Smoking white from Engine

Marie S · Jan 12, 2018

My engine is over heating every time I drive. The temp gauge on the dash board stays the same (normal), but you can see white smoke coming from the engine and it smells like coolant. Can anyone give me some advice?? Thanks

Wade J · Jan 13, 2018

Marie Samaniego said:
My engine is over heating every time I drive. The temp gauge on the dash board stays the same (normal), but you can see white smoke coming from the engine and it smells like coolant. Can anyone give me some advice?? Thanks

Are you sure it’s actually overheating or you’re just seeing smoke and smelling coolant? I have a 04 st and just replaced the heater control valve which was leaking it’s located high up in the engine compartment on the passenger side and it sits high above the exhaust header, which could cause smoke from coolant hitting the hot exhaust. If you don’t have a garage where you park it maybe try parking on some cardboard to try and get a idea of where it’s leaking from.

Marie S · Jan 13, 2018

Yea there is water on the top of the engine near the temp sensr gauge, it looks really green and nasty. There is also a baby pool of water near the thermostat housing unit

EddieS'04 · Jan 13, 2018

If you have the 4.0L V6. You need to replace the complete T-stat housing. Upper and Lower....

Wade J · Jan 13, 2018

more than likely it sounds like the thermostat housing if you have a first gen Sport trac 01-05 that’s what I’m familiar with and the housings are plastic and prone to cracking/leaking overtime. I was just looking on this site and saw one of the new posts someone posted a link for a aluminum thermostat housing (sorry I can’t link it as computer stuff is not my forte). I recently replaced my housing also with ford parts around $100 I want to say for upper and lower housing, new thermostat and the associated gaskets. I would have tried the aluminum one had I known of it. Make sure you don’t run out of coolant if you continue to drive it before getting it fixed.

Marie S · Jan 13, 2018

I have both the housing unit and temp sensor gauge which I'm going to put on 2mrw. Hopefully the problem will stop or I'm going to have to make a new thread lol

Wade J · Jan 13, 2018

Make sure and replace the rubber gaskets too, one for the lower housing to the engine block and the one between the upper and lower housing. May want to have some normal worm style hose clamps on hand as well sometimes the janky ford ones don’t like to seal properly. Good luck