Thread: Coolant leaking from car

Hi,

There's a few knowledgeable bods on here, so any help appreciated.

05 Ford Fiesta - Started overheating yesterday, same today, checked coolant, tank empty. Bought new coolant, put it in tank, it all gushed out under the car.

Car now won't start.

Its difficult to see where exactly its coming from, without the car being up on a ramp, but its clearly gushing out from either the pipe or something immediately connected to it.

It of course needs a mechanic, but any ideas of a possible cause? When it was running, the internal heating also stopped working.

Heating will work on passing air alongside the rad / heating pipes..
Sounds like a pipes broken or come off.

If you can, jack it up, pour water in and see where it comes out..
If you cant, AA / RAC or Mechanic

If you want to try and fix it yourself, you really need to find out where the water is coming from.... Does it come out as soon as you put water in? Or only when you turn the engine over? Is there any water around the radiator?

Right, its started again after being left to cool for 30 mins, so that's positive.

It gushes out immediately after its put in, before the engine is started. I had my head under as far as I could go without it being jacked up, I can't see a specific point where its leaking.

But its defo not coming from the rad, seems to be somewhere along the pipe from the coolant tank, before it enters the engine.

Dont turn it on if you're out of coolant and its hot, you'll warp your head.

Keep pouring water in until you find where its coming out or leave it to a mechanic.

Jacked up one side, it's very difficult to see where its coming from, but it appears to be a water pump failure.

It almost always is the water pump in the winter.

I have had that in the past with a couple of cars.

Originally Posted by fov

Yeah take the drivers wheel off and watch the block as you add water. it could be the pump or the hose down to the pump.
Am I right in thinking the header tank is top left of the engine bay (as you stand at the front of the car)?
And dont run it! Lack of water will kill a car faster than lack of oil.

Yes, coolant tank is top left. There is a pipe which leads more or less into the centre of the block, just below this is a small belt driven device, which I believe to be the water pump. From some Googling, looks to be a £200+ jobbie to repair, if it is indeed the pump.

Like I said on IRC James, in the passed 3 months my car has been in the garage twice due to loss of engine coolant and on both occasions its been a split hose coming off the rear of the engine (in different places).

Both times it cost me around £200 due to the labour involved in getting access to the rear of my engine (Mk2 Focus).

Originally Posted by Jon-RackSRV

Like I said on MSN James, in the passed 3 months my car has been in the garage twice due to loss of engine coolant and on both occasions its been a split hose coming off the rear of the engine (in different places).

Both times it cost me around £200 due to the labour involved in getting access to the rear of my engine (Mk2 Focus).

Has your warranty expired? Id expect that to be covererd.

I was an AA man in the 80's (Still had Ford Cortina's around then!).

I agree with the above. Sounds a lot like a water pump to me. Don't mess with this if you don't know what your doing. Some of these engines run the water pump from the cam belt and you don't want to get that wrong or you'll wreck the engine.

Originally Posted by James[UH]

Has your warranty expired? Id expect that to be covererd.

Nope, just ran out, doh!