Suspected leaking radiator - Ford Fiesta 2001

[mundo]

I've been filling the expansion tank with ready mixed antifreeze but now my local halfords seems to have stopped selling this so I just wanted to check what water I should use when mixing the concentrate. Can I use tap water or should I use de-ionised water instead?

 

[Glassman]

I'd use de-ionised water only!
Ordinary water has lime in it which furrs up inside the radiator and other parts over time.

I usually mix to a ratio of 50/50 water and coolant

 

[mundo]

Thanks for that, I wasn't sure what mix to do it but your 50/50 sounds good aswell with the de-ionised water.

 

[mundo]

OK, the new expansion tank cap has arrived so I'm going to give this a try. Not too confident that this will do the trick but worth a try anyway I think for a few quid.

I'm still trying to find out where the leak is coming and from the wet patch on the floor it seems to be to the left of the radiator but further back under the engine so not coming from the radiator itself although all hoses are OK.

 

[keyplayer]

It's possibly the water pump (left hand side from front ie offside) leaking. However, I'm getting confused. Did your garage properly pressure test the system or not? Or did they just test the rad? (never seen this done)

 

[mundo]

Funny you should say that as a friend of mine looked at the car today and he said that he's pretty certain that it's the water pump, so hopefully that won't be too expensive to replace.

In terms of the garage pressure testing the radiator that's basically what they told me so I don't know exactly what they did and what they didn't.

I'll get to the bottom of this eventually but can see light at the end of the tunnel now!

 

[mundo]

Have taken it into a different garage today and they have said that it's the thermostat which is leaking so will have to wait and see if replacing this does the trick. At least I know a bit more about what's what under the bonnet now, thanks for your help guys.