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        General >> Problems >> Coolant leak
        
(Message started by: Silver_Poppy on Jan 14^th, 2005, 2:35pm)

Title: Coolant leak
Post by Silver_Poppy on Jan 14^th, 2005, 2:35pm

Hello all,
This is a troublesome leak as I can't seem to find where it is coming from. I have spent numerous days outside trying to see if I can see where it comes from and still no joy, however, took the starter motor off on another day (trouble with solenoid) and inside where the cog of the motor meets the flywheel just below on inside of the casing was aload of built up evaporated coolant deposite. It's not a major leak (top up every three-four months) but very annoying. Can anyone tell me as to where it would be leaking from ppllleeeaaassee!
Silver Poppy

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by john.n on Jan 15^th, 2005, 9:29am

What engine do you have? john.n

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Silver_Poppy on Jan 16^th, 2005, 10:56am

Hello John.n, it's only a baby 2ltr 16v
S.P.

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by john.n on Jan 16^th, 2005, 11:02am

HAve you checked all hoses? I would be inclined to look there first, noting any sign of antifreeze (normally blue/green). If its only slight as you say , i may be one of those loose, any sign of water in the car- leak from the heater. john.n >:(

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by George on Jan 16^th, 2005, 11:21am

hi silver poppy
i would try tightening your heater hoses first the ones that come out of the bulkhead from your heater matrix one of them runs round the back of your engine to the water pump i would also check this pipe to see if its clipped up properly at the back of the head and not rubbing on anything the other comes round the left side and to the back of the thermostat housing its worth checking these if you have not aready hope this helps
george

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by SaveTheNight on Jan 16^th, 2005, 11:56am

Hiya S_P ..worst case scenario and worth checking is the core plug in the back of the head above the bellhousing .. < I think the 16v has one > ..use a dentist type mirror or compact mirror to take a peek .. not the most likely but worth looking at .... regards .....STN ;)

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by stigrolf on Jan 16^th, 2005, 11:30pm

the thing save the night said was it on my ultima 2.3 16v and it is not the easiest thing to change, but the sparepart was cheap, in swedish kr it was 56, in £ i think 4. but the job to change it is WERY troublesome.

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Silver_Poppy on Feb 6^th, 2005, 6:39pm

Thanks for those replies and have checked and rechecked and re-checked (you know what I'm saying here ???) but the only thing I can find is a very very faint blue/whiteish deposit around the inlet manifold gasket and when the engine is hot and the bonnet is lifted there is that smell of evapourating coolant (stinky :P) doen't last long though once the air circulates. So I'm on the road to resolving this problem by replacing the inlet manifold gasket. Can anyone give me a guide/help please as to performing this job.
Thanks

S.P.

P.S. sorry it's been a while for a reply

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Snoopy on Feb 7^th, 2005, 7:56am

this page may give you some idea as to how and where to start, but you will not need to do it all as far as I can see, but it helps in giving you the general idea.

http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/manual/engines/dohc16v/DOHC16VCHead.pdf

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Eric_R on Feb 7^th, 2005, 10:34am

John,
Yes, this is the core plug at the back of the engine. It has to be that because a leak from anywhere else would be visible outside the engine. The core plug is about an inch in diameter and it's inside the bell housing behind the flywheel/driveplate.
You need to support the rear of the engine, remove the gearbox and flywheel/driveplate, punch the coreplug through and remove it. You then clean the hole with sandpaper to remove the corrosion, round and round the hole, not in and out. Then brush a small amount of paint on the inside of the hole, offer up new coreplug with a suitable socket to fit inside the rim, then drive the coreplug home until it is is evenly sited inside the hole.
Use a torque sealer on the flywheel/driveplate bolts and reassemble the gearbox - in the case of a manual take the opportunity to replace the clutch driven plate and thrust bearing while you're in there. ;)

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Silver_Poppy on Feb 7^th, 2005, 8:15pm

Thanks Snoopy thats a huge help :), after looking for the core plug above the bell housing (no disrespect to STN in any way what so ever) and not finding one I thought I didn't have one :) but what do you know one comes up and bites you on the bum :P, thank you Eric.R I feel this is most likely to be my culprit for my leak, as stated a leak would almost certainly manifest itself quite obviously in the engine bay and it was very frustrating not to be able to see anything. Having said that I will renew inlet gasket but the core plug sounds abit too big of a job for me so I will be talking to my freindly mechanic quite soon :-/.

Thanks

S.P.

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by SaveTheNight on Feb 7^th, 2005, 8:37pm

I'm saying nothing !!

:o :o :o

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Eric_R on Feb 7^th, 2005, 11:29pm

Sorry, STN - I didn't see you'd already mentioned the coreplug - :-[

SilverPoppy,
you mention a flywheel, so I reckon you have a manual gearbox. I know it's a bit more to pay, but while the gearbox is out get the garage to replace the clutch driven plate and the thrust bearing at least. They have been sitting in a suana created by heat from the engine and moist with coolant - which dissolves stuff, seriously, so get them changed too. The clutch itself is probably all right.
Before your mechy gets going, make sure he understands that the propshaft to diff flange bolts need marking so they go back in the same holes they came from - otherwise you may be plagued with propshaft vibration that will drive you crazy.

Print off the manual for the clutch at http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/mantrans.htm for him.

Good luck.

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Baz on Feb 7^th, 2005, 11:44pm

Amazing how you just know these things Holmes!!

http://tinypic.com/1o84nm

What about this Cosworth......There is a puddle in front of it

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Eddie on Feb 8^th, 2005, 5:51am

If you want an inlet manifold gasket let me know.I have an unused one. Happy to let you have it for 1/2 price +postage.

Continuing on, have you checked the front of the inlet manifold for a missing bolt,below the thermostat housing. Slip your finger along the bottom flange of the manifold,under the housing,look for either a bolt/stud or,if its missing,the hole where it should be!

If it is missing then a 10mm bolt will do the job.
This,incidentally, is how I came to have the Gasket.
During the process of removing my manifold I discovered that the bolt was missing (3 top and only 2 bottom),so I tightened everything back up and added an extra bolt in the hole and my leak dissapeared.
The Ford dealer refused to take the Gasket back despite the fact it was still in its sealed bag!

eddie

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Silver_Poppy on Feb 8^th, 2005, 8:17am

Hello Eric-R sorry to mislead ???, it's an auto, should I have said drive wheel, anyhow the wheel I meant was the toothed one you can see when the starter motor is off which the starter motor engages to start the engine. Thanks for the further info much appreciated and may I ask if there is anything else regarding the proceedure for an auto box that my mechanic may need to know. Eddie, will gladly take the gasket off your hands, can you let me know how much please and am I right in assuming it's for a 2ltr 16v.

Cheers :)

S.P.

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Eddie on Feb 8^th, 2005, 9:55pm

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/eddie.richardson/Gasket.jpg
As you should(!) see above,it is indeed a 2.0L 16v inlet manifold gasket part no.7087456

1/2 price +postage,say 25 pounds?

Email me at etrich@ntlworld.com

eddie

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Eric_R on Feb 12^th, 2005, 11:24am

Baz, ;D
Elementary, my dear Watson - although of course Holmes never actually said that, ;)

Silver Poppy,
No probs m8 - the manual has a flywheel to provide inertial mass to smooth out the firing strokes at lower revs - so its a heavy plate with the starter ring heat-shrunk onto its outer surface.
The auto doesn't need a flywheel, because the torque converter provides the mass required - but it still needs a plate to mount the torque converter and of course, somewhere to put the starter ring gear - so it has a thin steel or alloy drive plate. Scrub the bit about the clutch etc then - the TC is sealed and is unlikely to have been effected by the coolant.

Your tecchie will need the pages on http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/manual/autotrans/A4LDE16V.pdf Emphasis that he needs to mark the prop shaft bolts into the diff flange - and also that the torque converter can simply drop out of the transmission when the autobox is separated - believe me, he doesn't want that to happen, :o

HTH

BTW - look at the photos - very nice car.

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Silver_Poppy on Feb 21^st, 2005, 3:31pm

Thanks for the info guys much appreciated

S.P.

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by daveyboy on Feb 21^st, 2005, 7:08pm

HI SP,
Further to your problem, it may well be worth getting the rear crankshaft oil seal changed! Very easy, for someone who knows what they are doing, to do it if they are going to the trouble of stripping the box & t/c off! Saves a lot of bother later on! Your mechanic should know!
Good luck

Title: Re: Coolant leak
Post by Silver_Poppy on Feb 23^rd, 2005, 5:51pm

Thanks for that Daveyboy I'll ask him

Cheers

S.P.