How to fix a water leak?

Asked by Jiraiya27FWX Mar 07, 2020 at 03:28 AM about the 2002 Ford Taurus SE

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 2005 ford taurus.
I had just recently changed the oil,
changed the spark plugs. Added
water to the windshield wiper
reservoir. And when i turned it on it
ran for awhile and also stared to
smoke a bit from the exhaust. It also
would heat up. And i think both of the
fans don't work.(was gunna replace).
Then i checked the oil to see how full
it was, and it was brown caramel
color. Like if it had water. What do i
do??? It still runs tho. But i remain not
driving it.  

1 Answer

41,110

Thick, white smoke coming go out of the exhaust is an indication you are burning coolant. You just confirmed that is coolant by checking the oil, as you have coolant mixing with the oil. That happens when the head gasket on the engine fails. The fix requires taking the engine apart to replace the gasket. It is labor intensive which makes the repair expensive. So a mechanic will suggest installing a used engine to save money. Your looking at a ballpark repair bill of $2K. I would not continue to drive it, except directly to the shop. Overheating the engine is not good. Good Luck with the car if you intend to repair it.

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