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Temperature light keeps coming on, but not overheating


Simon78
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Ford SportKA SE 1.6 (2004) temperature light keeps coming on and off. It's not overheating or leaking any more...


Initial problem - Coolant leak (visit 1 to the garage):  £206 including labour.
Housing Unit was replaced to fix a leak. This has stopped that issue.

Secondary problem - Overheating:
4 days later the temperature light came on after driving 2 hours and LOTS of steam came out. Overheated and the coolant had bubbled over. Let it cool down and got a recovery company to get us back home the next day. Before doing so, he looked at it for 20 minutes. Heat was blowing into the car, radiator was getting hot, fan was on instantly as soon as it was switched on from cold, pipes were getting hot. Bubbles were coming out from the expansion tank with the cap off, so it had air inside. After a few moments, the fan was working normally. Not on from the get go, but came on when it started to get hot. So everything seemed normal to start with. After 20 minutes the fan wasn't blowing very hot and the recovery guy said he'd not risk it and take us back home.

 

Overheating (visit 2 to the garage): £150 including labour.
I checked the coolant level before leaving and it was very low. So I topped it up. It was cold from overnight and I had drove just 1 minute when the temperature light came on. It wasn't even hot. It was a 20 minute drive to the garage, 3/4's of the way there I could hear very loud bubbling inside as I stopped at the roundabout and I could see some very slight steam coming out. Giving the garage all the information and pulling the car into their bay with some steam coming off it, I left it with them. They took a look at forums and tried to figure it out. A valve was replaced and we've been driving it to and from work (about 45 minutes), the temperature light keeps coming on. During one journey, the temperature light came on and off about 8 times. No bubbling and no steam. The coolant level seems to be full too.

The garage has implied it might be best to take it to Ford to run a diagnostic on it. They're willing to refund the labour for the 2nd visit, as they couldn't be 100% sure if it was going to fix the issue or not. The garage has been really helpful, but this problem is puzzling them.

What would be the next course of action? Any advice that can be given on this?

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Sorry to hear about your experience. 

I service my own ford street ka and sometimes garages can get it wrong.

In my opinion I believe it's the thermostat housing this also contains temp probe and thermostat. The fault is either due to. . 

1. Incorrect replacement of the rubber pipes order. 2 of the 5 pipes that connect to thermostat temp housing are the same size and can be mistakenly mixed up. 

2. Non genuine ford parts fitted. After market versions for this part are terrible .I would never fit them.

3. Only part of the housing replaced I.e thermostat and not temp sensor.

My advice 

Follow link to ford part complete unit

https://www.fordpartsuk.com/shop/ford_streetka_thermostat_housing_f_1337823_c_566.htm

Buy part and ask garage to install for you. The hose order will have to be confirmed or the part could be damaged 

When I fitted mine it took about 1 hour but I was careful to take note of hose order.

Try to be patient as these cars are fun to own and easily make up for there shortcomings.😀

 

 

.

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Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

The garage charged me around £80 for the part alone and said it's a genuine Ford part, they don't fit after market, unless we ask for that.

That part you linked is for a StreetKA, would that be the same for the SportaKA? It looks very similar.

If they ordered the same part, wouldn't that come with the thermostat/sensor and they'd fit the whole thing?

I was charged for 1 1/2 hours labour when they fitted that.

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Yes same part as for Sport ka I also own one too.

All parts come with housing Some garages just remove thermostat and put it back on, in practice this rarely works as plastic housing warps with age. 

Check around housing for leaks.

There is an electrical plug that clips onto housing to power up temp sensor check this .

Just remove air filter housing it's easy to see then. 

In all honesty I'm not a mechanic but I have so far fitted 2 of these to my Sport and Street ka without issues, always using ford parts.

Get the garage to check the hoses connected as I said earlier they maybe in the wrong order. Two of them are especially easy to mix up.

Take top off coolant and start engine let coolant come to boil then replace cap. This should remove any trapped air.

I still believe the issue lies with your installation of the thermostat housing.

 

Good luck 

 

Andy 

 

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What happens if these pipes are mixed around? Of course I will be treading on their feet if I ask them to check their own work lol.

The recovery guy already did that test with the cap off and letting it heat up. There were some bubbles a couple of minutes later, then it stopped and stayed at the right level. When revving up the level dropped a bit, then returned after when reducing the revs.

I check under the car often since all of this and don't see any leaks. I will keep checking and do the trick with the cap off again, just to be sure there isn't a stream of bubbles coming out. I will get the garage to check the pipes again too.

Just to add to this, the garage is willing to take it back and swap the pipes over if that's what is causing the issue. I would like to know what would happen if they were swapped over, would it damage anything / have temperature issues like it's having now?

Cheers.

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8a6274c78280dc28bd3f5c19b8ac0ac5.jpg

Above link arrows show the 2 identical size inlets.

They meet inside with the thermostat so yes damage to this and most importantly sensor would overheat.

I will try to find the photo I took when I installed later today.

Andy

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

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Nice info Andy - will come in handy when mine fails - eventually - its probably the only thing that hasnt so far!

You would think a garage wouldnt make a mistake like this , I mean the pipe diameters are totally different for inlet and outlet!

Plus you would also think they have a computer in the garage with all the systems they work on fitted with the diagnostics and Ford TIS installed and an internet connection.Even Jock Campbell in The Garage has it in his workshop!
You have to laugh if a supposedly professional garage is looking up fixes on forums like these - you would be better off doing it yourself!

Funny how you took less than an hour to do it and a professional garage takes over an hour - funny that extra hour @ £30-60 an hour makes up the profits!
I wish I had bought a garage or set one up when i left school rather than go to Uni - I would be living in luxury in the Swiss Alps in my million quid mansion by now!
Owning a garage is a licence to print money!

 

 

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Agreed If I could go back to being 18, I would have chosen the mechanics trade. If yours hasn't failed yet you've very lucky. I reckon ford spec coolant or regular flushing will keep it sweet. It is a strange car to work on sometimes but very rewarding when it works and I'm seeing fewer on the roads as we approach summer So many owners are scraping them as repair costs mount up. It will eventually become a classic much sort after model. 

Just think one day it will be just the two of us driving round  in them B-) 

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Roflmao you have almost convinced me not to take it down to the white cliffs of dover tomorrow!
Hmmm you might very well be right but I reckon my Opel Manta S will be a classic - only 50 of them left in the world!
Just done the eBay competition if you havent seen it they are offering £4000 to go towards fixing your classic car!
Is a Streetka a classic though hmmmmmm Classic disaster for me so far! Had it advertised for £1000 _ £200 more than I paid for it and
I have had a response yesterday so am mulling it over - obviously good time to sell what with soft top and summer!
Still havent fixed my dual Streetka swimming pool (with goldfish).
Question is should i sell it and not let on about the nasty leaks or be honest and lose a sale - tricky one!

lol

 

>;o)

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Just mention it...Most Streetka's leak a little. Sportka's are nice, slightly faster slightly better handling, but Street ka's are the most fun. You'll miss her for sure. 

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Omendata: Did you hang on to your expectant rollerskate, or has she rolled out of your life?  😁 

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Your comment made me keep him but this leak is really doing me nut in - Every time i clean out the water and dry it out its just filling up when it rains.
I think ive made it worse as its parked on a downhill so the water is running off and straight down the scuttle!

Ive put a cover over the roof and doors but its obviously leaking in from the front as well as the front soak pads high up under the pedals are soaking wet.
So its off with the scuttle this weekend and see if i can sort it but its also leaking in from both doors as well - was leaking from the top of the door and the bottom but i 
sorted the top leak and now have to find a way of sorting the bottom one.

Have taken the passenger seat out for good but not sure if that will fail an MOT?
I know if you dont have a spare tyre which have taken off to lighten the load it will still pass but not sure if its missing the passenger seat whether it will pass or not!
Leak fix first then tidy up the minor stuff - still got to test if the fuel pump is up the swannee or not as well or if its just my fuel gauge! Not looking forward to that as a new
pump is about £80 over on eurocarparts.

Still waiting to see if I won the 4 grand to get my Opel Manta B SR restoration finished or maybe my Rover 820si.
Love em both more than the rollerskate so if i can get one going will sell it!
Opel Manta B - Best looking car ever my fave!
Had loads of Mantas - just wish I had lept my white GTE he was a monster 2 litre top of the range jobby!

lol

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I was wondering if you removed the spare tyre would it increase fuel consumption? 

You have to find this leak. I took the door card off and adjusted the window height and angle.  You can adjust it up/ down or sideways via the bottom screws. A little patience should pay off.

Next remove skuttle panel and clear "drain holes' that are probably blocked.

Best of British luck my friend 🍀 

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  • 1 month later...

Oh dear Andy looks like i have to sell after all!!!!

 

Finally replaced the fuel pump (£20 off ebay) and my diagnosis was right the old pump was faulty causing all those not starting when driven for a while problems - obviously the sleeve in the pump  expanding and failing to turn when it got hot - tested the old one and it had completely failed in the driveway - taking the fuel tank out was easier than i thought it was the circlips on the breather and fuel filler that were the hardest to remove and those awful white and red connectors that plug into the fuel pump (man oh man it took me ages to figure out how to release them) - didnt even need to remove the exhaust as per the manual - did it my way and it was off in a jiffy - it seems these fuel tanks gather a lot of rust on the top as it was pretty bad so had to rub it down - jenolite and hammerite it.

 

Door handle on the passengers side broke - common fault but this is getting ridiculuous - its actually worse than my Rover 820si which seemed to develop a fault once a month but this Streetka seems one a week!

 

Problem is, I noticed just under one of the suspension arms some nasty rust - poked a bit and hey presto a nasty hole (is this a common failure point for rust on the Streetka as the rest of the underneath is spotless?) - so welded it up (glad the fuel tank was out - lol) but gonna have to sell it now as this will eventually fail - its a pretty serious failure point although the suspension seems ok - Bye bye Streetka - Hello AC Cobra!

 

So this will probably be my last post - thanks for all the help dude - I may even buy a Fiesta who knows!

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