So I noticed the other day my focus was leaking something on the road.

Looking at the engine, it appears to be coolant as that was a fair bit below the minimum mark. I know next to nothing about cars mechanically so already booked it in to the garage, but they can't do until late next week.

I've taken a look under the engine and found this:

Can anyone explain what's going on here?

I guess the little plug should belong in the silver slot but when I replace it, it's not very sturdy. There is a little clip thing a few inches away from the plug (you can only just see it at the top left of the photo) that would perhaps make it a little more sturdy but It doesn't want to attach on to anywhere close by (the bit of metal just behind the green wire of the plug is slightly too thick unless a use a bit more force).

Also, the black box, I can un-clip it but can anyone tell me what this is and if I should give it a clean inside?

Would this be the cause of the coolant leak?

Thanks

You don't say what focus you have mk1 /2 /2.5 will help people give advice by looking at the photo I think it might be the reverse light connection check with it off then attached usual suspects for coolant leak are water pump and thermstat housing what side of the engine is the leak from cambelt end pos water pump gearbox end pos thermostat housing front of engine on a 1.8 TDCI thermstat housing .

It's in the title :P - MK2, 56 plate.

Ahh, that might explain why the reversing light hasn't been working. I was going to pop out and get a bulb just today as I assumed it would have been a bulb.

The leak seems to be coming from the passenger side. There is a drip when the car has been used from the area of the photo but it may not be coolant as it's a brown colour when mopped up, but then that could just be dirty mixing with it. If the car is sitting overnight, it won't be dripping the next morning.

Not to familiar with the 1.6 is the coil pack on the side of the block and the thermostat housing offset undneath that if so see if it's leaking if it is save yourself labour charges at a garage and change it yourself 10 min job no gasket involved its a rubber seal all the tools you should need if it's that is a pair of pipe pliers or similar to release hose clips and a 10 mil socket . And I should of gone to spec savers didn't see the mk2 in title lol

If that is the reversing light switch in the photo I'd say it's plastic body has broken away from the metal bush that screws into the gearbox. I think there ought to be a pushrod protruding from the bush to operate the switch, which looks to be missing and you could be losing a bit of gearbox oil from there, but that's just a guess on my part as I don't know the whereabouts and appearance of the reverse switch.

Is the fluid that's dripping out slippery to touch or feels like plain water?

Coolant leak will usually be slippery fluid (as long as there's coolant in there and not just water) whereas there's often a small amount of water left under the car from the air conditioning condensation draining out.

If you keep an eye on the coolant level now you've topped it up that'll obviously confirm if you're losing any.

It's sort of greasy.

I guess the liquid could be coming from the gearbox then I guess if the reversing light switch has come out. I wonder if I could temporarily fix it in, then drive it around for a bit and see if there's dripping when parked up.

Thanks for the help so far though - brill :D

Just as an update, I drove 30 miles today with the reversing plug attached in as best as I can and there were no drips, so it appears to be coming from the hole, rather than coolant.

Car has to drive another 30 miles (back from work), so I'll check it again when I get home. Can anyone tell me how the reversing switch works? The car is booked in for Thursday and won't be driven after today so it should be okay until then. I'd look at replacing it myself but I'm not confident with that really :/

Maybe I'll have a look at some videos about it and see as I'd love to be able to replace it myself.

All you need to do and save yourself all that labour is the switch and the correct size spanner/ socket or adjustable take the old one out and pop the new one in and then top the gearbox oil up

I just looked in my Haynes manual and your photo definitely shows the switch on the IB5 transmission fitted to 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 engines. It just screws into the gearbox and then the cable plugs into it. The torque figure quoted is 18Nm. As I explained earlier it works by means of a pushrod that is operated by the reverse gear detent to push the switch contacts together. As far as I know the pushrod is a captive part of the switch. Just make sure there isn't a detent spring under the switch - the Haynes doesn't mention it but to be on the safe side look out for one.

As you may have been losing some oil from the gearbox you ought to check and top up the level.