Possible coolant leak after timing belt change

jase1

Had the timing belt changed recently on my car, with the water pump changed also. Garage also changed a few of the core plugs also (yes, it's a Ford) due to evidence of corrosion. Replaced the coolant as a matter of course.

700 miles or so later (and I am a fool for not checking earlier, I know) the coolant level was down by about 250-500ml. I've looked around and can see no evidence of leaks, and of course will keep an eye on this.

What are the most likely points for the engine to be losing coolant? Could it simply be the system "bedding in" after all the changes (in which case the top-up should be the end of it)? The car did not lose more than 100-200ml of coolant in the previous 10,000 miles.

Flying-High_2

Probably settled down after being drained/replaced for the pump.. Wouldnt worry too much just keep an eye on it.

NeverAgain_2

Perhaps the garage didn't fully fill the system - its easy to forget to turn on the heater.

I don't think you have anything to worry about, but keep a note of when you topped up and how much.

If you lose more coolant over the next few hundred miles, then take it back to the garage.

I hope you topped up with water or the same colour coolant.

Different colours do not mix well and can form a jelly.

jase1

NeverAgain wrote: »

Different colours do not mix well and can form a jelly.

Oh dear.

I initially dismissed this but it seems I could have made an almighty f*** up here.

The coolant that is in there is the pink stuff. The type I replaced it with -- the only one in the shop -- was blue.

And now I have no real choice but to drive it 150 miles in the morning.

Eek.

cyclonebri1

Hopefully just an air lock in the system that has now found it's way to the expansion tank. As above carefull monitoring needed.

The only other worries are that the core plugs they replaced would have been plugging the water gallery, could be a source of the leak.
Park it up over paper to check.;)

jase1

Right, just been looking into this one.

The blue stuff I bought is ethanediol-based, which I now understand is the older glycol-based stuff. The existing is pink, which *may* mean it's the newer silicate-based coolant but there seems to be some debate about whether this will actually be the newer stuff or not.....

I'm going to have to keep an eye on the situation and replace completely at the earliest opportunity....

jase1

This makes no sense. I'd greatly appreciate some guidance on this one.

Comma sell a 'red' coolant that is supposed to be compliant with the Ford standard (WSS-M97B44-D), which is OAT. But when you look at their technical specification the active component is MEG, which is the 'old' type. So just because the car has pink antifreeze doesn't mean that it isn't the same stuff effectively as I have just put in!!

The truth seems to be a hell of a sight more complicated than "pink/blue". I'm going to have to have a word with the mechanic to see exactly what was in there.

jase1

OK, this has been an educational couple of hours

From what I can see, the difference between red and blue coolant is the inclusion of certain organic additives to the red stuff to increase its life. What I don't see is this: if the blue stuff is MEG and the red stuff is MEG plus extras, how exactly does adding a diluted solution (around 33% by the looks of things) of additive-free MEG-based coolant cause merry hell with the existing stuff (which is a diluted solution to begin with)? This, to me, is similar to adding semi-synth oil to a 100%-synth as a top-up -- not completely ideal but hardly likely to break anything.

Lesson learned of course, but this isn't an emergency deal -- is it?

NeverAgain_2

...but this isn't an emergency deal -- is it?...

No, don't think so.

If what's in the header tank looks to be normal anti-freeze consistency, there shouldn't be a problem.

jase1

Yeah, I am going to be watching the levels carefully over the following few weeks so if it even begins to become a problem I will know within 150 miles or so.

I will also look into replacing the whole lot before the winter regardless of what happens.

As far as I can tell, the OAT organic (pink) mixture is in fact a hybrid of the older inorganic (IAT) and OAT technology, so adding a bit of IAT should not cause a problem, but I am taking nothing for granted. Thanks for the alert, it is better that I know about my mistake than not regardless of whether it causes problems.

The next question, of course, is whether I do this myself one weekend, or wait and get the garage to do it in 11,000 miles

mchale

I've yet to see any evidence that mixing anti freeze causes probs, could it be a marketing ploy by the manufacturers?