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Hi there

I currently have my car out of action as I drove it to its death on advice from a garage and I just wanted to get an opinion on it.

Basically the story goes like this, the car started to over heat so I took it into the garage and they replaced the water pump as they could see a leak around it. After this had been done I started to hear bubbling/sloshing noises from behind the dashboard while driving. I told this to the garage and they said for me to bring it in to have a look, I took it in and they said that it was air trapped in the heater matrix that I could hear and told me how to get rid of the bubbles that made this noise (park the car on an angle and run the engine with the water cap open till it stops bubbling) They assured me that this was all it was and not to be worried about it. I did this but still had the noise, I called them and said I am still getting this bubbling noise and its overheating, took it back to the garage and they said that its just the air trapped, the mechanic then unbolted the water tank and lifted it higher (or lower, I cant remember which one) than the car to try get this air out, and said not to be worried its just air and it would work its way out. so I took the car home and did this myself and still had the issue.

I continued to drive with the "air bubbles" as I was assured it would work its way out and was not an issue. After a few weeks of driving on it with the same noises and it starting to overheat again I took it back saying I am still having the noise and its overheating again, they then investigated further and said maybe its a blown head gasket and to take it to a ford dealer, I did so..........as soon as the mechanic at the ford dealership started the vehicle they could tell by this sound that the gasket was blown and that this noise I was hearing for weeks on end was actually coolant running through the gas line and was killing my engine, then engine is now beyond repair and needs replacing.

What I want to know is if these noises and the symtoms I stated to my garage should have been a clear indicator that the gasket was blown or about to blow? Should they not have picked this up?

I have done a bit of a google and a lot of pages say that "bubbles" and "bubbling noises" among other things are big indicators?

I feel really let down by their service and am now stuck paying off a lump of metal in my garage that does nothing.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Dan

Sounds like you didn’t get the best service or advice from your mechanic. Overheating is a funny thing and can play some tricks.
The gurgling noise in behind the dash is a sign of trapped air in the heater system and some cars can bleed themselves. Some cars are very hard to bleed, especially the ones where the ones where the coolant filler is not at the highest point of the cooling systems.
Mechanics have tried all sorts of tricks, like filling the cooling system through a disconnected heater hose, modifying the system by fitting a by-pass hose, or elevating the front of the vehicle.
A small amount of air trapped in the heater normally doesn’t cause an engine to overheat; it is more of a nuisance than anything else.

When an engine overheats, it can cause weakening of the cylinder head gasket. A weeping head gasket may not be detected straight away and may only show up a few weeks down the track. In some cases, the cause of the overheating can be fixed and the engine may have no signs of a head gasket issue. A sure sign of a problem is bubbling water in the filling point.
Bubbles are only created by heat or by gas.
It sounds like your Mondeo had an ever so slightly leaking head gasket, probably caused when the engine initially overheated. The repeated gurgling sounds in the heater should have given your mechanics a clue. They, not you, should have investigated further. At that point it was probably too late already, the damage was done.
In the garages defence, after your engine overheated for the first time and the garage replaced the water pump, there may not have been any sign of a head gasket problem. They could have done nothing else to prevent the gasket from blowing further. The head gasket was weakened and the damage was done.

Even though your mechanic could have done better, it was probably too late already to save the engine.

Hi There, i got same problem with my car, My car was drinking toomuch coolent water every two or three of weeks since i bought, i thought it's mondeo problem 2004. couple of week before i was getting gurgling noise as soons as i tun on car,and i was driving it with little jurk in car. after that one day early morning couple of Kilometer i drove and whole engine fail with computer error. I turn ON gain and it was working fine for another week. after that i got same problme again in morning 3 to 4 times and wasn't ablet to drive much. hence i took to mechnaince and tested for one day and next day he rand me it;s working fine.when i gone to Pickup at evening he is telling still little misfiring in car. he check again and next day he told me that it's got colent water leak into gasket, need to replace whole engine. but still the car is workign fine some times and drivable. If it's engine blowen hoe can a person drive the car for certain distance? i dont understnd is it really engine blowne or electrical fault.

Can you please help with this problem? Thanks