BADLY STUCK plastic thermostat hose.

[Wobbla]

Fiesta Mk6.5 1.6 TDCI.

I'm trying to replace the thermostat housing and have managed to take off all the pipes connected to it except the plastic hose nearest to the firewall. I just can't budge it. It does not appear to have a press release tab like the rubber one above it and seem its just slid on. I have tried to follow it, but it appears to just dissapear behind the engine somewhere so i cannot release it from the other side. Im working on tge car on the driveway and dont have ramps. I cannot get a good grip on this plastic hose to pull it off as i cannot move it around whilst it still attached and im worried its going to break. Any help appreaciated

[unofix]

Try heating the plastic pipe up with a hairdryer or a heatgun (low setting) and see if you can soften it up a little.

[Wobbla]

I have tried heat from hairdryer and even hot water. There is not enough room to grip it properly either and cannot just move it around with it being a  plastic hose. Its turned out to be a nightmare for me with this one.

[TomsFocus]

That doesn't look like it's designed to come off at all tbh.  They don't use push fit pipes on cooling systems due to the pressure.  Those 3 ridges will make it impossible to pull off without damage.

Have you got the new thermostat to compare with?

[Wobbla]

Hi,

The new thermostat housing is for a pegeout car but apparently, fits my fiesta too because its the same 1.6 PSI engine. I made sure the CTS and thermostat specs are correct for my car with seller before purchase and he said Ford verified they were and are oem.

I have been comparing and found that the new thermostat housing has got a longer stub compared to mine where the plastic hose pictured above, fits over and does not have those nasty ridges that i can see and feel on mine.

I was going to send this replacement back but now i'm thinking, why don't i just cut the plastic pipe that is giving me the trouble and as the stub is longer on the new one, it should take the difference and i will put a jubilee clip on it to secure it properly.

This new peugeot stat housing has a bleed screw too where mine doesn't but i found i can take the bleed screw out and it leaves a hole where the thin black coolant line from the header tank on the Fiesta should just clip into. This new thermostat housing may be a blessing in disguise if this works.

I have wrapped up for the day now and just sat on the sofa licking my wounds and the wifey giving me the dirties. I have been messing around with the car since this morning and i promised her i'd be done in a few hours. 

So what do you think? Shall i cut the pipe and see if it all fits tomorrow.

[Wobbla]

I just realised, i should have taken a picture of the new stat housing as it would be in situ so you can compare from the intial images where the plastic pipe goes over the stub on the old stat housing.

[unofix]

2 hours ago, Wobbla said:

to send this replacement back but now i'm thinking, why don't i just cut the plastic pipe that is giving me the trouble and as the stub is longer on the new one, it should take the difference and i will put a jubilee clip on it to secure it properly.

I think that is a good idea, it should work well. 

[Wobbla]

I figured it out! So glad i didn't cut the pipe yet because it does not need to come off from there at all and still couldn't believe Ford would design it this way so i stayed patient.

I started searching coolant hoses on eBay and found the same hose continued further towards the radiator to meet with the top hose of the radiator itself and it had a bracket on it and is held on by a hex screw. Its basically attached to the stat housing by the hex screw underneath.

I went back to the car and sure enough, hiding under the stat housing was the screw. I undid the screw and out came the stat housing leaving the pipe i was struggling with behind.

I'm going to change the Peugeuot stat housing for a proper Ford one now so probably complete the job on the weekend now. 

[Wobbla]

Job done but...

Radiator fan does not come on when engine hot. I cannot recall it ever being on in this state since we had the car and alway went off the temp guage which always sat at 90 so in the middle.

Rad fan comes on when coolant temp sensor (cts) lead is disconnected so rad fan motor works. It also comes on when the ac is on.

Top rad hose it hot to touch and bottom rad hose not as hot. 

Only other things i can think of is the radiator resistor and relays.

I have took the resistor out just to look at it to see if something obvious broke but it appears intact.

Next step is to test these but i have to learn how to do it first. 

[Wobbla]

I found radiator fan comes on at 95 degrees celcius on my Fiesta. I went into the onboard menu and selected digital engine temp then started the car. This shows a live digital read out on display for the engine temperature.

With ac switched off and heater selector on cold, I drove around and kept the car on while waiting for mrs to return to car from shopping in different places. 

I did not notice a dip in engine speed when the fan came on. I just happened to open the bonnet to check the status of the fan and it was was on. I checked the display and it read 95 degrees. So these can run hot before high speed radiator fan comes on so like most, i was worrying for nothing in this respect. Hope this helps someone with the same issue.