2001 Mondeo water leak/ignition light

[zetec]

I took my Mondeo to a chain garage for a service/MOT (she's getting on a bit so main dealer costs cannot be justified). The service noted that I have a coolant leak, but garage being a fast fit centre they were not into diagnostics (I was assured it was nothing sinister ie. head gasket.). I had noticed that I had been losing coolant but it wasn't much and just put it down to normal use. The guy in the garage gave the the number of a guy who'd look at it for me.

However, as coolant loss isn't excessive (it is still on maximum, though I do notice the odd puddle but I put that down to air con condensation) I haven't called the guy. But, I have noticed my battery light (ignition warning light so the manual calls it) has been coming on during normal driving. It only comes on for less than a minute, not every day and has only started since the service.

I'm a bit concerned as the guy at the garage has given me the number of a 'mate' of his.

Can anyone here shed some light on what the problem could be?

Thanks.

[Dave_ST220]

Does the light come on at high revs?

[zetec]

Yes, I noticed it came on after I had accelerated hard to join a dual carriageway on saturday. But yesterday it also came on as I trundled along at a steady 70mph after no heavy acceleration.

[Jon GT2]

I would suspect an alternator fault or alternator wiring fault(Bad connection,chaffed cable etc).

[Dave_ST220]

Sounds like alternator failing If going to a Ford dealer talk to bank manager first!!!

[dern]

Water leaks are always important and need sorting because small leaks can turn in to big leaks very quickly indeed and if you're cruising on the motorway and lose all coolant it could get pretty expensive depending on how hot the block gets.

If the light is the charging light then it's the alternator. On our last mondeo this happened with two alternators. The first one simply stopped working after two years of the light lighting up at high revs. Basically the alternator carried on working fine for ages but when it failed left us stranded. The second time the light came on as the bearings started to fail and the alternator momnentarily siezed. After 6 months the bearings completely gave way and siezed. In both cases we (I) made a decision to see how long the alternator lasted based on the fact that the car wasn't being used for commuting or anything critical and the alternators were expensive and changing them was an absolute bastard of a job. This was on a 2.5 v6 so if yours is simpler/cheaper I'd be tempted to sort it out rather than getting stranded somewhere expecially as we head towards winter.