[Pete-ST]

Hi Ford people's 🙂

Posting in miscellaneous as it seems the right place

I regularly drive about 3 and a half hours to see my squeeze down the road in old trusty... But the last run I did I noticed once I got on the motorway and started cruising at 80 the temperature gauge was sitting higher than normal at about 3/4, now I know from reading that this is a bit of a guess from the ecu iirc? However when I got home I checked my oil and coolant and found the coolant had gone down below the min level by about an inch, still a good bit in there but where's that gone?

I always check my levels before I go down the road and all was good before I left, I had not long had a service, and before the garage service I'd changed the oil and coolant myself a few months before, so good oil and good coolant

I topped up slightly on the coolant and it seems fine now, the temp goes back down to around half way driving at 60, am I just being paranoid with this coolant loss and temp?

With this cold weather over the past couple of months I've noticed when I boot it that there seems to be a more than normal whitish vapour from the exhaust.....surley not the turbo giving up? Just the cold air?

And nobody say HG 🤫

Anyone think I have an issue? Seems to run smooth enough and I've not noticed high temps other than the motorway, because I've done the bolt ons I'm slightly worried I've over stretched the engine, obviously more stresses there than stock

Pete

 

[Sean B]

You say you checked the coolant level when you got home, did you let the car cool down first? The coolant would naturally be lower when the car is hot as the thermostat will be open and there will be coolant in the radiator. As the car cools the thermostat will close and coolant will drain back into the header tank. In the cold weather you will see more 'white vapour' - this is steam. Your exhaust is hot, the air is cold. Is like when you first go outside on a cold day and you can see your breath - the colder it is the more you can see it.

Might be worth keeping an eye on but it doesn't sound like you have an issue to be honest - I'd expect the car to get a little warmer at sustained speed, it has to work harder.

 

[Pete-ST]

Hi Sean,

I did let the car cool, checked again in the morning aswell, still a bit under
Seeing as it hasn't shown any further drop I'll just keep an eye on it, think I'm being paranoid, reading too much about Ringland stuff, coupled with the increase in temp I might be being OTT

I'll check hoses- radiator - w.pump-header tk anyway when I do the belts just to be on the safe side.

Thanks for replying, assuages the anxiety 👊🏻

 

[Sean B]

The oil temp in my Mk3s used to get higher than normal after a spirited drive. But driving normally the last mile or so home would see the temperature drop back to normal - something you should really do anyway if you're not already to prolong the life of the turbo. Checking hoses etc is a good plan, I'd do that with the car warmed up so there is pressure in the system and any leaks should be reasonably obvious. Otherwise unless the engine starts running rough (the idle can hunt a little, it's the ecoboost system trying to find the balance between revs and economy), missing etc then I wouldn't worry too much

 

[Pete-ST]

The oil temp in my Mk3s used to get higher than normal after a spirited drive. But driving normally the last mile or so home would see the temperature drop back to normal - something you should really do anyway if you're not already to prolong the life of the turbo. Checking hoses etc is a good plan, I'd do that with the car warmed up so there is pressure in the system and any leaks should be reasonably obvious. Otherwise unless the engine starts running rough (the idle can hunt a little, it's the ecoboost system trying to find the balance between revs and economy), missing etc then I wouldn't worry too much

Cheers Sean, good advice, yes I always give the car a "warm down" 👍🏻