Coolant leak

[paulda]

Hi all

Noticed today a small patch of coolant on the garage floor from my boy! Initially couldn't find where it had leaked and took it out for a run. Got back home and notice once I'd turned the ignition off, a regular dripping (coolant). Checked the obvious places and eventually traced the leak to somewhere just below the oil filter - i say somewhere as don't have a lift or ramps to precisely pinpoint. Strangely enough, turned the engine over and drove it into the garage and has not leaked since. From what i could feel, i think there may be a core plug just below the oil filter which could be the culprit. Other than that, maybe the oil filter housing / gasket or something g more straight forward like a loose jubilee clip - any suggestions greatly appreciated

[Fordoholic Nick]

Hi mate,

Had similar leak couple of years back ! For the life of me I could not find where the dickens it was originating from even though I could see the patch on the garage floor ! Thing with coolant leaks mate is they can sometimes originate from nowhere near where you see the coolant on garage floor so can be a right pain to find, especially when the leak stops before you have a chance to spot it !! I checked every jubilee clip, rad cap, bulkhead heater connectors. I finally found my leak to be coming from the water pump gasket. Was an old pump with an old gasket. Replaced it and been fine since...touch wood !!! Not saying yours is the same though but if you aint checked this then worth having a look. Might be worth just running through all the jubilee clips again and water pump fixings and checking them all tightening them as you go just in case one has worked slightly loose. If you have already done this and you say the leak has not returned since then you may have actually tightened up the culprit and stopped the leak without realising ??

All the best and hope it is sorted

Nick

[andyd]

Hi Paul,
As Nick mentioned, water leaks can be anywhere and not necessarily where it drips onto the floor.....
As you know cars can spring fluid leaks if not used for sometime over winter etc, so it may seal itself

Keep us informed.

Andy

[paulda]

Hi mate,

Had similar leak couple of years back ! For the life of me I could not find where the dickens it was originating from even though I could see the patch on the garage floor ! Thing with coolant leaks mate is they can sometimes originate from nowhere near where you see the coolant on garage floor so can be a right pain to find, especially when the leak stops before you have a chance to spot it !! I checked every jubilee clip, rad cap, bulkhead heater connectors. I finally found my leak to be coming from the water pump gasket. Was an old pump with an old gasket. Replaced it and been fine since...touch wood !!! Not saying yours is the same though but if you aint checked this then worth having a look. Might be worth just running through all the jubilee clips again and water pump fixings and checking them all tightening them as you go just in case one has worked slightly loose. If you have already done this and you say the leak has not returned since then you may have actually tightened up the culprit and stopped the leak without realising ??

All the best and hope it is sorted

Nick

Thanks fella - looks like a job for today! I did speak with a friend of mine earlier who races cars for a living - lucky buggar! He tells me his engineering team uses some kind of sealant for this problem (if it's core plug) that is of a permanent nature - couldn't remember what it was called but will get me some of this just in case -have you come across this idea before?

[paulda]

Hi Paul,
As Nick mentioned, water leaks can be anywhere and not necessarily where it drips onto the floor.....
As you know cars can spring fluid leaks if not used for sometime over winter etc, so it may seal itself

Keep us informed.

Andy

Hi Andy - just what i need before the start of the show season! But hopefully not too time-consuming

[Fordoholic Nick]

I did speak with a friend of mine earlier who races cars for a living - lucky buggar! He tells me his engineering team uses some kind of sealant for this problem (if it's core plug) that is of a permanent nature - couldn't remember what it was called but will get me some of this just in case -have you come across this idea before?

Hi mate,

Not heard of this myself but obviously these guys know what they are talking about as they do it for a living and on high perf engines too, so this 'sealant' must be really good stuff ! I was going to say to be careful in case its just a 'quick fix' they have just to get their cars to the finish line, but if they say its a permanent fix then it must be ! My only word of advice is to try to find the leak first if you can so you know you have sorted it once and for all, but if you cannot find it no matter how hard you try then yep give this sealant stuff a try. Good Luck mate. Hope you get it sorted one way or other

All the best

Nick

[stevemarl]

I don`t know if this is a sealant you put IN the cooling system, but if so I`d be very wary as I`m sure I`ve read that overuse can affect radiator / heater matrixs (matrices???)etc, where you have thin passages which can block with sludge, plus you want the best liquid to metal contact for optimum heat transfer. Usually it`s best to just fix the leak?

[paulda]

Hi Paul,
As Nick mentioned, water leaks can be anywhere and not necessarily where it drips onto the floor.....
As you know cars can spring fluid leaks if not used for sometime over winter etc, so it may seal itself

Keep us informed.

Andy

Hi Andy - a while getting the chance to further investigate but traced it finally to the inlet manifold gasket now for the hardwork to begin!

[andyd]

Hi Paul,
As Nick mentioned, water leaks can be anywhere and not necessarily where it drips onto the floor.....
As you know cars can spring fluid leaks if not used for sometime over winter etc, so it may seal itself

Keep us informed.

Andy

Hi Andy - a while getting the chance to further investigate but traced it finally to the inlet manifold gasket now for the hardwork to begin!

I was wondering how it was going.