water leak from front of diesel engine in rcz

[danieldavid]

Hi, in case anyone has any ideas on how to proceed, ive removed undertray, noticed the sump had surface rust from water dripping down front of engine, so wire brushed and hamerired it. So its leaking coolant from the front of the engine above the level of the rim of the top of the sump somewhere. Ive attached 2 pics, its coming through the bolt position in the middle of the pic under the car, and theres a wet area above the sump ring on the pic of the top of the engine in the centre. The oil is black and free of water, the coolant is free of oil, thankfully!. Any advice on how to proceed on deducing what needs changed from anyones experience and knowledge would be appreciated. Should i just buy seals for the egr and oil cooer and do both as theres so much to be stripped? or do you see an easy way to determine which. Should i buy one of those probe cameras to try to work out exactly where its coming from from front. As far as i can see the two water pipes coming out above the join between engine and gearbox where the bleed screw is for coolant, seem fine. Im guessing its unlikely a hole in the block releasing water or a water only head gasket leak. Im guessing it might be the oil cooler, im guessing it might be the egr housing, both are strapped onto the front of the diesel engine. When the engine starts running without even having the coolant expansion cap on without pressure, starts the drip around every second almost instantaneously.

Im ready to change belts and waterpump and oil, but want to try to sort the water leak first to only use one set of fluids... Could it be seaping from some other component, ive got the drivers side jacked up more than passengers so guessing water is moving towards middle of car more than normal when it fibally drips from low point, but pretty sure its not coming from rear of engine, cross over or thermostrat housing. Hope its not head gasket one way water leak, or pin hole in block, ive only seen the later once in searches over past few days, thanks..

many thanks for any advice its a 2.0 diesel rcz

 

[EddieJ]

Hi, I stay away from diesel cars, sorry just a personal thing…dirty oul things, but where you leak is possibly coming from I think I would have a thermostat housing, oil filter housing gaskets (full set, not just block) as well as the egr. I would also be prepared for a bit of time cleaning off carbon build up. Hopefully that way when you tear into it and do all those you not only fix the leak, but also hit the common ones before they do. Also have a really good look around the turbo pipes.

 

[rczpali]

Would suggest trying a pressure test kit... if the leak isnt obvious... very easy to attach to the expansion tank, apply pressure and the leak would hopefully reveal itself. Just traced leak on my 1.6 petrol and also made sure there were no other leaks using one of these kits. They are around £50 on amazon. Hope you get it sorted soon. Good Luck

 

[rczpali]

This is the kit I purchased BOOMSTART 28Pcs Universal Radiator Pressure Tester and Car Vacuum Cooling System Tester Tool Kit Applicable for Audi for VW for BMW : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

 

[danieldavid]

Thanks kindly for responses, ive thought about getting the pressure kit, but thankfully it drips even when not running and not under presaure, i almost bought a snake camera, but got my top of one of my mobile phones in under the front components and the damp patch is around the oil cooler as far as i can see. It looks like one of the bolts might be missing on this, i think there are meant to be 4, unless its recessed, thats a tight place to work in, ive ordered a gasket set, will try to strip it down soon. Thankfully when i did timing belt yeterday, the coolant that poored out was free of oil so pretty convinved no mixing, even the oil is black, im guessing a failure in just the part of the gasket against the block that carries coolant only. Apparently the new mini is even more tight a place to work in. thanks again. I noticed there are no videos on youtube or threads on this site on doing diesel cambelt, i might put a thread on my approach to it, that was a fidly job to do, due to complexities, many thanks again, thankfully ive ruled out the items to the rear of the block like the crossover pipe and thermostat housing as the leak is from the fron on the hdi.

 

[danieldavid]

Just to show further findings on this, i ordered the following item from ebay, has 4 gaskets for resealing the join from oil cooler to engine block, and i think the o ring as well for the coolant pipe, with the coolant pipe also. Ive looked at the oil coolere design and compared to othes and as far as i can see the oil is only going theough the circular area that meets the block, with a quarter and three quarters split by direction i think, and the two metal pipes coming off the housing must be for coolant, this seems more simple than the other peugeot oil cooler thats on many vehicles which has 6 not 4 openings. So given ive got a coolant leak behind the oil cooler, i can only think it has to be the little 4 inch long rubber pipe or o ring than the actual gasket, as its coolant not oil. Ive tried to work out how to get into it, and as far as i can see there are 3 nuts to be removed, possibly 8mm or a bit more, they are tight to access due to pipes everywhere. I think im going to have to undo those 3 nuts to take the oil cooler out in order to get to the pipe behind, i cant even get my mobile with video running to determine if theres any leak from it, its so tight a space with the oil cooler in place. I thought removing the oil filter cover and filter would help but it still doesnt reveal the bottom majority of the rubber coolant pipe. The kit has the replacement pipe in so will probably replace this and o ring and the gasket on the back of the oil cooler, once ive disturnbed the oil oil gasket. I dont see any issues with the connection between the little rectangular radiator and the rest of the oil cooler so i never ordered those gaskets. Getting the oil filter out is tricky, i ended up using a large adjustable spanner, and turning about 1/16 of a turn at a time, but got the oil filter out eventually. Ive not seen such a difficult to access oil filter on a car. In the pic, the pipe is the one coming out the engine in the middle, black plastic right angle joint with a metal clip holding to the hose, there must be a clip further down at other end, im guessing that might be where leak is on mine.

the item on ebay is under

OIL COOLER GASKET SEAL SET FOR FORD FOCUS III GALAXY IIGRAND C-MAX I 1103.L4 item 256571289934

i paid about £7 from MYS AUTO, it arrived quite quickly

I'll let you all know if this resolves but i cant think anywhere else the coolant leak could be coming from, in case anyone has similar issue, its a common issue it seems