Water Coolant Leak - Please Help

[crazihoney]

Hi there,

I am in need of urgent help, I have a 1.7 Ford Puma which has started pouring out coolant from the bottom of the engine and I can see spray marks inside the engine. I have filled up the coolant tank and driven it and it will be nearly empty after about an 8 mile trip.

I have taken it to a garage who initially thought it might be the water pump, but now say it might be the thermostat housing but he can't be sure unless he starts to dismantle the engine.

I now cannot drive my car incase it overheats and blows my head gasket which is making it very diffucukt to go to work!

Has anyone else had a similar problem or has sone idea what is could be so I can get a more realistic quote on how much this is going to cost me to get back on the road.

Many thanks in advance

Crazi

 

[pandamoania]

Hi Crazi,

I have a 1.7 Puma Black and had a very similar problem 6 weeks ago. There are two pipes leaving your water coolant reservoir (lift your bonnet and it's top left). One of the pipes goes to a heater valve (which is directly north of your engine block as you look). This pipe had, for me, corroded completely and was leaking coolant as fast as I could fill it - causing the temperature gauge to rocket and the engine to start smoking.

If this sounds vaguely familiar I'd suggest filling the coolant and running the engine whilst you've got the bonnet up to see where the leak starts from. I reckon, like I had, you've got a small hole in the underside of the pipe attached the heater valve at the top. I paid £65 for the repair (new heater valve and pipe).

Good luck,

Panda

 

[martinblueprint]

I was just doing a search on here for this exact problem and found this post. Looks like others have had it too. And so recent.

I was on my way to work the other morning and had to pull in to a garage with the same symptom. I soon saw that the coolant was leaking everywhere coming out of that valve you mentioned.
Maybe it's a common problem. I've got a quick-fix on it, just by putting some pipe over the area to re-direct the coolant back in to the engine way, but now of course I have no hot air...or antifreeze.

Can anyone advise me if I should go to ford for a new heater valve or could I get away with getting it off an old Puma? 65 sounds alot!

Cheers.

Martin

 

[spit]

HCV is a lot less than £60 bud.
It is also a small job which took me maybe 10 minutes re-using the old clips too.

 

[martinblueprint]

But the actual heater valve needs replacing though doesn't it? Is it worth getting one from Ford?

 

[ScubaSteve]

heater valve is about 28 quid from ford

 

[mickey_mallon]

i changed my HCV myself the other day, it cost £40 from ford.

 

[chuckles]

pulled into the garage on Saturday to get a quote for a new clutch only to find steam coming from the bonnet and that dreadful "hot" smell. Turns out the HCV had gone and the hose coming from it had perished too (might have been the frost that morning that did the final damage).

Ford part costs £37 and garage fitted it and obviously topped up levels etc for £60

Haven't got a quote for the clutch yet, also needs brake lines and handbrake cable before mot in February.

oh and I'll get around to the "newbie" section at some point!