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Topic: Disappearing coolant. (Read 2695 times) |
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The Rooster in the Scorpio.
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Disappearing coolant.
« on: Mar 25th, 2011, 1:04pm » |
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Hi to you all out there. After covering approximately 250 miles my low coolant warning light illuminates. It then needs topping up and that is consistently a smidgen short of 1 litre.
There are no obvious signs of water loss,no blowing off from under the filler cap,no drips on the floor and no clear signs of hoses/connections leaking. The radiator is not showing any evidence of leaking either.
There is no evidence at the exhaust either,it is bone dry and only showing a modicum of blacking on the inside of the tail-pipe.
Has anyone had this situation themselves ?.
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Big Fords with Big Lumps & an Automatic Transmission are for Easy Driving.
Life is often cut short,use it to the full each day.Eat well & healthy. It is a Ballgame of Numbers,keep yours in the air.
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Highlander
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13 Scorpios, XR4x4, Suzuki SJ413 for off road :)
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Re: Disappearing coolant.
« Reply #1 on: Mar 25th, 2011, 1:41pm » |
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Have a feel in the passenger side footwell, the heater matrix sometimes leaks from behind the dash, down the side of the gearbox tunnel under the carpet.
Sometimes the valve in the coolant cap sticks open and allows coolant to escape while driving.
Do you have the plastic undertray fitted? sometimes leaking coolant can sit in there until you move off
Also check the gearbox oil, the gearbox oil cooler pipes pass through the coolant radiator and any leak in there will push coolant into your autobox
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on Oct 17th, 2011, 12:35pm, Simmo wrote:I give up !  Too much for an old boy!  |
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The Rooster in the Scorpio.
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Re: Disappearing coolant.
« Reply #2 on: Mar 25th, 2011, 7:45pm » |
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Hi Stuart and to you all. I think I've found the source of the leak. It would appear to occur during the end of the cooling down period after using the car. This has been more noticeable since several shorter journey stop starts rather than a start up and then longer runs and stop. There was a small amount of wet gathered onto the top outer edge of the casting that is fitted immediately below the thermostat housing. I must have checked it just at the right time before it evaporated with the heat of the engine bay. My guess is that it is coming from the gasket or finding its way through the lower bolt hole of the three,the one that sits above the afore mentioned casting. There is a small amount of damp on the carpet in the foot well on the driver side but that I believe is residual from my shoes after the recent rain.
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Big Fords with Big Lumps & an Automatic Transmission are for Easy Driving.
Life is often cut short,use it to the full each day.Eat well & healthy. It is a Ballgame of Numbers,keep yours in the air.
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The Rooster in the Scorpio.
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Re: Disappearing coolant.
« Reply #3 on: Apr 4th, 2011, 4:47pm » |
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Hi to you all out there. The initial cause/source of the disappearing coolant has been found and sorted out. HOWEVER,there was another, not quite so easily spotted. The manifold has a Hairline Crack at the front position just behind where the thermostat housing is. I am told that it is aluminium and a new part albeit still available is in excess of £400.00 + VAT. and 2 or 3 hrs work to remove and refit ready to run again.
It has been suggested that rather than go to this degree of expense there is a product on the market similar to RadWeld by a company called Solex (no not the carb' people). Does any one know of them/it?.
Is this a known & or common problem on the 2.3 16v engine ?.
Has anyone had to deal with this in the past and gone for a second-hand part?.
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Big Fords with Big Lumps & an Automatic Transmission are for Easy Driving.
Life is often cut short,use it to the full each day.Eat well & healthy. It is a Ballgame of Numbers,keep yours in the air.
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Tompion
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1997 2.3 Ultima estate.
Posts: 2918
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Re: Disappearing coolant.
« Reply #4 on: Apr 4th, 2011, 4:55pm » |
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It’s plastic unless someone’s fitted a 2.0 manifold (you’ll have 2 intake pipes if it’s a 2.0 one).
It’s a common enough problem on the 2.3, you should be able to find other posts on it.
I wouldn’t trust an additive for the plastic ones and there’s a fair chance of it causing problems with the matrix.
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ABS multiplug wheel sensor pins MK IV or MK 20
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scorpio_man
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Ford Kuga awd
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Re: Disappearing coolant.
« Reply #5 on: Apr 4th, 2011, 4:56pm » |
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hi there
if it's the 2.3 engine intake manifold we're talking about then it's PLASTIC!
and yes, it is a know issue. 
hth
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Highlander
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Re: Disappearing coolant.
« Reply #6 on: Apr 7th, 2011, 8:30am » |
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Don't you have a 24v Rooster?
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on Oct 17th, 2011, 12:35pm, Simmo wrote:| I give up ! Too much for an old boy! |
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The Rooster in the Scorpio.
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Re: Disappearing coolant.
« Reply #7 on: Apr 7th, 2011, 9:47am » |
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Hi Stuart. No,my Scorpio is a March 97 2.3 Auto Ultima Estate in Cuirass.
Still on topic,the additive that is the one that was recommended by the guy that did my Thermostat Gasket & Stat change is a Sol-X product called Sol-X Radiator Stop Leak. The company do a full range of Automotive Additives etc.(www.sol-x.co.uk).
It is guaranteed not to clog the matrix or any other part/parts of the cooling system and will not compromise the plastic parts . It works on the principle of finding Oxygen and forming a seal but does not harden and cause clogging unlike one other product is know to do. It is continually in suspension, but if the system is ever drained for a cooling system service/antifreeze treatment it must be repeated as from the first inclusion.
The current price is £16.00 +Vat and it will treat up-to a 22litre system.
It is recommended that the system is flush/back-flushed,filled and run with the heater open,then drained, flushed, filled and the additive included and run to allow time to circulate with the heater open to ensure no air locks. Then of couse swith off wait to cool a little and top up as & if needed.
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Big Fords with Big Lumps & an Automatic Transmission are for Easy Driving.
Life is often cut short,use it to the full each day.Eat well & healthy. It is a Ballgame of Numbers,keep yours in the air.
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Tompion
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1997 2.3 Ultima estate.
Posts: 2918
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Re: Disappearing coolant.
« Reply #8 on: Apr 7th, 2011, 10:06am » |
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You don't need to turn the heater on, since the coolant always flows through it.
The heater control justs directs the air through the matrix for hot or round it for cold.
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ABS multiplug wheel sensor pins MK IV or MK 20
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Tompion
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1997 2.3 Ultima estate.
Posts: 2918
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Re: Disappearing coolant.
« Reply #9 on: Apr 7th, 2011, 11:50am » |
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One of the problems that can occur is the steel insert in the stat housing rusts & expands which eventually cracks the manifold:
If you feel around for cracks it’s normal to find a little tag of gasket under the stat part of the manifold, it hangs down through the cutaway near the rusty bolt hole in the picture.
In the picture you can see what looks like an asbestos lining that has little fibres in it (I’ve scraped some away at the start of the crack), but it is where the plastic has been eaten into (there are little fibres in the plastic that appear to be glass fibres).
So if you buy second hand try & check how thick this “lining” is as the more it’s eaten away the greater the risk of cracking when you fit a new stat.
New suitable transit manifolds have come up on Ebay from time to time.
The gasket has been known to go, but I don’t think that’s common – it’s stainless steel embedded in rubber/plastic & can separate.
on Mar 25th, 2011, 1:04pm, The Rooster in the Scorpio. wrote:After covering approximately 250 miles my low coolant warning light illuminates. It then needs topping up and that is consistently a smidgen short of 1 litre.
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That sounds like a lot to me. I ran mine for quite some time with a crack but it wasn’t losing a significant amount of coolant, if it does let go there is a serious risk of the oil-way in the 2.3 head cracking if it overheats.
Do make sure you don’t have a leak elsewhere, a little while ago I kept finding a puddle under the car but couldn’t find the problem. Eventually I spotted coolant dripping out about an hour or so after a run. It would drip for several minutes and then stop. Next time I started the car from cold I’d hear air going through the matrix.
The problem was a hose joint, it would appear that under pressure it sealed but as it cooled it let coolant out until eventually drawing air back in when cold.
Here’s one of the threads about the manifold:
http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Problems;action= display;num=1260121928
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