Mondeo coolant loss

get the leak found asap, but it may already be too late.

I don't like the sound of that!

I've just checked it again and it has not dropped since I topped it up on Tuesday. If there was a leak, shouldn't it have fallen by now?

It may depend on usage as / when it leaks, like only on a long run at high speed or only when in traffic etc?

Cheers, T i m

or even, only when turned off (usually water pump) or when the weather is cold (heater matrix)

I would get the undertrays off and park it over a big bit of cardboard. If possible, get the system pressurised (this is the best) to check for any leaks.

Yup, seen that one.

Not seen that. ;-)

Good advice.

I also used one of those leak marker dies and UV light to good effect.

Cheers, T i m

It used to be that there was a valve to shut off the heater flow, then they did away with it, now they have returned. Certainly heater leaks are less common than years ago, but still quite feasible.

An internal core plug on a suzuki was one of the oddest ones I ever found.

I think our MM's had that? Sat on top of the engine (or bulkhead) towards the back?

;-)

The heater matrix is currently bouncing about on it's hoses on the inside of the kitcar while I rebuilt the casing (it's been shot blasted and powder coated). I have replaced the old Ford Escort blower motor with a motorbike cooling fan one (with decent bearings and seals).

I think I stalled on that because I was looking for a very fine foam seal to put on the up / down hot / cold flap valves? ;-(

Was that leaking water into the oil?

Cheers, T i m

It was a little suzuki truck, it came in with overheating and a blown head gasket. I rebuilt the head and put it back together and then when I tried to fill it with coolant it just kept going down and down, eventually I sussed that the coolant was going into the oil, and after much grief i found the rotted core plug. It didn't end there though, I got it running and gave it back, only there was a problem, it smoked like a good-un, the rings had cooked, so one piston and a set of rings and yet another rebuild later it was as it should be.

Ok (I like them as they are cute but not really workable in a commercial sense (in most cases, unless you are a Bonsai tree surgeon or fix dolls houses)). Handy for places that are difficult to access though.

Ooops.

So, where do you see / find these things MrC? I've seen conventional ones on the outside of the block but not any others?

Often the case ...

It's nice when it all comes good in the end.

My mates daughter has just scrapped her 05 plate Focus Diesel Estate (145k) because it has a noisy DMF and can't risk it letting go when taking her mum to the hospital or on her way to work etc.

She really wanted another manual estate but ended up with some Peugeot

5+2 seater auto thing, that she doesn't really like and would like her old Focus back. ;-)

Apparently it has an automating everything but the most crude is the automatic handbrake release thing that you are supposed to be able to 'drive off' but it often sticks / hangs etc? ;-(

And it's all the little things (cubby holes etc) that aren't as handy as they were in the Focus ...

Cheers, T i m

They were a good little vehicle, and were very capable of a lot of work, that particular one carried motorcycles very often and there was no need for anything larger.

I took off the cam cover to start stripping it down again and could then see the leak, right in the middle, under the camshaft.

If the vehicle had been serviced as per the book, then the coolant would have been changed several times and the core plug would have been OK.

Happily core plug faults anywhere are almost non existent nowadays.

Oh, I'm sure they were. It's just that with many general jobs, anything less than a Transit tipper really isn't big enough.

There are compromises of course. A couple of my builder mates ran Hiaces (with 3 way tippers) because whilst they couldn't hold as much as a Transit, they could still get down narrow back alleys etc.

I wouldn't have thought any (typically high bed height) tipper type truck would be as good for motorbikes as a transit van, trailer or something like an old HiLux 2WD truck?

Ah, so that's where these internal core plugs were? Do many vehicles have them?

Like a CH system etc.

True ... I've not heard of one recently (and a good mate runs his own car repair garage).

That reminds me, I need to get some AF in the kitcar after flushing the system the other day when I replaced the thermostat. Well, when I find the new bottom hose I bought to replace the corrugated 'universal' one that is ... ;-(

Cheers, T i m

I cracked the head on a Datsun Bluebird SSS. I could drive around town for a month or more with no loss of coolant. B-hols go to see brother down M-way for 100 miles and it would blow 1/2L of coolant out. I put a

1L plastic bottle on the overflow hose from rad cap to catch it, so I could put it back in.

Scrapped at about 120K miles when it was t-boned. Gave it to local college MV dept. They were upset as they gave the engine to a student for his NVQ assessment. Stripped it and found everything to be within acceptable tolerance = "perfect". They were upset as they really wanted knackered Ford Pintos etc that had a long defect report sheet like, "worn no 4 inlet cam lobe - spray bar blocked".

Daughters 1.2 Corsa seems to have a tiny leak somewhere that occurs on circumstances like that. I'm not surprised as we have already dosed it with some K-Seal once (that seemed to do the trick) and she just wants to get it to 200,000 miles [1] (in 5k's time). ;-)

Recycling. ;-)

And that's the thing about cars ... no matter how well you look after them you really do have to consider them all consumables (and they are getting more and more like that by design of course).

Oh?

I may have one of them they can play with if they want (and a new camshaft to fix it with). ;-)

I bought a Fiat 850 when I was 15 for 20 quid that came with a seized engine. I took it out, stripped it down, replaced the rigs with Cord ones and rebuilt it. After running it as far forwards as backwards down our back alley for a few months, I also gave it to the (my) local Technical College for the automobile workshop. They mounted it on a stand and it was stripped down and rebuilt regularly after that. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] Is that likely to be a record on a 1.2 Corsa?

That sounds like a good idea. Thanks!

You might just check with the light (in good darkness) before adding the die, in case it has been done before (and after you have checked the cabin carpets for damp around the central console). ;-)

Cheers, T i m