[philreid]

Hey,

I've had a few problems with my Mondeo overheating, and recently when it's idling I get a fairly loud ticking sound and a vibration in the engine, as if it's about to stall. It hasn't actually stalled yet, but it's worrying me a bit.

I suspect the ticking could be a leak in the exhast downpipe near the manifold, but would that cause a vibration? Could there be something wrong with the idle control valve that's causing it to tick over at too low RPM?

I don't know much, so any info is appreciated!

Thanks!

Phil

 

[stumpeth]

there is a good chance that the ticking noise is the head gasket leaking, which could also cause the over heating. are you using any water? The poor running may be due to water leaking into the combustion chamber & causing a spark plug to fail.

have you changed the plastic impellor water pump for a steel impellor type? if the problem has been created because the water pump has failed, changing the pump may allow the car to run ok in the short term, untill you can fix the HG.

I had the same problem on my 97 V6 ghia! :sad:

So...
1) check the plugs to see if any of them are starting to look rusty - caused by the water.
2) keep an eye on the water levels.
3) check the water pump to see if the plastic impellor has started to crack.

or you could get a garage to check for signs of Co2 in the water which would indicate a HG problem.

 

[philreid]

Hey,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I suspect you may be right about the HG. Occasionally I do lose water, which causes the car to overheat. It's especially bad when stuck in traffic or sitting idling for too long.

I'll take a look at the plugs etc and maybe speak to a garage about checking it over. There is quite often an eggy smell which comes from the car when it's been running at high revs, could that be another sypmtom?

I had the water pump impellor replaced with a metal one last year, so that's not the problem.

If there is a minor leak from the HG, is there anything I can do without having it replaced? I only plan to keep the car for another six months so I don't want to spend too much on it.

Cheers :thumbup:

 

[stumpeth]

i ran my car for nearly a year with a leaking HG, so if you only want to keep it for 6 months you should be ok. just keep topping up the water!!!!

 

[philreid]

Cool, that's fine then. I assume there's nothing I can do to minimise the ticking sound for now?

 

[interdec]

You can buy stuff called "thermagasket". A few threads on here speak highly of it...do a search.

 

[Glenn]

I had ticking but no coolant loss. When I had the engine out in September I found a leaky rear bank exhaust manifold gasket.

 

[kerryw]

I had ticking but no coolant loss. When I had the engine out in September I found a leaky rear bank exhaust manifold gasket.

same as mine, no coolant loss but its losing oil. coming out mainly from near the manifolds!

 

[Richy]

I had ticking but no coolant loss. When I had the engine out in September I found a leaky rear bank exhaust manifold gasket.

Would this be difficult to fix, with the engine in the car??