Thanks folks for the suggestions.
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Originally Posted by Citroënbender
What about temporarily looping the heater hoses and getting a leak-chasing sealant into the motor?
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When I received the news I asked their opinion on the magic gasket-in-a-bottle (my brother has had success using one of those products on his venerable Vauxhall). The response was that those solutions require the heat of the combustion chamber to trigger the chemical reaction that seals the leak, so unlikely to work for a leak on the exterior here. Though there could be different formulations that are ideal for this application, I'm not sure. Still, it would be worth trying before putting the engine out to pasture.
Disconnecting the heater core is an ingenious idea so thanks for that.
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Originally Posted by Citroënbender
I understand the mechanic’s reticence about a head off repair, the issue is these usually come after overheating and that’s when you have all the joys of stuff like precomp chambers loosening.
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That's a good point. If it were to come to it I would shop around to see if there are other shops that might view performing the repair more favourably. (Although from reading my Haynes manual it sure doesn't seem like a great job.)
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Originally Posted by Tassie f100
Maybe try backing off the head studs and retorquing as they seem to loosen over time.Years ago with the Jap import engines head gasket leaks were very common,but we found by retorquing head studs the problem was almost nonexistant.
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My father-in-law had enough stories of machinery that wasn't bolted together right at the factory, so I asked the mechanic if anyone had checked the torque on the head bolts. The answer was no, but the reason is that it's a very involved job to even access them. If I'm reading Haynes right, these motors have a two-piece cylinder head, and one would need to remove the cylinder head cover integrated with the intake manifold (so, an opportunity to do Cobrin's manifold cleaning) AND the upper cylinder head and all its assemblies to reach the head bolts in the lower cylinder head.
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Originally Posted by aussiblue
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Yeah ok, I can try reaching out to him.
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Originally Posted by cobrin
Monitor coolant for now, but it shouldn't be a cause of concern.
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Originally Posted by NZ XR6
Agreed, I'm not sure that a coolant leak would leave marks like that.
Did they do a pressure test or any tests on the coolant such as leak down?
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Sure, I hope you guys are right. The coolant level is currently a bit below the MAX mark so I'm topping it up to a clear reference mark and then we'll monitor. The shop cleaned up the engine for me so when I get to look under the timing cover I'll know any marks I see are new.
I don't think there were any tests done, the diagnosis was based on experience of seeing multiple motors with gasket failure (though they've never seen it on a diesel Mondeo before). The mechanic gave a first-hand account of a Falcon he owned, which had this issue and looked exactly like this when he bought it. He monitored it and over some span of time the leaking worsened, until he did the head gasket to repair it.