Slow coolant leak 2013 Fiesta

veganrun

I have a 2013 Fiesta and I've noticed a very slow coolant leak. I've topped it up to the max level twice in the last few months but I think the level is dropping again. I took it back to the garage as it's still under warranty. They did something called an SBD test? They couldn't find any leaks. I've checked myself and I don't see any leaks either on the driveway or in the engine bay or around the coolant tank or pipes.

He said if the level drops again to bring it back and they will put a new water pump in. He said there was what look like a small mark/stain on the water pump but they hoped the issue would settle itself.

Anyone else had this issue?

wonski

veganrun wrote: »

I have a 2013 Fiesta and I've noticed a very slow coolant leak. I've topped it up to the max level twice in the last few months but I think the level is dropping again. I took it back to the garage as it's still under warranty. They did something called an SBD test? They couldn't find any leaks. I've checked myself and I don't see any leaks either on the driveway or in the engine bay or around the coolant tank or pipes.

He said if the level drops again to bring it back and they will put a new water pump in. He said there was what look like a small mark/stain on the water pump but they hoped the issue would settle itself.

Anyone else had this issue?

I would follow your mechanic's advice, good to see they are honouring warranty.

I doubt the issue will settle itself, though.

If it drops again bring it back and politely request water pump to be changed if they suspect there is a small leak there.

Keep an eye on the levels and temperature gauge in the meantime.

martinr5232

veganrun wrote:

He said if the level drops again to bring it back and they will put a new water pump in. He said there was what look like a small mark/stain on the water pump but they hoped the issue would settle itself.

There was an issue with some water pumps on around that year of fiesta most likely a dodgy batch of water pumps.

THEDONWALDO

if its the 1.25 engine, i would say its the coolant flange that is cracked. Its a common fault on that engine

veganrun

The engine is a 1 litre eco boost.

martinr5232

Putt it there wrote:

Saw them 30+ times so am a genuine fan , most recently in brixton and manchester last november - brilliant show - Repentless a great way to open show .

veganrun wrote:

The engine is a 1 litre eco boost.

Forget what i said so. How much coolant are you loosing ??

veganrun

Hmmm, hard to say exactly. It was down below the minimum mark when I noticed back in Feb/March so I topped it up and about 2 months later it was back down to the minimum mark again. I topped it up last around the start of May and it's still ok-ish but has dropped down a little. It's about half way between max and min at the moment when the engine is cold.

veganrun

Small update. Been keeping a close eye on the coolant and it was down to the minimum mark again at the weekend there, it's been almost 2 months since I topped it up. Called the garage this morning and they are going to put a new water pump in. Hopefully that fixes it.

veganrun

Left the car down at the garage today. Turns out to be a bit more work than expected. They got onto the Ford people (seems to be some sort of Ford sub dealership). The Ford engineer doesn't think it's the water pump and they want to know why it's giving trouble on such a new car. So they have to take some panel off in the engine bay to see a couple of seals that might be leaking. They showed me the alternator this evening and there was some red marks on the casing which looked like coolant.

Anyway it might be Friday at this stage before I get it back as apparently it's a good chunk of work to get at this panel. Thankfully the car is still under warranty!

hellyeah

cheers for the update. My parents have a same year fiesta and ive noticed the coolant
dropping. Let us know your outcome before i go to ford.
many thanks.

veganrun

So the latest is that they seem to have found the problem and it seems to be what the Ford engineer thought. There is a seal/couple of seals in behind some panel that is behind the water pump. He said a tab had broken off the seal that was causing the issue and apparently it's a known problem. The car isn't ready yet so it will be tomorrow evening before I can collect it.

He told me it's a huge amount of work to get at this thing, 6-7 hours work, and it's the same amount of work as changing a timing belt.

I'll try and find out tomorrow what exactly the seal/part was.

veganrun

Still don't have the car back. They hit an unexpected snag with it today and need a small part that should hopefully be there on Monday. Who'd have thought a coolant leak would end up taking 3 days plus to fix!

veganrun

Still waiting on the car. The issue is fixed but the timing is slightly off and they need some special tool to fix it.

Think it was a thermostat housing seal that was the issue. He said there's a plastic tab on this seal that can break off and that's what happened and the seal had to be replaced. The seal costs £2

Am hoping to get the car back today but I think it's starting to look unlikely.

veganrun

Still no car, 3 weeks they've had it. I'm tempted to take the car back and sell it at this stage.

veganrun

Leak is fixed apparently but the car won't run properly now, it cuts out after running for a few seconds. They don't seem to know what the issue is so a Ford engineer is going to look at it tomorrow. Insane.

noelf

Any update on your car op .. ?

veganrun

Not really no. The Ford guy spent all day Wednesday on it and still wasn't sure what the issue was. They ordered a replacement camshaft sensor that was due to arrive yesterday morning but it seems like it didn't work as they'd have been onto me by now, so I guess we're back to square one. The dealer seems determined to get the car back running as it should but they've admitted themselves they don't seem to know what the issue is. They're contacting Ford support as well to try and get it resolved.

Henry Ford III

Do you have a courtesy car from them OP?

At what point do you lose patience and reject the car?

veganrun

Yeah they gave me a courtesy car, a 2016 model.

Tbh not sure how much longer to give it. I said yesterday we might need to consider replacing the car at some point but I think they want to avoid that unsurprisingly. I checked their website and they have a few other Fiestas of similar age and mileage that I would consider but they are diesel. My car is the 1.0 Ecoboost petrol which is nice but they seem harder to get.

veganrun

I've emailed Ford customer support to ask them about getting a replacement or refund. It's mad to think the seal replacement took 2-3 days and and they've spent the rest of the time trying to get the car to run.

I think I'm willing to give them another week or two max and that's it. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the car back by then.

Henry Ford III

veganrun wrote:

I've emailed Ford customer support to ask them about getting a replacement or refund. It's mad to think the seal replacement took 2-3 days and and they've spent the rest of the time trying to get the car to run.

It's the dealer you should be talking to, not the manufacturer.

martinr5232

veganrun wrote:

I've emailed Ford customer support to ask them about getting a replacement or refund. It's mad to think the seal replacement took 2-3 days and and they've spent the rest of the time trying to get the car to run.

Sorry to tell you but ford wont be giving you a replacement or a refund its upto the dealer to sort this..

veganrun

I'm aware that Ford won't be handling it, but I wanted to contact them to let them know the problems I've been having and asking what my options are.

I checked out the other cars the dealer has. They've a few other Fiesta's of similar specs but not the same as the one I have.

George Dalton

Out of curiosity; If the dealer did happen to have the exact equivalent of your car in their used stock what would you be asking them to do for you at this point?

allthedoyles

Sounds like head gasket trouble to me

George Dalton

allthedoyles wrote: »

Sounds like head gasket trouble to me

How so?

allthedoyles

George Dalton wrote:

How so?

Slow coolant leak

Bigus

allthedoyles wrote: »

Slow coolant leak

Leak is fixed , car won't run now.

George Dalton

allthedoyles wrote: »

Slow coolant leak

Did you even read the thread?

allthedoyles

Bigus wrote:

Leak is fixed , car won't run now.

When leaking could you see the coolant on the road ?

veganrun

I'm not sure, I would maybe ask for a replacement car. The fact is they've had the car over 4 weeks and replacing the seal took a couple of days so the rest of the time has been spent waiting on tools or parts or someone to look at it and it's still not running. I don't know when to say enough and tell them if they can't fix it by now they never will.

There was no coolant visible on the road or anywhere. The only indication I had was the level dropping down to the minimum mark every couple of months. When they looked at it there was coolant stains on the alternator.

martinr5232

veganrun wrote:

I'm not sure, I would maybe ask for a replacement car. The fact is they've had the car over 4 weeks and replacing the seal took a couple of days so the rest of the time has been spent waiting on tools or parts or someone to look at it and it's still not running. I don't know when to say enough and tell them if they can't fix it by now they never will.

The dealer wouldnt be under any obligation to replace your car but you could ask for a trade in. What way they would value it though i dont know.

It sounds like a bit of a joke at this stage doesnt really sound like they know what they are doing.
Have you talked to the service manager what did they say ?? If they were no help talk to dealer principal.

Keep onto ford it might not look like they are doing much but they will at least ring the dealer and ask whats going on.

veganrun

I think the guy I'm dealing with is the main guy there. I get the impression it's somewhat of a family run Ford dealership. The guy seems very genuine and I can understand his frustration and I'm not trying to be difficult, but sooner or later a call has to be made as to whether this will be fixed or not.

I'll hopefully find out more this week.

veganrun

Just off the phone with the garage. They think they've found the problem. He said there's a magnetic strip thing on the camshaft that's not working and that is what's causing the car not to spark properly. He said the part should be there today and the car should be ready tomorrow. He sounded fairly confident this is the issue so let's hope this fixes it.

Special Circumstances

It took them HOW long to put a scope on that signal to see if it made sense?

veganrun

Yeah, not ideal! Anyway hopefully this sorts the problem. Not sure how confident I am in the car now but it's still under warranty until October so if anything breaks between now and then, it will be covered. Am thinking about trading it in after that. It's a shame as it's a nice car.

noelf

veganrun wrote: »

Just off the phone with the garage. They think they've found the problem. He said there's a magnetic strip thing on the camshaft that's not working and that is what's causing the car not to spark properly. He said the part should be there today and the car should be ready tomorrow. He sounded fairly confident this is the issue so let's hope this fixes it.

Google camshaft position sensor ..

Henry Ford III

I'd be writing to the dealer and detailing the issues with the car. Tell them if it's not 100% right this time you'll reject the car and expect a refund.

mik_da_man

veganrun wrote: »

Yeah, not ideal! Anyway hopefully this sorts the problem. Not sure how confident I am in the car now but it's still under warranty until October so if anything breaks between now and then, it will be covered. Am thinking about trading it in after that. It's a shame as it's a nice car.

You should look for an extension to that warranty if you plan on keeping it any longer. I'd look for it either way tbh.

veganrun

Good idea. I'll talk to them about that when I go to pick it up

veganrun

They just called and the car is fixed, picking it up tomorrow.

Special Circumstances

veganrun wrote: »

They just called and the car is fixed, picking it up tomorrow.

Hope you unlearn the experience, let go of what you know

veganrun

Have the car back about 3.5 weeks at this stage. I'm fairly sure the coolant is dropping again though It's definitely not as full as it was and it's about half way between min and max. Not sure what to do now. The warranty is up next month but I don't know if it's worth bringing the car back until the coolant is down at the minimum mark.

I went to a Honda dealer during the week and they said they would give me about 7100 for it, which is about the market price. I told him about the coolant issue too. It's a lovely car but I don't know how long to hold onto it.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

Sounds like your life will be much happier if you sell it and buy a Honda. Go for it!

allthedoyles

keep an eye on temp gauge my theory of head gasket could still be a runner

veganrun

I've been keeping an eye on the temp gauge and it seems ok. It goes up to half way after a few miles and stays there.

dingding

allthedoyles wrote: »

keep an eye on temp gauge my theory of head gasket could still be a runner

Would you notiice the water on the oil filler cap if thats the case or would it be into the exhaust.

allthedoyles

What you need to establish is if the coolant is going into the engine or not

veganrun

I had a good look around the engine yesterday. I checked the oil and didn't see any milky residue on it which I think can be a sign of a head gasket problem. I could see a red/pink spot on the water pump and the metal pipe above it that is connected to the coolant reservoir had a bit of rust or corrosion near the join.

Is a head gasket likely on a car less than 3 years old and with 23k miles on the clock?