Ive owned my focus for 12 months now and the coolant has dropped like 2mm in that time. now all of a sudden i check my car today to find i had lost over a litre! i topped it back up and its dropped slightly already but there are no wet patches on the road under my car or on anything under the bonnet. where is it all going ?! theres no white gunk forming inside my rocker cover and the oil is still jet black so i dont think its the head gasket. heater matrix is possible but the footwells are bone dry. can anyone help?

also when i start my car i can hear a tappy scratchy kinda noise coming from the engine bay when the engine is idling and it makes the sound more frequently when i rev the engine relative to the revs. it goes away after a short while but it does not sound healthy at all. its not squeaking like a drive belt, more of a tapping noise which wasnt heard before a couple of weeks ago.

any help would greatly be appreciated. apart from this. My focus is the most reliable car i have ever owned and id definitely buy another!

 

What engine does it have ?

 

1.8 16 valve zetec petrol.

 

Check the seal in the thermostat housing. Mine done that an the seal was shagged. ( ford said it a common problem) mine a st170 but could be the same problem. Worth a check. But only ford sale these o rings

 

As for the tapping noise, maybe a bearing or something

 

oil should be brown, not black. When was it last serviced?

 

That's what I was going to suggest but without knowing the engine type it would have been guess work. As said the gasket around the thermostat housing can leek quite badly but it usually gets boiled off so you hardly ever notice it !

 

the oil has a brown look to it yeah so i know the oil is ok. as for the coolant leak ive found the problem. its leaking out of the lid. i understand its meant to release after a certain ammount of pressure and i know i have no overfilled the system. could the lid be no good?

as for the scratching noise i will record it and post it here.

 

There is a chance it could be the lid and as it won't break the bank I'd buy one and see what happens, either that or you could get the cooling system pressure or sniff tested ?

 

tbf mate ill just buy a lid. the car cost me 120 quid and looks like a shed on the outside. not gonna dig too deep.