Loss of coolant

The most common on those is the thermostat housing, it and its seal distort. Take it off and have a look, the give away is if the bolts are all cruddy (they should be clean and nice) . I have sealed them up again successfully if the distortion is mild, but often they need a new, modified housing.

Ah ha, I see. Sounds like the culprit. There is no over heating either. My neighbour said it could be the waterpump/head gasket. Bar the loss of coolant no other symptoms of those are present like white smoke and over heating so hopefuly that's not it. I will start with the t'stat housing. Usually I only top the tank up by an inch a month usually but today it was just a smidge under minimum, glad I checked!

I'll monitor the coolant tank daily to see how it goes for a week ? and then approach the stat housing just to see if there is any further loss. I'm just wodneirng as I've been using the heating a lot in those 3/4 weeks if that affects coolant levels ? and now not at all.

....goes to have a look at the stat bolts ... ok heres a photo might be better than my ramblings

Best way of finding small leaks like this is with a pressure test. The system is pumped up to double the normal pressure, and leaks soon shoe up.

Any local garage should be able to do this for you.

Chris

Interesting, perhaps this would be the way to go to see where its coming from. Hopefully this is a cheap test.

In he interest in saving some money, I was going to leave some cardboard underneath overnight to see if that can help me identify the leaks location or approximate location for me to beging investigating further.

So far the likely suspect seems the thermostat housing as its a common fault on the focus, a few suggestions from goggling point to broken seal in filler cap, radiator, coolant pipes and a cracked block.

I guess I'll start with the cardboard and keep and eye on the coolant over the next week and see how it is. If its still dropping a pressure test will show where its going (is this an expensive procedure?) Although I have a hunch its the thermostat housing as MrC says when is he wrong hehe.

Thanks

Is it the plastic of the housing that warps or is it the rubber seal inside that gives up as I see you can buy the rubber seal for about £6 on ebay possibly cheaper from ford.

both bits go, sometimes with careful clean up and some goo you can get away with the housing (which is about 50 quid)

slow hard to find loss is usually the thermo housing, which is hard to see below, if you can then you should see dribble marks, maybe a mirror on a stick will let you have a look. my recommendation is to just dismantle it anyway and eliminate it from your enquiries, it is after all fairly easy to get at.

I guess it could work out simpler to change it and for peace of mind. First step is getting it apart looks straight forward from what the haynes manual says for once its not telling me to dismantle half the engine to get to a screw :)

Yeah I think thats the first port of call and doesn't seem to involved, hopefully a job for the weekend weather permitting. A process of elimination I feel like columbo :)

Now recovering from aheart attack after a conversation with ford parts. Ok the housing is now £80.71 one seal is £1.91 and one is £1.92 and the thermostat is £14.99 (thought may aswell change tha whilst its off?) a grand total of £99.53 thank god this is a drive way affair lol.

Just wondering if you had a chance to have a look at the post which has the picture of the thermostat/screws to see what you think. I know not easy to diagnose but everything points to it. To add I have had another look and on top of the bellhousing which sits below the thermostat housing are lots of white marks/spotting like you get with coolant leaks. Not crystalized just lots white marks, looks like splatter pattern.

A friend said put a saucer under the thermo housing after its been run and check to see if its wet after an hour which sounds like a good idea. I can do that in the mean time untill I can get the time to get at it. I there is no coolant on the saucer I guess I should get it pressure tested, do you know if that is an expensive job ?

Thanks

The trouble with tiny leaks is that they often happen only when the system is up to pressure, and hence hot. The leak can be in the form of vapour, and very difficult to see.

On my 1.8 Focus, I had a leak on the plastic coolant pipe that is clipped to the bonnet slam panel. It defied all normal methods of detection, but as soon as it was pressurised when cold to double normal pressure, it showed up straight away.

I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a tester from an AA patrol (it's part of their standard kit), so can't advise what it might cost.

I certainly wouldn't spend 100UKP on fixing a leak that might not be there!

Chris