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Focus Temperature Gauge Issue


kingfisher1967
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Ive owned this car for 5 years now and just recently Ive noticed a change in the behavior or my temperature gauge. Last winter, a few minutes into my journey, if I stopped at any traffic lights, my gauge would go from 'mid normal' almost down to 'low normal' now the weather is warmer, if I drive at speed, or go uphill, the gauge goes to 'high normal'

Today I used the speed dial diagnostic trick and had the real time temperature read-out, again at speed I saw the temperature go as high as 113C (plus it was uphill a bit) at which point the gauge rises to 'high normal'. The odd thing about this is the temperature drops if I'm heading down hill.

Ive had the coolant changed, made no difference, Im fairly sure the thermostat is ok, I got the car up to normal from cold outside my house and the bottom hose got hot around 96C, which I think is normal. And for a long time I haven't heard the fan come,

Any ideas? I appreciate any help.

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Agreed, the only other thing I would have thought of is low coolant level, meaning that as you point your nose sky or floor wise, it then sloshes. if you have a full tank of coolant, it does seem to be more thermostat related.

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LOL nice answer Dan. not too helpful, butamusing none the less ;) lol :P

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True point - that cant be argued with!

Anyway Kingfisher, try the thermostat and please do let us know how it goes!

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Thanks for the help so far.

I thought the stat was OK, I ran the car from cold and kept an eye on the bottom hose, which about 93C got warm.

The coolant level is fine, no leaks.

So it might be a collapsed hose, a screwed sensor for the fan, or as the replies suggest, the thermostat

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for all the useful replies so far. I am getting a mechanic coming next Tuesday to put in a new thermostat. Fingers crossed that sorts it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My friendly mechanic has been and gone.

He didn't change the thermostat because he thinks its fine. There is plenty of heat coming in to the cabin ( hot enough to roast a chicken), but even after revving it as high as he could and taking it for a run with a 'real time temperature gauge' on the dash board, he still couldn't get the fan to kick in, so maybe thats my next port of call.But I am glad that he got the needle to go to 'high normal'

Maybe its a switch? or the fan itself?, Ive googled till my fingers are raw and I'm not coming to any conclusions.

I guess its one of those things that you could throw money at and still now cure.

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as for your fan cutting in, I have just replaced my thermostat housing, and had it running for ages after but no fan cutting in, mine is the same, and also a few friends with other fords say the same, it must be down to a good cooling system

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I'm only worried because is new, Ive had the car over 5 years and its never done it before.

I am paranoid about the cooling system anyway, previous cars ( a rover and a Renault) have all died due to the head gasket going ( normally indicated by a rise in temperature, followed by a large bill). I know fords have a built in 'get you home safety feature' but I'm still trying to avoid the large bill.

Kendo, I do hope the cooling system is good, I'm driving from Brighton to Bracknell on Monday to see family, I shall, of course be driving with the real time temperature gauge . So its, Mirror, signal, maneuver.. Road, speed, temperature.

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Have you tried to manually wire the Fan to test it?

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I didnt know that could be done Preee. I'll definitely look into that.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My friendly mechanic has been today and changed the thermostat, he did a road test and there is no change, the temperature gauge still rises when doing 70mph or traveling uphill once the engine is nicely warmed up.

He has named two other possibility that it could be, the water pump and head gasket, I don't think its either, my dad reckons that duffy water pumps are noisy and having previously 'killed' two cars in the past due to the head gasket, I think I'd know the signs.

I asked my mechanic about overriding the fan manually, he didn't think that could be done with modern cars.

So maybe its something electrical?

Maybe its time to dig out the plastic and let Fords have a look.

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I dont often agree when it comes to paying out a lot of money, but at this rate, you have already spent a fair amount I assume, I think maybe to get a final conclusion it may be worthwhile!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm going to give it one more try.

A little more research has lead me to believe that the ' cooling fan resistor' may be at fault, its something that sits near the top of the fan unit and looks fairly easy to replace, I should be able to buy a new one along with a ' pigtail', unhook the battery, cut the wire to the resistor and patch in the new one.

I have been unable to find the part number for it though, and whats been worrying me a tad is all the info that Ive been gathering has been from USA websites and I've come to the conclusion that USA spare part numbers differ from UK.

I still don't think it could be the water pump, I'm sure the fans would still come on?

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  • 2 weeks later...

another quick update.

I fitted the part I got from Fords yesterday, turns out to be the wrong one.

The resistor on my fans have one screw and a tag type thing on one side, the resistor from ford needs two screws.

So thats going back.

The odd thing is, I went out today and ... the fan came on..

Its sounding more and more like the water pump has been the victim all along, and it makes sense, no water is being circulated around the engine. So thats now at the top of the list

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I had a new water pump fitted at work today.

My mechanic showed me the old impeller (didn't know they came in 2 halves) and it looked fine disappointingly, He said maybe where it fits onto the fan belt may had been loose. either way, its another thing off the list and cheaper than a main dealer would had charged.

I was monitoring the temperature on the way home from work. It got as high as 108C but didn't go any higher ( I still think the that's to do with the resistor,the fans are meant to kick in about 102C, so I think the fans working the other day was a one off).Heading down hill I didn't see the mass in drops as I use to, so that must prove that water is now being circulated around the engine. I’m saving the diagnostic bay at Fords as a very last resort

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Just one other very cheap thing, that may well be worth a try. Put a new expansion tank cap on it. If it is loosing pressure, it will reduce its capacity to circulate and will cause overheating at lower temperatures. They should be changed fairly regularly anyway, and for the sake of a few quid will be worth it.

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I took the wrong part back to fords today, but after a good look at my fan unit, and a few phone calls, they came to the conclusion that my part has been discontinued and their only option was to replace the whole fan unit for £200.

I'll have to see if I can track down the part myself.

I'm not sure now if changing the water pump was a good idea, because Ive now got hot! water being circulated around my system, I hit a new high today of 122C, coming uphill on the way home. The needle touched the red zone.

If Ive buggered the engine, thats the end of it, Its bus passes for me.

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Checked my car this morning and everything seems fine.

I was hoping that I could just take out the resistor and try and get a 2nd hand replacement, little did I know its attached to the rest of the fan units.

While I have the little blighter out, I sprayed a little WD40 on it, put it back in, started the engine and waited for the car to warm up. There was no life from the fans until I hit the air con button ( something Ive never tried before) and to my amazement the large fan kicked in at a low speed( I think the temperature was about 86C when I did this). The engine didn't cool down, but carried on until about 103C when the large fan went into high speed mode, as far as I can Google, thats about normal. but is the following normal? the radiator bottom hose was cold, the top hose was hot. On the expansion tank, the hose leading from the rad was cold and the one leading from the engine was hot, but! the water in the tank was cold. It was about the same when I turned the air con off, I don't recall a drop in temperature and the fan was still in high mode.

When I turned my engine off the fan stopped ( I though it was meant to carry on till the engine was cooled) When I restarted the engine ( air con was off) the fan was in low speed mode.

I will keep an eye on things and see how it goes tomorrow to and from work.

If I do need a new fan unit ( looks easy enough to change) I am assuming the multiplugs are in the new models are the same as the old ones?

Is it still worth fitting a new expansion tank cap?

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Checked my car this morning and everything seems fine.

I was hoping that I could just take out the resistor and try and get a 2nd hand replacement, little did I know its attached to the rest of the fan units.

While I have the little blighter out, I sprayed a little WD40 on it, put it back in, started the engine and waited for the car to warm up. There was no life from the fans until I hit the air con button ( something Ive never tried before) and to my amazement the large fan kicked in at a low speed( I think the temperature was about 86C when I did this). The engine didn't cool down, but carried on until about 103C when the large fan went into high speed mode, as far as I can Google, thats about normal. but is the following normal? the radiator bottom hose was cold, the top hose was hot. On the expansion tank, the hose leading from the rad was cold and the one leading from the engine was hot, but! the water in the tank was cold. It was about the same when I turned the air con off, I don't recall a drop in temperature and the fan was still in high mode.

When I turned my engine off the fan stopped ( I though it was meant to carry on till the engine was cooled) When I restarted the engine ( air con was off) the fan was in low speed mode.

I will keep an eye on things and see how it goes tomorrow to and from work.

If I do need a new fan unit ( looks easy enough to change) I am assuming the multiplugs are in the new models are the same as the old ones?

Is it still worth fitting a new expansion tank cap?

bottom hose cold should have been roasting the cooling system works under pressure the hotter the coolant the more it expands the more pressure in the hoses the top rad hose should have been hard to squeeze with the engine idling for so long the bottom hose and rad should have been hot and the expansion tank should have had coolant flowing into it from both the small hoses so its either the expansion cap or the water pump cap first its the cheapest and most ikely explanation

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The water pump is brand new, it was fitted in Friday.

Day 2 and the fans are still working, :D but I'm not getting any drop in temperature.

I will try a new cap on the expansion tank, could it be that simple? I can only think theres a blockage of some sort or an air bubble.

I had the coolant changed/topped up 3 this year, I'm sure my mechanic knows what he's doing.

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