Hi all,
Noticed a mysterious pool of liquid under my wife's 2001/Y 1.8 Tddi Endura Focus Ghia. It's not oily, have checked the levels and they all seem fine, coolant doesn't seem to be depleting. No warning lights on the dash either. My only guess would be air-con condensation being emitted, but how long is this likely to last? I noticed it on Saturday and it's still slowly dripping. It seems to be dripping from underneath the car engine bay slightly off-centre more towards the passenger side. It seems to be clear liquid, doesn't have a smell to it, so I don't think it's windscreen fluid.
The car seems to be driving OK, doesn't seem to be running poorly.
Does anyone have any ideas? Having never owned an air-con fitted car myself, It's a bit of a mystery - the wife only uses the air-con sporadically, but I follow the Ford manual which instucts running the air con for at least 30mins per month.
Any suggestions really appreciated!
Many thanks
Pootle
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From your description this fluid sounds very much like a/c condensate which is just water.Nothing to worry about as all cars with a/c will do this.
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Be careful. I know some who thought they had a fluid leak.
It was a clear fluid, with a possibly yellow tint.
They put their finger in it. It didn't feel like oil, more like water.
It had a strong pungent smell.
It tasted awful!
The neighbour had a cat!!!!
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@ elekie&a/c doctor: Thanks for your reply - that's a relief we bought the car to replace a Matiz that regularly left puddles of coolant, and oil so I automatically thought the worst! I couldn't think of anything else likely - but I would like to know (I'm not a mechanic, as you've probably already guessed!), how long is the car likely to leak fluid for, and on how regular a basis?
@ tom: lol! I've not tasted it, but I'm pretty sure there's no cat involved ;)
Thanks again,
Pootle
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Dont know if they use the same gearbox,but my petrol focus had a leak from the clutch fluid supply pipe that goes into the gearbox.Where it enters the gearbox they have a small metal type sleeve that according to the focus forums very often cracks and leaks(hardly any) yellow tinted clutch fluid.Well known weak spot of the focus but cheap to put right(if you are going to do it yourself).
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Hmmm, my Ford aircon does drop condensate in 'hot ' weather, but it soon evaporates and leaves no lasting marks. It would be fairly soon after stopping too.
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I took it to Ford, and felt like an idiot (an immensely relieved idiot) when they told me was the air con condensating. It's the Ghia model so has the quickclear feature. What apparently happens is that the aircon is automatically activated if you switch the airflow to the 'windscreen' icon (the icon is orange coloured). Helpfully(!), the aircon activation light stays off, so you wouldn't know if you were driving it around with the aircon on all the time. Saying that, was getting 50+ mpg!
Also, the condensing pipe from the aircon drips onto the subframe, and the water finds it own way out - ours was dripping from 2 places, so it looked like multiple leaks.
In my defence, my own car is a '99 Mazda 323F in what I can only describe as a 'puritan' trim level, so I'm not used to air-con!
Btw, how often should the air con be serviced? Are there any signs to look out for that would suggest it needs servicing?
Many thanks
Pootle
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Hope that subframe is nicely painted & rustproofed!
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Btw, how often should the air con be serviced? Are there any signs to look out for that would suggest it needs servicing?
Sounds like its working ok so I would leave well alone, tbh. If it fails to produce chilly air when when switched on, then it might need a regas.
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There is nothing really to service at home on the aircon system as such, there is usually a pollen filter to change somewhere, well worth doing because they do clog up and stifle the airflow through the heating/cooling system. Some people also use an anti-bacterial spray on the evaporator/ducting to kill any stale smells.
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