Hi guys, 

We just inherited a Ford KA 2005 3dr hatchback 1.3l from the father in law with 30k on the clock.. It's ideal for the missus to learn in and scrape up in her first year. However we had an overheating issue today and was wondering if anyone could advise or help with anything we can check on the car?

Father in law is foriegn and his English is very broken, but what we can tell is that he filled the coolant water up prior to handing the car over with a full tank of petrol. We've had it for a few weeks and have done about 200 miles in it and were still on the same tank of petrol. Today the overheating light came on so we pulled into a garage after only driving for around 5 miles. Annoyingly on these cars there's no water/engine temp gauge.

There was a little light steam rising from the bonnet of the car just as we got into the garage so i opened the expansion tank with a glove on to release the pressure and it spat pretty violently for about a minute and released a small trickle of water. So it obviously still had some water in it. Once it had cooled enough to touch i topped it back up and drove it home which was about another 5 miles and the light stayed off.

I checked under the car when i filled it up and there was no water leaks and also once the car was parked up when i got home, and no leaks. One thing i did notice when i opened the cap was it looked like it had heated up and warped slightly at some time. Picture below.

Car drove normally on the way home. 

Any advice or opinions of things we can check?

Ford engines and indeed almost all engines for the last 30 years don't take kindly to just running with tap water (better than nothing in an emergency).

Buy some proper Ford Coolant (about 2 litres) and refill the system. Make sure you don't overfill the expansion tank (Max fill line on the side)

It maybe you have a faulty thermostat which is an easy thing to replace, cost about £25. Also the cap on the expansion tank are known to fall apart/leak/get stuck so worth replacing.

Coolant: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394126231268?hash=item5bc3c106e4:g:5OMAAOSwVBVisdYe

@unofix - Thanks for that.

Yeah i was in a pinch, ***** garage didnt even have a water tap they would let me use!

I'll use my wet vac and suck out the extra water once i've taken it to the local garage. And use the coolant you've linked too if the cars not a right off.

Whats the issue with over filling? Pressure?

I think the caps fine, but the tank certainly looks suspect in my pic right?

If you over fill the system will over pressurise and then vent off the excess via the filler cap. Sometimes after that happens the filler cap gets stuck and fails to reseal and lets out far too much coolant.

There is also the risk with older engines that excess pressure can cause leaks, and rubber hoses to burst.

If you keep losing coolant and there is no sign of a leak then it is quite possible the Head Gasket maybe leaking.

On an older engine it's not worth the cost to try and fix properly. Just buy some Head Gasket leak seal and add it in to the coolant system, you will be surprised at how quickly and how well it works.

Yeah it would be a shame tbh if it is the head gasket. Cars only done 30k and is fine other than this issue. But i was reading up on this head gasket leak seal stuff and read similarly. 

@unofixFunny you say about the hoses i gave it a visual inspection when i got home and noticed this.

 

That looks like the vacuum hose with non-return valve, possibly for the servo brakes.

@TomsFocus might be able to say what it is for sure

Two more pictures. Looks like it's ruptured on both sides..

Better picture from distance.

12 hours ago, unofix said:

That looks like the vacuum hose with non-return valve, possibly for the servo brakes.

@TomsFocus might be able to say what it is for sure

Yeah, that's the brake servo vac hose.  Few options on the Ka (depending on engine and ABS etc), but it looks like this one from the full bay picture.

*GENUINE* FORD KA BRAKE SERVO PIPE HOSE COMPLETE WITH CONNECTORS AND VALVE | eBay

13 hours ago, TheStrayCat said:

Yep, that tank looks done.  If you clean the residue off, I reckon you'll see tiny holes below there.  I had a very similar looking thing on a Fiesta tank a few years ago.

Out of interest, is this a UK car or has it been abroad?  The crispy plastics look like they've taken considerable heat...I'd guess that either the overheating has been going on for a while, or it's been in a hot environment?  That could lead to other plastic & rubber parts perishing, so worth keeping an eye on for now.

No i believe it's a UK model. And with jus 30k mileage i'd expect the previous owner (her cousin) has just ignored the problem for a long time prior to replacing the car. I'm really hoping this isn't a head gasket issue... Is there any checks i can do to confirm? I'd assume the oil would be murky and white smoke out the exhaust? 

@unofix Thanks for the link on the ebay link. Appreciate it. 

@TomsFocus Can i ask, what was the issue in the end with your fiesta and fiesta tank? 

Whilst i'm here, does anyone know what upgraded headlight options there are for these ford KA's the headlights are trafic, mis-alligned and remind me of a durcaell torch i had in the 80's.. Any drop in replacement or easily upgradable parts for these?

 

 

 

Ah, I'm losing track of the family tree of ownership lol.

You can use a CO2 'sniffer' test to check for exhaust in the coolant tank if there are no signs of oil & water mixing.

I bought that particular Fiesta cheap as a 'headgasket failure' with coolant loss & overheating...  New tank and fan relay got it back on the road for about £20.

I did sniff test it first to confirm it wasn't the headgasket.  And on close inspection could see lots of little crazing cracks in a circle around the cap, very similar to your image.

Can't offer much on the headlights, they're the old lens reflector type so will never be overly effective.  Cheapest upgrade will be a set of decent halogen bulbs and give the lenses a good clean if they're cloudy.

Test for Hydrocarbons in the coolant with a basic kit like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RELD-Cylinder-Combusion-Universal-Motorcycles/dp/B07RS3N98V/ref=sr_1_5?adgrpid=121936548890&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8amWBhCYARIsADqZJoVNmQuzXp5MjRMGnyDt4O_PwSEiaoP67rtvvQzfAHhhuJlKqwyGDpMaApbmEALw_wcB&hvadid=606127012936&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1006688&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3626972128112434432&hvtargid=kwd-335853402439&hydadcr=253_2625893&keywords=hydrocarbon+test+kit&qid=1657494260&sr=8-5

 

@unofix

@TomsFocus

Thanks guys for your help - I had the expansion tank replaced and sourced the break servo hose and had that fitted too. However i'm still having over heating issues. Does anyone have any experience of the heater control valve being the cuplrit? Here's the meat of a post i uploaded on a different forum that i'm still waiting to be validated by the moderators to go live.. 

Quote

 

The car's in good condition 30k on the clock 2005 duratec 1.3L, we're still on the first tank of petrol and it's overheated twice in the last two back to back journeys. All no more than a 4-5 mile round trip.

Took the car to the garage worried that the head gasket had gone, asked the machanic to do a check and he's done a check and says it's fine. Noticed the coolant expansion tank had a few pinholes in it near the cap and was slightly misformed so had him replace it. He mentioned they just go over time and it's probably effecting the running temp of the car and hence why it's overheating. I asked him whether the thermostat was bad, and he gave a detailed reason why it couldnt be bad and mentioned fans coming on and heating working etc.. He said he'd run the car after doing the work and left it sitting with the engine on and it hadn't overheated. Unforuntately when we got it back, first journey, it's overheating again.

One thing i've noticed since we've had it is that it's always blowing hot air. Even when we set the cooling to cold it's still blowing hot air. (No AC in this model just fan air)  

I'm starting to wonder after looking round the forum whether the heater control valve is bad? It makes sense to me that this part may have gone bad which is why the heating has stuck on HOT also the issue happens quickly within a few miles but ONLY under load of driving.

What would you guys suggest?
If it is the valve, what valve should i buy in the future to stop this happening?

Any info would be great.

 

 

I've only quickly skimmed that as I'm now off for a bit but if the heater is blowing hot in the car, that's taking hot coolant away from the engine.  So shouldn't be the cause of overheating.

Will try and remember to read properly later.

 

@TomsFocus Yeah its a strange one.. The car only blows hot air... Wont overheat if idling but will overheat within 4-5 miles of driving. Having the heater blowing seems to get it further before over it overheats. For example i managed to drive 8 miles to the mechanics with all the heating on full on the hottest day of the year and it got there without overheating. 

Then when i got it back we took it to the vets which is about 3-4 miles and didnt have the heating on! And it overheated.

 

Issue very similar to the OP of this thread. Everyone chimed in and said "Yup, heater valve." :lol

 

https://passionford.com/forum/technical-help-q-and-a/437194-ka-sport-ka-overheating-help-please.html

hi guys

i have a ford ka 2005 model as well.

the seems to be leaking water overnight. I checked oil and water and they are clean not mixing, i check the oil and it looks good, i checked pipes and all is fine i disconnected the heater system and run the pipes directly on the thermostat housing, but still leaks water but after i start and move it doesnt leak water, but overnight i see water dripping above the thermostat housing, what could be the issue though ?

🤔🤔