While doing a routine under-the-bonnet check (oil dipstick etc) the other day, I noticed my coolant level was on the MIN line.

My car (2018 Ford Fiesta) is due its first service (18,000m) in 11 days time (almost 2 working weeks worth of driving). Should I wait until then and get the garage to top it up, or should I buy some antifreeze immediately and do it myself (seems a bit of a waste of money)?

The vehicle is otherwise asymptomatic - engine temp seems fine, slightly below the midway point of the dial where is normally sits. Oil life warning is at "3%" , but that will be done at the service.

And (obviously not legally binding) advice appreciated, thanks!

Yep seems to me it’s a waste of money unless it’s the start of a loss of coolant problem.If it was my car I would leave it doing regular coolant checks until the service and after going forward👍

In an expansion tank which the Fiesta has, I’ve always gone on the coolant level being perfectly fine when just above the min line when the engine is cold.

I have two Fiesta's both Ecoboosts.

The oldest (Mk7.5) is just coming to the end of its factory warranty and over the last few months I've noticed that the coolant level has gradually dropped to the point where when its warm the level in the expansion tank is just above the minimum. I topped it up and booked in with my local dealer for investigation.

Looks like its the water pump / engine front cover seal that's leaking.

Looking on YouTube it looks like a pretty big job.... rather them than me.

 

 

I was just about to start my own thread, but did a search and found this one.

This week my car passed 20k miles, so this weekend I thought I'd go out and check fluid levels, tyres etc. I bought the car end of June last year and done approx 11k miles since then. From what I can see from service book, it had one before I got it at beginning of June.

What I noticed is the coolant is now virtually at the minimum level with engine cold and I'm sure it was far higher, near max when I got it. Should I be worried about the slight loss?

25 minutes ago, Jim H said:

I was just about to start my own thread, but did a search and found this one.

This week my car passed 20k miles, so this weekend I thought I'd go out and check fluid levels, tyres etc. I bought the car end of June last year and done approx 11k miles since then. From what I can see from service book, it had one before I got it at beginning of June.

What I noticed is the coolant is now virtually at the minimum level with engine cold and I'm sure it was far higher, near max when I got it. Should I be worried about the slight loss?

Nothing to worry about, it’s an expansion tank so on a cold engine, that’s pretty much the level it should be at. You’d find it much higher (but still within the min and max markers) if the engine was warm