25 replies to this topic

[mjt]

So far no-one's suggested a faulty pressure cap as the cause. If the system's not pressurising properly the coolant could be boiling off.

[soulman123]

Just back from my local ford dealer. Bought a litre of coolant as I have a 200 round trip which I'm dreding.

The parts guy said best thing to do is a pressure test, but said its usually the thermo housing or the water pump. A pressure test is 35 + vat.

I had a look at the cap and the seal is in tact.

He did say if the coolant has been watered down too much it could has evaporated.

He said cheapest thing to do is drain it, refill with 50/50 coolant and water and watch for leaks.

So I guess I will see how it goes this week. He reckons from my description with the white splatter marks on the bellhousing it could be the thermo housing.

Problem is the housing, 2 seals and stat come to £99.53 so the question is after a week of monitoring should I go with a pressure test or change the housing/seals ?

You never know it might not leak again.... Probably wishful thinking lol

Sadly money is a big issue at this moment so I'm wondering what to do at the end of the week. I rely on the car heavily so I need to make sure its tip top

[ajt]

What about sticking a couple of these in the system

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item870f3e023e

And then get a blacklight torch, something like this

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3a7244b7de

and do your own leak detection.

[ajt]

Also came across this!

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item231c2992d6


Might be a cheaper option than uv dye

[Barry_]

Also came across this!

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item231c2992d6


Might be a cheaper option than uv dye

Lol

[soulman123]

Also came across this!

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item231c2992d6


Might be a cheaper option than uv dye

Your taking the wee wee hehe

Just got done with the first leg of my trip 100 miles done. Stopped to check the coolant a couple of times no problems, the return pipe to the tank is returning coolant hapilly. Now its sitting and tomorrow ill see if any is gone.

One odd thing I noticed in the first ten mins of driving was the temp need got about a quarter of the way up then dropped a bit as I slowed down to a slower speed limit then after 15 mins total time it got to 90oc and happily sat there no movement.

I think I have coolant ocd now.

I'm contemplating that urine torch I would never need to buy refil fluids not with the amount of pg tips I drink hehe.

The first post looks good the dye and torch. Cheaper than pressure testing and sounds equally as effective.

I guess you add the dye to the coolant tank, fire it up to temp then shine the iv light at night for max dye effect and await the fellas in the white coats.

I'll order some in the morning. Got to be worth a try. Hopefully this stuff is safe to use in an engine, although I'd flush it after and refill.

[Hosam]

Hi Soulman ,
i know this is a bit old thread but did you discover the issue in your car , actually i have the same problem , and i went to ford dealer they made a pressure test and they said that everything in the cooling system is OK , so they refilled the radiator water again and told me to test it again and if there is an issue , they should investigate if there is an issue in the engine itself! so actually i think that the dealer guys know nothing about the car and i don't know what to do

[dan_st170]

i have had this with my st170. First time round the thermostat housing actually cracked so it was easy to find. SO i fitted a new one and it still kept loosing coolant. Yet again thermostat housing was the culprit. A second unit unit later and its now fine. If youve got a thermostat housing with the blanking plug it can sometimes be the seal on the plug letting by a little water and burning off while driving hence you wouldnt normally see it. These can be a few quid on ebay or fords. Look more at the gearbox and just under the housing as that would be where the water would seep from.

The other alternative as most of the others have been mentioned is the expansion bottle itself. Ive heard a few cracking slightly enough to cause a lack in pressure enough for the water to boil off and escape that way.

Euro car parts have a good aftermarket tank avalible.

[artscot79]

agreed with the above post the pressure cap needs replaced every few years even though the seal looks okay it doesnt mean its holding the pressure

[Hosam]

The agent finally found out the issue , there was a black plastic screw that was jointing the radiator with something , that screw was cracked and there was a sponge below the radiator that absorbs the leakages that why there were no any sign of leakage
Thanks you guys

[soulman123]

Apologies I didn't spot your post till now.

I've had a couple of leaks one was the thermostat housing common on the focus, waterpump which you could see weeping from the weep hole with a bright light light, and the last one was a lose bottom hose radiator pipe.

Glad you got the leak sorted they can be a nightmare sometimes to find.