Ford 4.6L burning coolant?

[phatfantom68]

Hokay, so the problem started around November, windows fogging up with coolant film with heat on, and whatnot, but there was no evident coolant leak. After driving the car a couple hundred miles, I stopped one day and the car just started smoking like crazy (coolant dripping onto the passenger side cat).

So I looked on the passenger side floorboard, and sure enough there is coolant dripping from the heater box under the dash. So I figure it's a heater core, but since I rarely drive the Crown Vic, I just let it sit on the driveway. Today, I decided to get it going again, so I bought a brass elbow at lowes and just bypassed the heater core altogether.

However, after about a minute of idling, there was smoke coming out from the right rear of the motor, and of course it was coolant. There were no leaks on the bypass and no visible leaks from any of the hoses... so I'm not quite sure what this could be. Is it just coolant residue or pooled coolant burning off the exhaust, or do these motors have other potential places to leak coolant at the right rear of the motor?

I know this is dumb, but bear with my lack of knowledge on this shit. :lol:

 

[StangNut86]

they have a metal pipe that goes from behind the water pump under the manifold to the hose behind the passenger side cylinder head. sometimes they rot out.

 

[BigWheelinBubba]

Hopefully its something simple and not a hidden freeze plug. :no:

 

[CamaroKid91Z]

You most likely took care of the leak when you by passed the heater core. And when you started the car back up and the exhaust got hot, the coolant started burning off of it. I wouldn't be too worried about it. Just drive it or let it idle somwhere, depending on how bad is was leaking before . . . plan on it smoking for a couple of minutes.

Sean