yellow color of the motorcraft coolant. I’d say maybe 1/4 of a gallon or so was on the ground. I checked My coolant bottle and it was maybe 1/4” below the min line, I have not checked the coolant bottle since the rig was new 5,000 miles ago.
A little of the coolant appeared to be beneath the forward part of the plastic passenger footwell cover, which is forward of the drain hole, not much, enough to soak up with a half sheet of papertowel.

 

[Brian_B]

There is a line that runs along the passenger door sills that has wiper fluid for the rear window, and a few people have noted a rubber hose connection has come loose and drained their wiper fluid out.

But that was wiper fluid, not coolant. Wiper fluid can be yellow, that's usually the deicing stuff- especially if you are in an area that only has dog sled service.

And it's been noted a lot of people had a low coolant reservoir from the factory. I had to add a quart or two to get mine up to the "full" line.

Not saying it's not coolant that you found - just some other things to be on the lookout for.

 

[Will_05]

Very interesting! I hope that is the case. I will keep an eye on it, appreciate your guys’ help!

 

[thesocalexplorer]

To add another data point, if your coolant is about 1/4" under the MIN line, it's only about 3-5 oz. to top back up to the cold fill (min) line from my experience.

I'm thinking it's washer fluid if you're seeing a quart of this fluid on the ground.

 

[Will_05]

Good news guys, it must be a windshield wiper fluid leak, my low windshield wiper light came on and I haven’t used my windshield wiper fluid in months. I looked under the carpet and noticed more fluid, this time it was frozen. Maybe the line fractured somewhere in route to my rear windshield wiper. Now that I’m thinking about it I may not have put winter grade wiper fluid in the bottle before winter, argh. Is the line really that susceptible to breakage from freezing bug wash?

To add another data point, if your coolant is about 1/4" under the MIN line, it's only about 3-5 oz. to top back up to the cold fill (min) line from my experience.

I'm thinking it's washer fluid if you're seeing a quart of this fluid on the ground.

 

[thesocalexplorer]

Good news guys, it must be a windshield wiper fluid leak, my low windshield wiper light came on and I haven’t used my windshield wiper fluid in months. I looked under the carpet and noticed more fluid, this time it was frozen. Maybe the line fractured somewhere in route to my rear windshield wiper. Now that I’m thinking about it I may not have put winter grade wiper fluid in the bottle before winter, argh. Is the line really that susceptible to breakage from freezing bug wash?

Glad it's looking to be just a wiper fluid issue!

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