The engine isnt running hot or anything but there is a faint trail of steam from the top left of the bay oil and water levels are okay the only thing its low on is power steering fluid....er headgasket on the way out perhaps??

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if the oil and water are ok ie no mayonaise on oil cap then it may not be head gasket

is it thick steam or more like vapour?

In the punto in the wet it used to steam in traffic as water boiled off the exhasut manifold lol

on the fiesta if i'd been driving for over 30 mins then stuck in some traffic and it started raining, my bonnet would steam due to heat.

if it's just in clear wether then maybe a pipe has corroded and is leaking hot water or something?

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Rest in peace Ben "Jam" Elvin. Gone but never forgotten.

no mayo at all have topped the oil up but it wasnt particularly low and it doesnt look to be using any water either. *shrugs* not sure what it is.

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Header Tank caps not sealing!

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RIP Ben. Gone but not forgotten.

SportKA - I've driven one and its deffinately a Girls car

Ford Fair 2010 0-60 7.45 secs Trek 4100

Save the trees, wipe your arse with a Cosworth

Could be a split hose leaking a small amount of water when hot??

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Tied

its like a vapour, its coming from quite far down, i.e. far enough to come up both sides of the inlet manifold. Still unsure what it is, suppose ill just drive it around and find out lol.

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Can you get under the car when it's hot and possibly running? Alot of leaks in pipes are only pinhole leaks, so only really show up when there's enough pressure in the coolant system and the water is hot. You may spot your leak then!

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Quote Clarkson, Top Gear, 17th July: "I'm not having a stroke... just driving a Nissan!"
Quote Ry, Mallory Park, 3rd Dec: "Ahhhh crap... Just a bit too over eager really!"
"I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow in the knee"

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i think the steam is coming from my power steering fluid i.e. im loosing so much of it that it must be

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Does it stink!

When my Rack died, the fluid was burning on the cat/exhaust and smelt really bad, is there a small reddish puddle under the car?

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RIP Ben. Gone but not forgotten.

SportKA - I've driven one and its deffinately a Girls car

Ford Fair 2010 0-60 7.45 secs Trek 4100

Save the trees, wipe your arse with a Cosworth

got it on some ramps and had a look underneath. Am having trouble identifying a leak because it seems to be coming from everywhere definitely leaking oil as well as Steering fluid I topped the steering fluid up yesterday which feels like a waste of time as this greeted me this morning:



Looking down the top left corner everything is damp / oily but i think this is where the Steering fluid is leaking from as all the pipes / connections are dry up until this point, the connection to the bottom right of the piccie (under the camera strap lol) is where it starts getting greasy but it doesnt look corroded and isnt loose so..



Looking from underneath there is just oil coating everything It doesnt show up particularly well in these pictures but any circular blobs were drips of oil..







Its well spread over everything so im not really sure where thats coming from Im wondering if its from the halfrauds oil filter, or if the oil is just dripping on to that and running underneath *shrugs*

Any help appreciated as per usual.

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The rack is leaking For sure!

Where is the Highest point of oil on the engine? You may need to clean the engine, take it for a spirited drive and check where the oil's coming from! But you will find that most Engines look like that, its mostly Road Film not oil all over the engine.

Check how tight the oil filter is, it could just be loose!

And make sure you DON'T let the Powersteering Run dry as it will kill the pump!

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RIP Ben. Gone but not forgotten.

SportKA - I've driven one and its deffinately a Girls car

Ford Fair 2010 0-60 7.45 secs Trek 4100

Save the trees, wipe your arse with a Cosworth

how much am i looking at for a new rack fittedf?

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if you can find out if it fits the mk5 rs2000 i am breaking had a power steering rack