I hear ya, We have a 4.0 SOHC 99 Explorer, I think the water pump is leaking, I could tell, if I could see it.
I did the upper and lower intake o rings a while ago, who designed that engine? What a dumb idea, same with the timing chains, one driven of the front, one off the back of the motor.
I had a 79 LTD a while ago, 302 with AC, heater core started leaking, what a pain in the butt to change it. We have a 2003 H2, 6.0, its so big its easy to work on, no complaints there.
I had a 91 F150, 302 4x4, always hated that oil filter location, drained all over the axle, the Explorer too, gotta use cardboard or the oil drains all over the suspension.
70 Duster Slant 6, easy as heck, punch a hole in the oil filter and it doesn't even make a mess when you take it off, always kinda hated the oil filter location on big blocks, gotta stuff the cross member with rags, or get a remote filter and mount it somewhere.