SportKa MOT advisories question - oil leak

salubrious

AliceBanned wrote: »

Well you don't even know what the problem is yet, so how can you can't really say that. It is no more a money pit than any car - probably most of them are but we have to get around.

It's your car, do as you see fit.

Those of us who have better knowledge of these cars than yourself know that you're heading down a path that is going to end up costing more and more money.

As usual with this forum people only hear what they want to hear, all the best

Richard53

AliceBanned wrote: »

I have just had another look, and the liquid is still slowly coming out. I have put newspaper underneath so that I can see it properly. It looked coffee coloured/reddish brown before and quite thin.

If this is the 'coolant', then make sure you have the system properly flushed and filled with the correct anti-freeze mix when you get the problem solved. The red-brown is rust, and it's there because someone in the past has filled the cooling system with plain water, perhaps to save money. Water works OK as a coolant, but anti-freeze is essential all year round as not only does it help to prevent freezing in winter but acts to inhibit corrosion at all times. Plain water encourages rust inside the radiator and pipework, leading to blockages which can cause overheating and ultimate failure.

Joe_Horner

Seems to me that the only "repair" costs in the past year with this car have been the sill treatment, a lambda sensor, and whatever this turns out to be. The rest are simple running costs which you'll get with any car.

This could be anything from a holed radiator or split pipe to a sudden overheat causing the engine to boil and dump its water - that may or may not be serious. My partner's "new" Mondeo did that twice about a month ago, always on low-speed parking after a bit of a run. First time put it down to an unfamiliar car that may have had a slow leak so just refilled it and watched. The coolant didn't drop until it suddenly did it again a week later in the same car park.

When I had a look it turned out that someone had removed the fuse for the cooling fan. It was still in the fuse box, but tucked into a corner with tape to hold it in place.

It appears that some on here would advocate writing the car off as scrap before even seeing if it's something as simple as that just because it's needed a couple of small repairs and some normal running costs over the past year. Wouldn't be surprised if they also replace their cars when the fuel gauge drops too far!

AliceBanned

salubrious wrote: »

It's your car, do as you see fit.

Those of us who have better knowledge of these cars than yourself know that you're heading down a path that is going to end up costing more and more money.

As usual with this forum people only hear what they want to hear, all the best

As usual with this forum people get pedantic and throw their dummy out the pram.

You don't have better knowledge of my specific car. I have it in front of me.

AliceBanned

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Seems to me that the only "repair" costs in the past year with this car have been the sill treatment, a lambda sensor, and whatever this turns out to be. The rest are simple running costs which you'll get with any car.

This could be anything from a holed radiator or split pipe to a sudden overheat causing the engine to boil and dump its water - that may or may not be serious. My partner's "new" Mondeo did that twice about a month ago, always on low-speed parking after a bit of a run. First time put it down to an unfamiliar car that may have had a slow leak so just refilled it and watched. The coolant didn't drop until it suddenly did it again a week later in the same car park.

When I had a look it turned out that someone had removed the fuse for the cooling fan. It was still in the fuse box, but tucked into a corner with tape to hold it in place.

It appears that some on here would advocate writing the car off as scrap before even seeing if it's something as simple as that just because it's needed a couple of small repairs and some normal running costs over the past year. Wouldn't be surprised if they also replace their cars when the fuel gauge drops too far!

:rotfl:Thanks Joe. Exactly. Some slight overreactions just because I post about every little thing. If everyone else did that on a thread their cars wouldn't sound economical either.

Also I'd be a complete moron if I wasn't already worrying enough about the costs. Doh I know I'm throwing money at it but on balance it is still worth it..based on my knowledge of its condition to date.

And look at all those hours of tlc last summer!

AliceBanned

Oh Joe I forgot to add..the 'temperature' warning light came on (first time ever) as I was driving into the NCP..I went shopping and came back an hr or so later to see the brown fluid in a long pool under length of car and beyond.

Joe_Horner

AliceBanned wrote: »

Oh Joe I forgot to add..the 'temperature' warning light came on (first time ever) as I was driving into the NCP..I went shopping and came back an hr or so later to see the brown fluid in a long pool under length of car and beyond.

Entirely possible that it was an overheat leading to the coolant blowing out of the expansion tank then. You should certainly let the garage know (if you haven't already) about the light - if they're any good they'll suss it anyway but may save a little diagnosis time.

I'm not familiar with the Ka engines but our Mondeo sat dead centre on the gauge until climbing to red in a matter of 30 seconds or so, by which time the coolant was spraying everywhere. Even with the engine turned off immediately there was a good 2 1/2 litres lost. No other damage done, even with it doing the same again a week later.

Rapid overheating like that is quite common when the car's been running reasonably fast, building up heat, then slows or stops and loses airflow through the radiator. Obviously the fan should keep air flowing but something as minor as a blown fuse or bad connection can easily stop that happening.

Of course, more serious things can cause it as well (and further damage can be done by overheating if you're unlucky) but until the garage has looked you won't know. And damage from a brief, one-off, overheat is fairly rare regardless of the horror stories out there.

Will keep fingers crossed for the old thing and look forward to the diagnosis

AliceBanned

OK yes that sounds quite possible. I only knew in retrospect that it was the temperature warning light. They are quite hard to decipher sometimes. It was just a minute or so and as I then parked and walked away I didn't notice anything. I would know in future if I see it again!

AliceBanned

I didn't look at the temperature gauge at the time as I had no idea it was a temperature problem, or any real problem at all. I'm usually paying more attention to the fuel gauge.

salubrious

AliceBanned wrote: »

As usual with this forum people get pedantic and throw their dummy out the pram.

You don't have better knowledge of my specific car. I have it in front of me.

Like I said, all the best, it's your money, your car, and your problem.

My dummy is still firmly in place thanks