Coolant loss after cambelt change. Fiesta 1.25 petrol 09

[stargazer30]

Hi Guys,

Bought an 09 fiesta 1.25 petrol recently for my sons first car. Its done 93000 and had no history of a cambelt change so we got it done as precaution.

Since getting it back its loosing coolant. It will go from max on the overflow tank to well below min/empty in 10 miles. I can see steam coming from the engine head near the rear right side where the coil pack is. I'm 100% it didn't have this fault before it went in as I have been checking coolant, oil etc.. regular with it been an old car with no history.

So question is, is this likely to have been caused when the belt was changed, does the head cover/rocker cover (think thats what its called) have to come off? If so could this be as easy as a new head gasget to fix?

I will call the garage back on Monday but I rather be pre-armed in case they try to fob me off.

Thanks

[Rat_Fink_67]

The rocker cover does come off to enable the camshaft locking tool to fit at the back, but to be fair to the garage you can fit a timing belt on a 1.25 Sigma engine without really disturbing any cooling system components, particularly that side of the engine. They'll probably have moved the header tank out of the way but that's about it. It might just be a bad coincidence.

Steam from that side of the engine, I'd be looking for a pinhole or split in one of the hoses down there that run to the heater matrix.