I've been losing a bit of coolant recently from my 2009 petrol 1.6 zetec s, about a centimetre every 10days from the coolant reservoir.  I sometimes notice a stain under the car and the sump is wet and around the oil filter area? It's not every day weirdly, and I can go a week with no loss at all, but there's a leak! I have checked around with a torch and I cannot see anything obvious, the water pump appears to be dry (changed in 2018 with the cam belt). My question, is if the leak is more likely to be coming from the 'front' of the engine block above the oil filter, than the 'belt side' as such?

Just pulled back onto the drive after a drive. After about 30 seconds a dribble of 'coolant' burped out onto the floor from the sump. It's pink and sticky but 'cold' from a hot engine which is weird. The liquid is dripping off the the sump and appears to be coming down the front of the engine block. Bit weird that its not hot?

Pink and sticky from the front sounds like it might be power steering fluid instead?

Edit - I misread the year above, so it's a Mk7 not a Mk6 right?  

It's possible for one of the core plugs to be leaking coolant from the front of the block, but really there's nothing else coolant related around there.  It could be from the headgasket if it's between the head and block but very unlikely on these engines.  I don't suppose you can get a picture showing the area of the leak?

Which side of the engine is it coming from? Closer to the front of the engine (Timing side) there is a coolant flange which is known to become brittle with age and crack, i would say this is more than likely your culprit!

 

Circled below 

2 hours ago, Nick_T said:

Which side of the engine is it coming from? Closer to the front of the engine (Timing side) there is a coolant flange which is known to become brittle with age and crack, i would say this is more than likely your culprit!

 

Circled below 

I can rule out the water pump too I think

I had this on my fiesta a month after the clutch was changed. It was the power steering fluid leaking. I noticed the steering got heavier and started making a juddering noise because the fluid level had dropped. Tried stopleak, but it made no difference. It failed its mot and the garage told me the power steering sensor was leaking, probably got knocked when the clutch got changed. It cost about £100 for the fault to be fixed, new sensor and fluid.

On 3/8/2020 at 9:44 PM, wild_one said:

I can rule out the water pump too I think

It turned out too be the thermostat housing. Or at least the rubber sealing gasket. Changing wasn't too bad. Headlight out. Slip off drive belt and reuse. Alternator off. etc. Make sure you fit a 'quality' thermostat as the first one I got off ebay was way too small to fit snugly in the block recess. Ford Gaskets are the best, you don't want to be doing this job twice. 

Many thanks to everyone for the help