Hi Fiesta forum.. My 2017 1.25 Zetec w/ only 45k miles on it started overheating all of a sudden and running really poorly.. I managed to figure out the rad fan was toast, not moving, and replacing it with a new one fixed the overheating and poor running / weird cabin smells.

Anyway.. What upsets me is that there is ZERO indication that the fan might or might not have failed. Meanwhile you're bombing around completely unaware that you're blowing head gastkets or whatever.. warping your engine because its getting too hot. The only indication is an overheating light.. which if its showing.. is probably already too late.

I now have tiny amounts of oil in my rad reservoir which makes me nervous that the engine getting too hot might have buggered something.

Is this really what Ford have done? Is it seriously too much of an ask to add a ***** sensor to the fan so you can at least sort it out before you cause major damage. 

Curious about your thoughts...

If no thoughts, then just a PSA to other Fiesta drivers to keep an eye on that fan.. the motor in it is brushed DC and the little carbon brushes dont last forever.

Are you new to owning a car or new to driving or both ?

Does your toilet roll have a warning light when it's about to run out ? 🤣

So you're saying he should always keep a spare fan on the parcel shelf?

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

So you're saying he should always keep a spare fan on the parcel shelf?

Fantastic idea 🤣

Perhaps Ford dealers will sell a pack of 4 😉

1 hour ago, unofix said:

Are you new to owning a car or new to driving or both ?

Does your toilet roll have a warning light when it's about to run out ? 🤣

Not new to either, thanks. But there’s a difference between clearly visible consumables like toilet roll… and an out-of-sight, critical component whose failure can wreck your engine.

I’m not asking for fireworks and sirens — just surprised there’s no basic fault detection or feedback loop for a failed fan. Loads of cars manage that with a few pennies worth of electronics.

Mostly posted this as a heads-up in case it helps someone avoid the same headache — not really expecting to get roasted for it.

Apparently asking why my car cooked itself without warning was a step too far for this sacred place. I’ll show myself out. And I genuinely hope your engine blows up. ✌️

14 hours ago, longeggs said:

And I genuinely hope your engine blows up

My car has a warning when the fan is broken*, does yours not ?

 

* Temperature gauge starts to climb towards the hot end of the gauge.

I thought the Mk 7.5 had a temperature gauge, though it's not brilliant. Wonder why nothing showed up?

Instrument Cluster - Gauges

GAUGES



ATachometer BInformation display and engine coolant temperature gauge CSpeedometer DFuel gauge ETripmeter reset button

Engine Coolant Temperature Gauge

Displays the temperature of the engine coolant. At normal operating temperature the indicator will remain in the center section.

 

I recall a fan failing on a previous car (sensor fault) and I only noticed it when stuck in heavy slow moving traffic and the gauge crept up. Even then, switching the heater on full blast when necessary kept the temp down until I could sort it.

 

Purely out of genuine interest and nothing else, does anyone know of a make or model that actually has a specific warning light to say the fan is broken ?

Given all the makes and models I've driven in the last 46 years I've never seen a vehicle with a warning light to show the fan is not working.

I've never seen a fan warning light either.*  I was trying to think of the most effective design for one last night.  Best option I came up with would be a magnetic ring in the centre of the blades with a sensor fixed to the arm like an ABS setup.  That would provide exact fan speed at all times, unlike simply measuring motor return voltage.

*I have seen plenty of fault codes for fans on various makes & models.  But they don't trigger the EML because a faulty fan in itself is not an issue.  The issue is high coolant temp, for which there is both a dash display and a warning light on most cars.

13 minutes ago, unofix said:

Given all the makes and models I've driven in the last 46 years I've never seen a vehicle with a warning light to show the fan is not working.

Can't say that I've ever seen one.

Another point on temp gauge. Not the most convenient thing, but in the pre-facelift Mk 7 you can bring up a digital temperature reading in the "hidden menu". Several videos on that on YouTube, eg:

 

1 minute ago, TomsFocus said:

be a magnetic ring in the centre of the blades with a sensor fixed to the arm like an ABS setup.  That would provide exact fan speed at all times, unlike simply measuring motor return voltage.

Funny I was thinking similar last night. The system would have to have a minimum speed that would be ignored so that windmilling would not cause a false failure.

1 minute ago, unofix said:

windmilling

Don't start!😀

Definitely don't Google that.  

On 5/26/2025 at 8:06 PM, TomsFocus said:

So you're saying he should always keep a spare fan on the parcel shelf?

And plenty of bog roll!