Circled in red on the picture, where the black pipe joins the junction, I am progressively seeing over the period of a few weeks, a red gel like substance secreting from where the pipe connects.

As far as I'm aware, the coolant has never been changed, ruling out the possibility of mixed type contamination, 

Should I be concerned about this potentially blocking up the engine ? Should I seek to get the coolant changed as well?

Thanks. Only started noticing this lately.

(Circle is quite small, look below the turbo)

This hose is called the degas hose. The escaping substance is coolant residue which seeks a way through the degraded plastic of the T-piece.

The degas hose, coolant reservoir and reservoir cap should be replaced as soon as possible.

The degas hose deteriorates/degrades and will eventually fail. This is a well known problem of this type of engine. 

The coolant reservoir shows discoloration and has probably developed (micro)cracks. This is also a well known problem.

The coolant reservoir cap has an integrated overpressure relief valve. This relief valve often becomes blocked by coolant residue.

If the degas hose or coolant reservoir fails the engine will literally overheat within minutes and develop severe engine damage without a single warning (when the temperature gauge rises it is usually already too late).

The degas hose, coolant reservoir and coolant reservoir cap are quite inexpensive and therefore it is a good idea to replace these periodically (for example every 3 Years). 

To solve the degas hose problem permanently the cooling system can be converted to the newer Focus MK3.5 hose design. The MK3.5 has a different hose design that do not suffer from this problem. This conversion basically only consists of 2 different hoses.


On a 2013 vehicle the coolant should have been changed at 10 Years old during the replacement of the wetbelts. If the coolant has not been changed it should also be changed as soon as possible. On a 1.0 ECOboost the coolant is known to crystalize as a result of the high engine/coolant temperatures. 

Thanks for that insightful reply. Having checked the invoice for last years timing belt, I can see the anti freeze was replaced.

I'll see about getting the reservoir and hoses replaced with my full service at the end of the month then in that case if they're reasonably inexpensive.

Thanks 

Oh dear, 6 weeks after degas change I have noticed this morning 

Are there any obvious signs of coolant leakage? There are a number of possible reasons for the loss of coolant but check the easiest things first, all around the expansion tank, around the radiator area, around the thermostat locations, general coolant pipework.

36 minutes ago, RayC333 said:

Are there any obvious signs of coolant leakage? There are a number of possible reasons for the loss of coolant but check the easiest things first, all around the expansion tank, around the radiator area, around the thermostat locations, general coolant pipework.

Couldn't see anything at all. Cap wasn't completely tight, I can only assume it evaporated through there. Wasn't exactly loose though ..... Garage filled it up with water, so tis about 20:80 mix antifreeze now, I'll see what happens over the next few days 

Checked again today after refilling it a week ago... expansion tank is near empty again.

Checked the oil and it is looking pale brown, paler than usual at least.

Is there any obvious way that a degas hose and expansion tank change / oil change could result in something like water in the oil?

Disappointing after last year's expensive belt change. I followed Ray's advice, engine warm, can't see any obvious leaks around the hoses or expansion tank. 

Have booked it into the (same) garage. Be interesting to know what the problem is.

Guessing it's not good idea to drive it, if it's potentially diluting the oil. The oil isn't milky or white, but it was changed for new oil same time as the new coolant equipment 

To the left side of drivers foot well (UK), there are two silver pipes. After running both are very hot so I assume they carry coolant.

Attached photos show these two pipes, one has coolant dribbling down it, noticeable dripping when running the engine and fan.

Other photo shows pink stains under driver foot well mat.

I'm guessing something is failing in the heater matrix? Unrelated to the degas hose change I guess. Just bad timing...?

Wow. Got the leaking heater pipe seals replaced last month. They still look ok to me currently...apart from the fact that coolant is once again back down to empty!!

Other garage suggested a pressure test or something, are these engines etc ok with that should I look into getting this done? 

The footwell carpet is still soaking wet from before, given the amount of fluid lost not surprised. So makes it hard to tell if it's heater matrix or something again ...

Coolant pressure test is safe as long as they don't over-do it. 

Normal coolant pressure is around 1.5 bar I think (might say on the cap) so keep to around that pressure and it should be fine.

The idea is to keep it at that pressure for an hour or more and keep checking for leaks.  Not just keep increasing the pressure until something blows.

Footwell is now dried out, but the coolant loss persists. Now it appears to be leaking under the car, driver side footwell, with noticeable drips from the circled locations

Seems too far back to be related to the engine, I'm guessing this is the heater core itself, I am not fit enough to get under and pull the entire panel off, it looks quite big.

That is probably from the AC condensate drain.  It could be leftover from before, but if you're still seeing the level drop, that does does sound like it's the matrix inside the HVAC box leaking now.   

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

That is probably from the AC condensate drain.  It could be leftover from before, but if you're still seeing the level drop, that does does sound like it's the matrix inside the HVAC box leaking now.   

I haven't had the AC on so the latter as it definitely smells like coolant. I've heard people clamp off the matrix pipes to change the seals, is this acceptable to clamp it off indefinitely or will it affect circulation elsewhere ? I don't need the heater but I need the coolant lol

1 minute ago, mburdett555 said:

I haven't had the AC on so the latter as it definitely smells like coolant. I've heard people clamp off the matrix pipes to change the seals, is this acceptable to clamp it off indefinitely or will it affect circulation elsewhere ? I don't need the heater but I need the coolant lol

I'd join the two pipes together in the engine bay using a bit of copper plumbing pipe rather than just clamping each pipe off.

The cooling system is 'balanced' so it could affect the operation of it, but I don't know specifically on these cars.

Worth noting the heater isn't just there to keep you warm though, it also keeps condensation off of the windscreen.  If the AC works, you could use that instead...though if that's already saturated with coolant that won't work effectively either.