WomanNoClue

hi
im new here and being a woman i admit i have no clue to anything mechanical with cars ,
i own a focus 1.8 TDCI on a 2003 plate , she has been brilliant for the last 6 months i have owned her , ive done 2 trips each 800 miles each with no problems at all ,

then yesterday i noticed my temp gauge had gone all the way up to the red and the car just slowed to a halt , i let it cool down and drove it to halfords and he advised "radwell" for now (for me to get back home the 22 miles) and he filled it with water he checked underneath and no water was leaking ,

today i go out and i noticed the temp gauge was going up again so topped up water only to my horror could hear is gushing straight back out (again i was around 20 miles from home) so i kept having to stop fill it quickly drive a little and kept doing that till i got back home , as im driving up my road i could hear a noise (like a loose cog noise) ,

there was a kind man who looked at it in one of the service stations and said it looked like there could be a break in the "block"

all i know is the water that was gushing out was a horrible brown colour not sure if its because of the radwell , but it seems more clearer now that more water has gone through

any ideas on how i can check myself , my husband recently left me and i know that garage prices will be huge and i wanted a heads up wether its going to be a "no point you might as well scrap it"

which saddens me , any help id be hugely appreciated
thanks in advance
louise

Sonic Boom

iTrader: (11)

Hi Louise
It's going to be pretty terminal if it's got a cracked block.
Any chance you can pin point where the water is coming from?
Might be the Thermostat housing, water pump, radiator, or even a hole in a coolant pipe which are all fixable.
Possible head gasket too
Rich

WomanNoClue

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WomanNoClue

i havent got a clue where it is coming from , i dont know how to even check , i know its directly under the water tank that there is a puddle where the water is coming from

Sonic Boom

iTrader: (11)

Without being able to tell where it's coming from or having alook myself there's very little I can tell you now.
You're going to have to bite the bullet and take it to a garage for them to have a look.
Rich

dojj

iTrader: (3)

brown water might be a sign of something else, it should be either blue or red depending on what colour coolant/antifreeze you have in there

they were very prone to cracking header tanks so it could be as simple as that (although the last time it took 3 weeks for one to turn up at the local ford dealer as the whole country was out of stock of them)

ask someone who you can trust to look at it and see what the problem is, it may well be more than the cars worth to fix or it might be a cheap fix, if you drove it overheating for any length of time it might have done more internal damage than you may first think

aa membership is sometimes worth its weight in gold

WomanNoClue

okay
THANK YOU BOTH for your help
i will deffo take it to the garage and fingers crossed it isnt a bad job , id give anything to be able to fix cars myself lol
thanks again
louise

Sonic Boom

iTrader: (11)

It would be a right result if it was only a cracked header tank, easy and cheap fix.
Let us know how you get on.
Rich

WomanNoClue

will deffo let you know

WomanNoClue

its currently being fixed , ive had 2 mechanics tell me its deffo the water pump , i paid £32 for the water pump and the mechanic charged me £40 for labour to to do it which hes currently doing it

Sonic Boom

iTrader: (11)

That's a great result, £72 all in is a good price.
Rich

dojj

iTrader: (3)

if that's all it is then it's a nice easy fix