Hi All, 

Hope everyone is well. New member here and hoping for some help and advice before I feel like I go insane! 🙄

Ive recently had the timing belt and water pump replaced upon advice from the mechanic I get my car serviced with. I was coming up to 150,000km and I like to look after the car as I drive a fair amount. This was done end of August this year. The coolant required a top up in around September if memory serves me right.

I decided to check the coolant one of the days in October, dont ask me why but I did. Noticed it was super low again so as you do i bought some coolant and topped it up. And I used one of those K- seal also in case there was a slight crack in the tank. This didnt seem to do the job, the issue persisted. 

I brought it to my main mechanic and he said it could be a hairline crack in the tank so ordered a new one, cap etc. Whilst i was waiting for this to come in I was driving the car one morning and it began overheating and the engine was becoming limp. I pulled over to let it cool down, checked the coolant expecting it to be empty and it was full. The reservoir tank was eventually replaced and he noticed the spring in the cap was no longer working, pushing back to release pressure in the tank. I thought great, issues fixed. 

Still checked the coolant levels after this and day or night, even after checking it after it was sitting idle the level was always below the minimum. 

My mechanic spoke to another guy who had two ford cars in the same week with the same issues and said it was the thermostat housing.. Fords are known for this? So he replaced the thermostat housing for me also. 

Since this i have had no issues with the car overheating. Only that one time. The heating is working fine, no cold air, etc. Ive checked the oil and the oil cap to see if i can notice any cream like colour or milky texture for signs of gasket issues and absolutely none are visible. Same in the coolant. No white smoke coming from the exhaust either. 

However, the coolant levels still have me worried. The weather has been pretty cold and i know it contracts so this can be somewhat normal. Ive checked the coolant every day since thermostat housing was replaced upon his recommendations and only twice out of the week has the tank been above the minimum line. The coolant gauge hasn't gone past the half way mark and seems to be fluctuating as normal and again the heating is fine. 

Is it normal for the coolant to be so low nearly every day? I am checking it so much i dont know what is normal or not anymore. I am afraid to top it up in case it overflows when it heats. When i open the cap to the reservoir tank sometimes the coolant will come rushing back in, this is even after its been left idle overnight. I wonder is there an airlock somewhere.. 

I am worried there is an underlying head gasket issue. 

Any advise or recommendations would be so greatly appreciated. And apologies for the essay!

Thank you! 🙂

11 minutes ago, Trickynicky106 said:

When i open the cap to the reservoir tank sometimes the coolant will come rushing back in, this is even after its been left idle overnight. I wonder is there an airlock somewhere.

There is.

@TomsFocus Do you think so? If it was something simple like that I would be delighted. I feel like I am going mad looking at it😅😂 So back to the mechanic to get him to have a look!

Thanks for your input👌

6 minutes ago, Trickynicky106 said:

@TomsFocus Do you think so? If it was something simple like that I would be delighted. I feel like I am going mad looking at it😅😂 So back to the mechanic to get him to have a look!

Thanks for your input👌

Indeed.  Fluid can't be compressed, so if the level drops and then re-appears, the only option is that it's occupying a gas filled space in the meantime.

It is still possible there's another leak casing the air to get in, but the first attempt should definitely be another bleed to purge any current air from the system.

@TomsFocus Thank you! I've to contact my mechanic next week so I'll suggest this to him. Other than this issue I've never had any trouble with the car for the amount of driving I do. 

Again I really appreciate your time. It's eased my mind a little. 

Hi All,

Back again. Same issuing ongoing as noted above, 3 months going on now. The mechanic I had been going to I don't think he knew what else to do with the car. He just kept telling me to keep checking the coolant which is obviously not realistic. 

I decided to try another set of mechanics. The advised they thought it was a gasket issue and it needed to be replaced. This was in December and they were so booked up I wasn't booked in until the 15th of January for the gasket replacement. I didn't drive the car for nearly 4 weeks because being told it could be a gasket issue i didn't want to do anymore damage. 

15th of January rolls around and they advised they think they have found the leak.. and the gasket might not need to be replaced after all. So they replace the Thermostat.. which has already been replaced in November by my other mechanic.. or so I was told. 

So the Thermostat was replaced on the 15ht of January ( Wednesday). He said keep checking the coolant, hopefully we have gotten to the issue. I check the coolant on Sunday morning. The tank is completely empty.. 

Check it again Monday morning and it's back up to normal. I ring the mechanic and like I knew he would suggest he said it could be an air lock and drive it for another couple of days. Which I have been. 

Check it again this morning and the coolant is below the minimum mark. Drive it to work and check it again when I land and its back up but it doesn't look right to me. You can see bubbles entering and it's foamy. 

I'm looking for some real advice here on whether I am being paranoid or it's really a gasket issue. This is going on 3 months now and it's super stressful. 

I am tempted to go to a Ford dealer for them to check it but they charge and all and a leg and always seem to find more " issues" than what was there before the car goes into them. 

Can anyone help me with some sound recommendations or advice? Picture of empty tank and video of coolant this morning attached. 

 

Every time the level drops below minimum it will suck more air into the system.  You should top it up to the middle again when it's that low.  Just being told to drive it for another couple of days is poor advice tbh.

I don't think it is the headgasket but that's very easily tested.  Exhaust gas contains lots of CO2, so you just need to test for CO2 in the header tank using a sniff tester like this.  I would expect every garage to have one and to have checked that before replacing the thermostat.

RELD Cylinder Head Gasket Tester Kit CO2 Combustion Leak Gas Test Universal for All Cars and Motorcycles Petrol Diesel Block Rapid Engine Leak Detector for 50 Tests : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

Sorry, I wouldn't let me attach the video of the coolant this morning. 

I topped it up with water when I seen it like that Sunday morning because I didn't have proper coolant on me. I filled it up to the minimum mark like you suggest. 

Yes I completely agree. He just kept fobbing me off. Although I've been going to him for years and I didn't want to doubt his ability I was getting nowhere with him. 

The other mechanics said they were going to complete that test and I had left my car in with them to do so. When I came back to collect it that's when they said it was the gasket, and they couldn't understand how my other mechanic didn't cop this when he replaced the water pump and belt back in August. I should of asked more questions when they told me that.. I just trusted what they were saying because I had convinced myself by that point it was the gasket. 

Thanks so much for the link for the tester. I am finally just going to get it and test it myself. 

In the meantime do you think it's OK to keep driving my car and should I wait to go back to the other mechanics until i get this tester kit? 

The gauge is staying at 90 degrees when the car gets going. No signs of overheated and heating within the car is working OK. 

Again Tom, thanks for your quick response. Appreciate your time on this. 

24 minutes ago, Trickynicky106 said:

Thanks so much for the link for the tester. I am finally just going to get it and test it myself. 

In the meantime do you think it's OK to keep driving my car and should I wait to go back to the other mechanics until i get this tester kit? 

The gauge is staying at 90 degrees when the car gets going. No signs of overheated and heating within the car is working OK. 

Again Tom, thanks for your quick response. Appreciate your time on this. 

Yes, if you've ordered one, you might as well and test it yourself before going back to the mechanics.  That way you have proof/evidence that there is a major fault if exhaust gas is found in the coolant. 

That doesn't necessarily mean headgasket though, it could just be the EGR cooler which is a smaller and cheaper repair.

It's difficult to advise on continuing to drive it.  If there's a lot of exhaust going into the coolant then that creates extra pressure in the system which can cause a sudden and unexpected breakdown.  My first ever breakdown was caused by this exact situation.  The engine was idling in town traffic and suddenly there was a loud bang like a gunshot reverberating off of the terraced houses and a tonne of steam came pouring out of the bonnet.  Turned out one of the radiator hoses had burst under the pressure, and there was no way to keep driving it with no coolant left in the system.  Prior to that, it had not overheated or shown any signs.

I've actually just bought that tester kit based off of the link you sent me so thanks a million. 

Think like you said ill wait until that comes and test it before I go back to them. Least I'll be a little more educated that way. 

I know I am asking the million dollar question that no one can confidently answer. 😅  What you went through it exactly my fear! I am going on a wing and a prayer 😂 That's why I stopped driving it for the few weeks and I've actually rented a car on 3 seperate occasions over the last 3 months trying to get this resolved. 

OK well I'll wait for the kit to arrive and go from there. In the meantime I'll go back to the guys and look for another appointment and at least I'll have that organised either way. 

Tom, next time I follow up hopefully it's to tell you it's resolved! Thanks so much again for your responses and advice. 

👍

Update:

Got the tester kit today and tested the coolant and it stayed blue. Never changed green or yellow. 

Not sure if I did it right but I followed the directions. Engine was cold, filled the coolant to between the max/minimum line because it was empty again. Popped the tester kit in the reservoir tank and filled the blue liquid to the directed level. 

Left the engine running for 30/35 mins with intermittent revs to get it going and bubbling a little. Never changed colour.

I'll try it again to make sure it was correct tomorrow.  Not in the garage until the 18th Feb so can't do much until then😅

2 minutes ago, Trickynicky106 said:

Update:

Got the tester kit today and tested the coolant and it stayed blue. Never changed green or yellow. 

Not sure if I did it right but I followed the directions. Engine was cold, filled the coolant to between the max/minimum line because it was empty again. Popped the tester kit in the reservoir tank and filled the blue liquid to the directed level. 

Left the engine running for 30/35 mins with intermittent revs to get it going and bubbling a little. Never changed colour.

I'll try it again to make sure it was correct tomorrow.  Not in the garage until the 18th Feb so can't do much until then😅

Very strange!  Sounds like you did do it correctly.  If you want to check the tester works, just place it next to the exhaust tail pipe and suck in some of that gas.  It should change colour almost immediately doing that.  You can then suck some fresh air through it and it should change back to blue again.

Isn't it? Almost would have preferred it changed colour so I just knew that was the issue😅

I'll do as you suggested and see if I can get anything from that. Might be a silly question but those it matter if the car has been on the go for 40 mins or so when I do the exhaust tail pipe test? 

Thanks, Tom. 

14 minutes ago, Trickynicky106 said:

Isn't it? Almost would have preferred it changed colour so I just knew that was the issue😅

I'll do as you suggested and see if I can get anything from that. Might be a silly question but those it matter if the car has been on the go for 40 mins or so when I do the exhaust tail pipe test? 

Thanks, Tom. 

Nope, doesn't matter at all, the exhaust test can be done at any time with the engine running.

Brilliant! Thanks for the advice Tom! 

I'll follow up if I get a different result and keep you updated.

Thanks a million👌