'93 Mondy thread - MOT pass

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I really like this Mondeo. It looks so fresh, and it is the perfect colour. Look after it - the old thing will be worth quite a bit one day!

[sierraman]

I'd spend £25 on 5 litres of Waxoyl. Paste it on to the backs of the sills, boot floor, round filler neck, brake pipes etc. Despite people saying Waxoyls crap I've had good success with it providing the surface is prepared and you've applied it to a completely dry surface.

[egg]

Some steering wheel vibration developed yesterday, I took it the local tyre place this morning and offside front clearly deformed. New ditchfinder fitted at cost of £45. More money spent....

 

But.....

 

The water leak just won't go away....drip...drip...drip. The mechanic has taken apart and but together the new radiator hose about 5 times, new jubilee clips, different Gates hose, but still I wake up every morning to a new puddle. Could it be a dodgy (new) water pump? I suppose it is possible.

 

I'm more worried though that it might be coming from the manifold, and could be the first signs of HGF 

[Bren]

Have you replaced pressure cap?

[egg]

Have you replaced pressure cap?

It's a Ford one, so could be old, will replace! Thanks

[egg]

New cap now fitted. Let's see! If it is a hose leak, new cap might increase pressure forcing more out?

[egg]

Just noticed crankcase breather hose was disconnected...excessive crankcase pressure???

[egg]

One sure way of telling were the water is coming from is to chuck a coolant pressure tester on it. It will find the leak (if there is one) in a matter of seconds. If the system holds good pressure, it's not going to be a head leak and would indicate a blown pressure cap!

 

Yep, I have had a pressure test - I think from memory he said about 1.3-1.5 bar - so seems to be holding pressure - he left it on there for an hour or two. 

 

I've put some cardboard under the car - and the drips look to be to be further back under the engine - and certainly look like coolant to me. 

[Felly Magic]

Also it could well be the expansion tank with a pinhole leak, that fault is common on later Mondeos, and I had to replace the tank on mine because of this

[egg]

'fraid not - this is the base model - so no aircon here!

 

the new cap hasn't helped unfortunately. 

 

Will bring drip tray to shitefest

[Pillock]

Mine leaked from a thin metal pipe across the front of the block, behind the radiator. Bit of inner tube and a jubilee clip sorted it.

[egg]

@chompy - I have read that thread, not sure if it refers to later blacktop or my silvertop zetec. I don't appear to have any leak from the thermostat housing itself. the pipe that runs under the sump has been replaced in the past - it looks fairly new, so wonder how recurrent this problem is!

 

@pillock - mine leaks a bit there - if you mean the pipe that runs to the thermostat - but that is intermittent - it is connected with a clip....

[egg]

These are the drips l'm getting, now looks like bottom of the sump and the exhaust! I think fan is a bit slow to kick in too.

[egg]

Sorry for power posting through today! I'm kind of using this thread to mull this over.

 

amateur conclusions:

 

- when the engine is warm and running there is a small oil leak/oil and coolant combined from the bottom of the sump - and where the downpipe connects to the centre section of the exhaust.

 

- Also noted this evening that it takes a long time for the fan to kick in, it does - but seems a bit slow to me (fan sender?)

 

- As the engine cools the pure coolant leak shows itself, almost certainly from the water pump area, perhaps not properly sealed to the block?

 

I think I need to ask the mechanic to get a Ford gasket and re-do the water pump. He won't be happy! Mysteriously his phone number seems out of order today, but he is only a 5 min walk away, so can't escape!

[sierraman]

The silver top mondeos had a steel coolant pipe running in that area, prone to rusting it's likely its porous. Doubt very much it's the head gasket, they very rarely go on the Zetec. I'd check the coolant pipe then if it's ok, chuck some K Seal in. The usual candidate on the black top was the thermostat housing, but being a silver top the housing was made from ally.

 

Could be the pressure cap, though there would be stains round the cap itself usually.

 

Wouldn't worry about it being a while until fan cuts in, that's the way they are, in contrast to the duratec the Zetec is a cold arse.

[egg]

yeah, no stains round the cap, but changed it anyway today for £5, worth a shot.

 

That steel pipe looks to have replaced as mentioned earlier - it looks very shiny compared to other pipes in that area!

 

I'm guessing K-seal wouldn't hurt? Never had to use HG seal before.

[greengartside]

I was going to mention the steel pipes near the radiator, as I bought an M-plate 2.0 GLX which promptly rotted it's pipes away just 12 hours after purchase. OMGHGF occurred naturally. Garage fixed it but it never ran as well again, sadly.

[sierraman]

How would you know it's got K Seal in it?

 

I suggested it as an alternative to chucking money at it.

[danthecapriman]

I had a similar irritating leak on a 1.6 zetec Focus, after about a month of use the coolant reservoir bottle would be empty, so it was a fairly slow leak.

In the end it was the tiny and faint trail of dried pink antifreeze leading up to the bottom of the water pump (which was only a couple of years old) that allowed me to find the source of the leak. With the engine hot and running there was no sign of any leaks though.

 

In the end I used a bottle of K seal (or might of been Rad weld) which did permanently fix it.

I only use this stuff as a last resort though as this was far cheaper and easier than stripping down to get to the water pump.

[egg]

I might just accept it if I can't get it solved, put a tray under there and use the car on high days and holidays with the odd show chucked in. I'm not sure it is really going to be up to ongoing daily use. 

 

The worst bit about that is I probably have to keep my Fusion as the daily driver 

[danthecapriman]

If it's a slowish leak, then as long as you keep an eye on it and keep the coolant topped up it should be fine with regular use.

The Focus I mentioned above was used daily while it was leaking for several months, sometimes doing a few hundred miles each day. We just kept an eye on the coolant level.

 

If your Mondy was mine and I was sure it wasn't a rusty pipe or similar I'd just drain off the coolant from the expansion bottle and it's hose, pour in a small bottle of K seal or similar, then refill the expansion bottle.

The one I used was a clear liquid and there was no way of knowing it was in the cars cooling system afterwards.

[RobT]

The alternative is to just top it up regularly if the leak isn't too bad. It's what I'd do, but I get the impression you're not as slack as me!

[egg]

I'm a bit all or nothing, I either let things go to shit, or seek perfection. It's all about getting a balance I suppose!

[sierraman]

That looks like Radweld you've got there, the type you used to get in little pellets that you grind up and administer to the tank?

[trigger]

I wouldn't go putting anything into the tank as you'll end up making more work for yourself further down the line

[RayMK]

Nah.  Radweld breaks down to a very fine sludge.  I have used K Seal and it gave me 5,000 miles time (5 months) to save up for head gasket replacement - the gasket DID fail in the end, but it was primarily an oil leak to the outside world then a slightly steamy exhaust towards the end when its time was nearly up.  The garage that replaced the head gasket cursed the mess that K seal had made.  It took a lot of flushing which otherwise would not have been necessary.  K seal does not work as well if just put in the expansion tank.  It needs to be in circulation rather than drawn in during engine cool down. Note: My experience refers to a Hyundai Stellar.

 

Regarding the Mondeo, I would carry on using the car but keep a close watch on developing symptoms and, of course, top up with coolant as necessary.

[danthecapriman]

This is the stuff I used in the Focus, http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-accessories/engine-oils-and-car-fluids/car-additives/cooling-system-treatment/?555770460&0&cc5_171

 

It's a clear, watery liquid. When it's in the system you can't see any trace of it.

I don't see any problem with it tbh, of course if the HG is gone or there's a leak caused by a rusted pipe/split hose etc then it does want fixing properly but if there's a little weep somewhere difficult to get at to fix properly then this stuff is fine.

As I said, it fixed the Focus, the antifreeze stayed it's nice pinkish colour and nothing blocked up other than the leak.

[sierraman]

All I can go on is the 3 times I've used it successfully. Most recently on a very slightly weeping thermostat housing. Sealed the leak up and no further problems, that was 18 months ago. Doesn't overheat.

[egg]

I'm back on 'just a leak' theory this morning. Either from the pump or pump connection...

 

But this morning it has started leaking again in a new place.

 

Here is an example of the connection to the pipe that runs to thermostat. Brand new tight Jubilee clip, brand new hose - why won't it stay dry?

[danthecapriman]

Is the hose pushed onto the pipe far enough? Does the pipe have a raised 'lip' around it's top edge to stop the hose slipping back off? If so then push the hose as far onto the pipe as possible and tighten the jubilee clamp up below the raised metal pipes lip if that makes sense. If the clamp is sitting on the lip then it's only going to be tight around that very thin lip and not the rest of the pipe.

Failing that is the end of the pipe distorted at all?

I've fixed this sort of thing before by smearing instant gasket sealer around the pipe then pushing the hose on and tightening the clamp squishing the sealant between the two.