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Ford Fiesta 2003 Mk6 Overheating


Stahtm
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hello guys, i have a very frustrating problem with a fiesta i just bought a couple of weeks ago. i am a beginner mechanic who is still learning.

my ford fiesta lx mk6 2003 is 5 door and is 1.3 petrol

the person i bought it off said that the car was standing for upto 3 years but i still took the risk, everything is fine except the car keeps overheating, i have changed all possible causes such as:

-coolant bottle

-water pump

-took out thermostat

-new radiator

-tried flushing out coolant water.

when the temp gets hot the pipes go very stiff and hard. the pipe going to radiator is fully hot and stiff however the pipe coming our of radiator is cold also stiff, but the same pipe if you follow it gets a bit hot near the thermostat housing. the fan sometimes comes on and sometimes it don't but it doesn't really make a difference to the overheating problem as if tried driving with the fan switch power direct.

there is no heat coming in the car, just little bit warm air.

i feel like the water is not circulating properly as it should be however ive already changed the water pump but it can be faulty one. the mechanics i work with say that its most possibly the head gasket gone but i don't see no oil mixture in coolant or any loss of coolant.

i don't really want to spend any unnecessary money on the car which is why im here asking for help. i just want to be sure of what the problem really is with this car.

also if it was the head gasket blown would it be worth trying out liquid head gasket repairs such as steal seal, k-seal or blue devil or do they not work?

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What if there was a blockage in one of the pipes to prevent the coolant from circulating properly? Water pump could be fine but with a blockage the coolant wouldn't be able to circulate and would cause some part of the pipe to be hot before the blockage and to be relatively cool after the blockage?

Could be completely wrong, but Just a though :lol:

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC

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Is the car losing water at all?

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I havent noticed any water reducing apart from when it overheats and comes out the coolant tank.

Im not sure if its blocked or not but i have tried puting boiling water through one pipe and blowing it and it does come from the other pipe

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Was there any bits missing from the water pump? The fan parts can break off and get lodged inside the waterways.

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The head gasket seperates not just the oil from the water jacket but the water jacket (coolant system) from the combustion chamber - its possible the coolant system is being pressurised - its a common misconseption that there will be oil in the water or vice versa for the head gasket to be blown

the head gasket can also blow between cylinders - without oil in the water or water in the oil

you can have a compression check (on every cylinder) to test this - if one or more of the cylinders has a low reading it may mean worn bores, etc but could also mean a leak in the head gasket into the waterjacket - if the compression is ok - its not that

Also - are you 100% sure the waterpump is working correctly, and being driven etc

you say you have "changed" all possible causes (obviously not all possible causes) - did you replace all these components with new ones? or secondhand/ from a breaker etc?

it is possible the car froze in the winter after standing for 3 years, causing damage to the coolant system but without popping the core plugs

Another thing to consider is the cooling system is working as normal but the engine is producing more heat than it can handle - further complicated by the hot(er) weather - it may be fine in the winter

I used to run £100 "bangers" and just switched the heater (full) on when the engine overheated or "drove the car on the temp gauge" if you know what i mean

if the pipes are cooler coming out of the radiator than going in - thats the radiator doing its job - its supposed to make it cooler

if the hoses are hot after the thermostat it means the thermostat is opening like it should

On many modern cars the temp gauge may be reading the head temp - not the water temp

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If you haven't already done it I would try replacing the pressure cap on the expansion tank. The coolant will boil over at a lower temperature than when pressurised fully and will blow out the tank. It will also stop the circulation so you get hot and cold spots around the system.

A failing pump will do the same but try the cheap fix first. The reason you are only getting warm air out of the heaters may be because you have removed the stat and/or because the coolant isn't circulating.

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  • 2 years later...
On 18 May 2014 at 4:23 AM, Stahtm said:

hello guys, i have a very frustrating problem with a fiesta i just bought a couple of weeks ago. i am a beginner mechanic who is still learning.

my ford fiesta lx mk6 2003 is 5 door and is 1.3 petrol

the person i bought it off said that the car was standing for upto 3 years but i still took the risk, everything is fine except the car keeps overheating, i have changed all possible causes such as:

-coolant bottle

-water pump

-took out thermostat

-new radiator

-tried flushing out coolant water.

when the temp gets hot the pipes go very stiff and hard. the pipe going to radiator is fully hot and stiff however the pipe coming our of radiator is cold also stiff, but the same pipe if you follow it gets a bit hot near the thermostat housing. the fan sometimes comes on and sometimes it don't but it doesn't really make a difference to the overheating problem as if tried driving with the fan switch power direct.

there is no heat coming in the car, just little bit warm air.

i feel like the water is not circulating properly as it should be however ive already changed the water pump but it can be faulty one. the mechanics i work with say that its most possibly the head gasket gone but i don't see no oil mixture in coolant or any loss of coolant.

i don't really want to spend any unnecessary money on the car which is why im here asking for help. i just want to be sure of what the problem really is with this car.

also if it was the head gasket blown would it be worth trying out liquid head gasket repairs such as steal seal, k-seal or blue devil or do they not work?

I got the same issue , but I think it could be air lock. What temp does your fan kick in?

 

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On 18/05/2014 at 4:23 AM, Stahtm said:

the mechanics i work with say that its most possibly the head gasket gone

Hi

The stiffness in the pipes is due to pressure, and will affect all hoses whether hot or cold.

Cold return hose from the rad plus hot engine plus no thermostat (or working thermostat) means a lot of gas in the system, or water pump not working, or a major blockage preventing flow.

There will not be much temperature drop across the rad while car is stationary & rad fan is off. Rad needs air flow (quite a lot) to cool the water.

Sounds like you have checked most of these.

A small head gasket leak could push gas into the water jacket  without much loss of coolant or water in the oil. The cylinder pressure is much higher (at peak) than the water jacket pressure.

Have you checked the vent pipes? My Focus has two, one from CH, one from rad, small hoses going back to the tank.

One check is for combustion products (CO etc) in the water. A simple garage test. Not seen any diy kits, but there may be some.

Yes K-Seal does work (for small HG leaks), it did on my Vectra. Not sure how long it would last, my car died at the next MoT (emissions fail), but on an older car it is worth a try. I do not think it will do any harm.

Peter.

 

 

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  • 2 years later...

I’ve just bought a car similar but not drastic I did 108 miles in between and was stuck in loads of traffic... fan does kick in eventually but too late. I noticed bubbles from arson’s the filler cap when the engine is running. Not done anything yet I thought start the cheapest solution filler cap £7.50  the water pump next that’s £22.50. Hopefully noticing those bubbles steam will be escaping so just gradually losing the water through steam hopefully will let you know how I get on picking it up this afternoon. I’m a lady too so even I can change the expansion tank filler cap (just about) 

 

nanna Lozzy 

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