Coolant Loss Mk4 2Ltr Diesel

[Sticky45]

Hi Folks. I seem to be losing coolant over a period of time. I'll be honest I cant specify how soon its disappearing just yet but have started to work on this as of yesterday when I topped the bottle to max. I can say though, that having driven the car today mainly at motorway speeds a distance of approximately 30 miles the coolant has dropped from the max mark by 4 or 5 millimetres. I've checked the injectors and there dry having heard this could be a sign of head cracked. The oil is clean no mayo. And fan kicks in when temperature gauge hits just over half. Can anyone suggest possible leakage points. Car has 64000 on the clock and is a 2.0litre zetec. Don't know wether it makes any difference but expansion tank has a black top. Cheers in advance to anyone who can help.

[adambell]

Is it simply a leaking hose or radiator?

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[Sticky45]

Going to have a real good look on my next day of and try to get the under tray of so I can drip test it onto some cardboard. It seems like there's no common issues which I was hoping there might be to check first. Hoping to be able to find it without it needing to go into a garage however may be easier to get someone to pressure test the system.

[adambell]

I would put money on it being a simple fix mate, like a pin hole in a hose that only allows the water to escape once everything is warm and the hose expands

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[Sticky45]

I hope so mate. Now I have a strange question. Where is the throttle cable located in the engine bay as I couldn't find it the other day and it would help to be able to rev the car whilst being under the bonnet. God it was so much easier back when I had my mk2 escort lol.

[adambell]

Isn't it an electronic throttle and therefore there is no cable operating a butterfly valve as in the old cars like the mk2

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[Sticky45]

Well, found the leak, its coming out of what I believe to be the radiator drain plug in the bottom corner of the rad. Apparently though these aren't replaceable and ford have said its a new rad obviously at just under £300 from ford I'll be looking elsewhere and hoping I'll be able to replace it myself. Used to work in a bodyshop so previous experience should help. However can anyone confirm how it is best removed as I'm guessing its going to be a bumper of job.

[adambell]

No idea how it's removed to be honest, would it be possible to remove the existing plug, clean it up and put a new o ring on it and simply replace the plug?

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[Sticky45]

Spoke to a friend tonight who preps race cars and he has said the same thing, so he's happy for me to use his ramp and thats the plan. Hopefully it'll work. He has also said he reckons he's got something that will seal it without having to put the likes of rad weld through it.

[Sticky45]

Hopefully going to attack this leak next Monday and decided it'll probably be better to drain the system to make it easier to seal the plug. From what I can gather these cars require a certain antifreeze but I'm struggling to find which one. I've read that there's an alternative to the ford pink stuff. Can anybody give confirm whats best.

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[adambell]

Any antifreeze should do the trick, there will not be anything special about a mondeo one.

Just follow the instructions for the one you choose to make you put in the correct quantities of antifreeze and water.

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