I need help - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Rmyers · 12-01-2002, 09:27

My cars sick, i need to hear possible causes for the symptoms :)

My situation:
Losing water every three days, but absolutely no obvious leaks anywere
The oil has NO water in it, it is pretty dirty (although the oil cap has a very tiny amount of that white crap that comes when you mix oil and water) but NONE in the oil itself.
Pretty rough idle, but engines as sooth as ever when driving.

I had my radiator flushed the last two times I had a service (at my request), so I doubt that this is the problem.

Can anyone suggest a possible cause for this, I'm leaning towards the headgasket :(

TopGhia · 12-01-2002, 11:14

What sorta car is it? 6 or 8cyl? mileage?
Read this one, it covers it pretty well.

http://www.misterfixit.com/headgskt.htm or
http://home.att.net/~ccatanese/ford/howx.htm
and this one is good too:
http://www.salemboysauto.com/faqs/faq-19.htm

Let us know how you go.

vbman187 · 12-01-2002, 15:32

A few months back i was losing water every 2 - 3 days, and there where no signs of it in the oil. However it ended up being the good Old head Gasket.

I cant remember if it idle funny or not? it did at one stage and for memory the mechanic fixed that the same time he fixed the head gasket.

12-01-2002, 16:50

I had the same problem not long ago, turns out the butterfly valve for the heater(hiding behind the throttle body) going into the firewall had corroded....Common problem, never showed any water on the ground....but it was the fault in the end......

mick

Bass Crazy · 12-01-2002, 17:50

Sorry to say, But my guess would be the head gasket.

A simple test.

Let it sit overnight. In the morning, remove all the spark plugs, and crank the engine. If you see water being sprayed out of the cylinders, then the gasket is leaking water into the cylinder.

Let Us know how you go.

crodarian · 12-01-2002, 22:44

My ED was pissing out water but could never see where it came from, turns out it was a busted heater hose hidden under the injector rail and was an absolute pain in the arse to fix it. Hope that helps

Rmyers · 12-01-2002, 23:03

Thanx for the help guys, I'm crossing my fingers that it' s something small, but I reckon it's just wishful thinking. I'll get one of our family friends to check it out, so i'll know soon enough

blueoval · 12-02-2002, 02:56

Does your car run on LPG? If so, the water loss maybe contributed there too. But yes, get the thing pressure tested asap.

Regards
blueoval

vbman187 · 12-02-2002, 03:07

good point i forgot about that, i also had a slight prob where the gas convertor had a small leak. might check that out. Wait till its cold have a look at it.

i found a little puddle of coolant sitting in a groove on the converter

Rmyers · 12-02-2002, 09:17

Nope, it doesn't run on LPG