I have a 51 plate Focus with a 1.8 TDDI engine which broke down the other day - no power and the temp gauge was off the scale!
The Ford dealer says the water pump is leaking (not broken, just leaking a bit) and fittinga new one will costs hundreds!
Apparently it involves taking half the engine apart and so I get a new timing belt and a big hole in my bank account. I rang a local independant garage and they said stick with the Ford dealer as it's a bit too tricky for them.
Now I have never seen any water underneath the car so I am inclined to think that it's a slow leak, although there does seem to be a tendency for TDDIs to have this fault.
My question is this: if it's only a small leak then would it be worth spending a few quid on radweld to see if that stops the leak? I don't want to do Ford out of business, but over £400 is an awful lot of cash and I can think of other ways to spend it....
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if water pump gone then the seals/bearings are going/gone.......... a pump is cheaper than an engine
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Personally I never use Radweld or any other cooling system additives - they can cause a lot of trouble in the long term.
The leak is not going to fix itself - you don't really have a choice but to renew the pump - if its suddenly fails in a big way then the engine could be scrap.
Agree that its a poor design on these engines though.
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Exactly the same happened on my 2002 TDDI Focus. The water pump started to leak and I wouldn't consider Radweld as it isn't likely to last very long.
My local independant did the job with a non-ford pump for £180 of which around £60 was the pump. I think a genuine ford pump was around £90 but they're obviously a weak design.
This happened at around 50k and seems to be pretty common on this engine.
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Thank you one and all. Sound advice, as ever.
The dealer said that it is "unusual" for this to happen, but reports on this site plus Snakey's and my own experiences indocate otherwise. To add insult to injury they can't get their hands on the parts for another week!!! Total logistics failure!
At least I get a new timing belt, gasket, etc, etc for my money.
The dealer so far has not excelled in the customer service area either, but there is time for that to improve.
Looks like I'll just have to brace the old bank account for a battering!
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Forgot to mention that the mileage is about 56,000 - spookily close to when Snakey had the same trouble.
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Had this happen to my 2.0l Focus two weeks ago, there was coolant loss (about half a litre) over a two week period, coolant stains on my driveway and fresh-ish water hanging from the a/c compressor (stick your head under the front and look next to the auxilliary belt cover see if you can see/feel any liquid).
The leak started out a month ago as unnoticable and progressed at an alarming rate, cost about £440 at an independent, Warranty Direct paid 50%.
Involves Cam timing & auxilliary belt & tensioner replacement.
I strongly recommend you replace it ASAP as it will get worse VERY RAPIDLY!.
As a footnote, get the pump changed when you get the cambelt changed (100,000 miles) it'll cost a lot less if they already have the belts etc off.
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