Coolant leak

[sleeptalker]

Hiya

I've got a 2002 Fiesta Flight with a 1.3 Endura Petrol engine.

It's done 84k miles and I bought it recently from a mate who'd had good experiences with it - with no major probs for his past year's ownership of it.

I've found the coolant is leaking at quite a fast rate - drops an inch per day and lately I've found quite a large puddle under the car that seems to point to it being a large coolant leak.

My first suspicions were a blown Head Gasket but there is no sign of water in the oil, engine runs really well, no loss of power or back firing etc.

Looking into the engine bay the radiator seems intact, the main feed/return coolant hoses seem fine - no splits of tell tale signs of a leak (blue crystals/deposits etc.) There's no 'mayonnaise' in the oil filler cap or on dipstick so it looks like the water is just coming out somewhere near the bottom RIGHT of the engine (i.e. the passenger side of the car).

I've got a Haynes but it looks like most of the coolant system (if not all?) is located on the LEFT side of the car (driver's side) so i'm curious to know what is on the right hand side of the engine (passenger side) that could be leaking?

Worst case (and i'm not very clued up on cars really!) is a blown head gasket that's allowing the coolant to leak OUT rather than IN to the engine i'm guessing?

If this is the case what would it cost to repair in a typical independent London?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Anders

[gaz6076]

I've never seen a head gasket leaking water out of the engine without it leaking water in as well. But there's a first for everything. If it is the head gasket I would be scrapping the car as its probably not worth fixing. I've just taken an endura engine out a mk5 fiesta after it had blown up. Managed to get a new engine from the scrappy's for 100 quid.

[scheemy]

Hi

Get yourself a cheap uv torch off eBay and get some of this

http://www.carairconditioningsupplies.co.uk/caraircon/product.php?productid=738&cat=10&page=1

I had a leak on my car which i could not find after weeks of looking. Someone suggested this and i found it within 5 minutes.

Very good stuff and you can put the uv torch back on eBay afterwards.

Good Luck