New engine , losing coolant, burning smell

[Godlygaz]

Hi all,

So I have just brought a 63 plate ford focus ecoboost 1.0, which had a new engine put in 4k miles ago because of the well known coolant problems, where the engine went pop.

Two things weren't quite right the first was an easy fix. - the bonnet open alert was popping up on the dash board, I gave the sensor a quick scrub clean with a bit of wd-40 , now no more problems.

The second is that the engine coolant level has now dropped 3 times to below the minimum over the last week. 

There are no obvious leaks anywhere as far as I can see and I can confirm that the degas pipe is the new modified version from the recalls.

Today it was a cold day so we had the heating on full blast , we got a burning smell come though the vents , which I can see it being one of two things - the wd-40 which I was quite liberal with some some may have dropped down on the fans below the bonnet latch. Or the second is that the smell is coming through the heating system.

Upon opening the bonnet I can't smell it within the engine bay.

Any thoughts on how often I top up the coolant bottle before I stop assuming that it could be an airlock?

I have probably put in just shy of a litre coolant in over the 3 times I have topped up .

 

TIA

 

Gary

[jonj1611]

If you bought it from a dealer I would be taking it back to get them to sort it, if it was a private sale then I am sure someone with more knowledge about it will be along soon

[Godlygaz]

Private sale unfortunately,

Also , the oil is still good, no signs of white or mayo

[Godlygaz]

I just had to do another 300ml top up.. no signs of leaks . 

What are the signs of coolant leak in a turbo? I'm wondering if this could be possibility

[isetta]

I had a mk6.5 fiesta 1.6tdci . Had a coolant leak, it could not find it. I put radweld in. This did benefit me in that after a short period of time it was leaking again but the red radweld left a red stain where it was leaking so I could locate where it was. Thermostat cover which is hidden under other stuff ,but it left a red streak down side  of engine so I could trace the streak upwards to it's origin. So that might help.

Also, with this car, The coolant would always drop to about 1cm below lower level and then stay there. If I ever topped it up, it would seem to disappear and end up 1cm below the lower level again after a few days. I do not know why. This car was in family for over 9 years and did over 160k miles in that time and did not seem to suffer any ill effect of this coolant level problem.

I can understand why you are concerned on a 1 litre ecocboost with their reputation for self destruction with the slightest coolant problem

[Godlygaz]

Thanks for that isetta

 

So weirdly I brought a new radiator cap for it to see if it was this and try and start off ruling out the cheap options.

So I did a 20mile run this morning and when I left it was at the min level.  I checked the coolant 2 hours after I got back and it was above the max level... Im guessing that air is getting in somehow?

Odd as I would've thought that's the pressure increases air/coolant is lost , not gained 

[Sabina]

I have a 2012 Focus and was recently having a similar problem with coolant disappearing and a horrible burning smell coming into the car through the fan.  I topped it up with c. 5 litres coolant just in the space of a week.  Took it to the garage 2 weeks ago and they told me I had a small crack in the coolant reservoir and they replaced it.  The next day, the coolant had disappeared again, so I took it back.  They asked me whether I had noticed if my driver's footwell was wet.  I hadn't.  So they had a look and sure enough, the carpet was completely sodden with coolant.  I swore it had been dry before now and they explained that I had a broken hose which served the heater and coolant had been pouring out from there into my footwell, but I probably hadn't noticed before because it had soaked down through the carpet and had been laying underneath.  But now that I had circa 6 litres of coolant sloshing around in the base of my car, it had finally soaked up through the carpet and could be seen.  

Anyway, they repaired the hose for me this week and so far, the heating works again and no more smells.  I just now have the problem of working out how to get that much coolant out of my footwell.

So maybe press down on the carpet in your footwell and see if any coolant seeps up through it?  That could be what's happening to you.

[Godlygaz]

Hi,

 

Thanks for Thai,

 So the garage has just pressure tested the system and found nothing.

Sabina - is your focus an 1.0 ecoboost? As I thought the heater lines didn't run through that way but I could be wrong?

Tia

[Godlygaz]

Hi,

 

Just checked, the carpet it soaked.. anyone ideas on how to fix it, or more importantly how to take the carpet up?

[Sabina]

On 2/6/2020 at 12:38 PM, Godlygaz said:

Hi,

 

Thanks for Thai,

 So the garage has just pressure tested the system and found nothing.

Sabina - is your focus an 1.0 ecoboost? As I thought the heater lines didn't run through that way but I could be wrong?

Tia

Yes, mines a 1.0 Ecoboost.