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2007 Sportka - Help pls


jamieb977
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Hi guys,

i bought this car 28th Nov 2015 basically 4months ago, it had 55k on clock and looked really tidy, since then its been in garage 3 times with 2 separate coolant leaks and and 2 steering/handling problems. engine managment light has been on pretty much since ive had the car since everytime they fix the problem and clear codes at garage it comes back on within a couple days. also the heaters dont work it constantly blows really hot air after about 5mins of driving. After driving the 10 miles home each day from work the fan is running when i park up and the bonnet is really really hot (could prob fry eggs on it) with a general hot smell in the air if anyone knows what i mean. i dont know much about cars but i think its getting too hot which is causing the coolant leaks maybe ? i dont know if its just me worrying or maybe getting used to the car but it seems to have lost a bit of zip and feels a bit flat doesn't seem to pull like it used to

so last week there was wet patches on my drive and the steering went very stiff/heavy. i checked the coolant levels and the power steering and they looked ok to me. I took the car to a garage on weds & picked it up yesterday after having had the coolant housing replaced the engine managment code was P0171 (system too lean) The power steering fluid bled and replaced as the bloke said it was black. i dont think they have done a good job as the steering still feels stiff/heavy just a bit less than before. ive driven probably 20 miles since picking it up and the engine management light came on when driving home from work again!! and the fan came on as usual when i parked up and bonnet boiling hot after turning engine off.

ive £700 on these repairs which includes tyres and suspension as you will see in the attachments. i just want to know what is wrong with my car anyone please im at my wits end with it now p.s theirs no gunk in coolant tank or on dipstick or any smoking/steam from exhaust or bonnet, seems to me the garages ive been to just fix the obvious problems without finding the real cause.

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First off - get yourself an obd tester £20 on eBay they charged you £30 just for plugging one in and you can use it anytime and when the car is running to check things in the engine are ok! Check my forum pictures they show a faulty Lambda sensor and the obd tool to buy!

All your faults sounds exactly like all of mine - total to fix all of mine £70.Good idea to do your own mechanics or start learning as these

cars are a !Removed! nightmare for water ingress leaks , wear on the bushes , tyres , suspension , lambda sensor failure , burning way

too much fuel , the list is endless but your problem is probably the common one on all of these - did you not checkout the other forum posts???

The one two below shows the problem and about 20 others its a common fault on these pregnant skateboards!

Heat control valve or thermostat -

I hate to say it but this garage sound like another bunch of conmen - we see the same post everfy month - sadly decent garages are few and far between thats why most of the guys on here do their own work - Andybadcats on here has a Sportka and probably knows more than I do as mine is a Streetka and Ive only had it since Sept 2014 but its been problem after problem like yours and I am more of a Rover/Manta buff!

Temperature light keeps coming on, but not overheating

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another point to make is on your list of things you had done it looks like they changed only 1 suspension spring. i was always to to do them in pairs so if the garage only done one side they really are cowboys . as said you need to learn quickly on how to d i y.

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thanks for replying, i have spent ages googling but couldnt really find anything same as the problems im suffering. so im gonna change the thermostat, excuse my ignorance but i presume the heat control valve controls the hot/cold air inside the cabin? so this not working can cause the engine to run really hot and basically melt coolant housing/pipes ? is that right.

yesi think i will invest in an obd tester then. in regards to the steering do you maybe think they did a shoddy job of draining and bleeding the fluid then

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yes delboy they only changed one as they said it was damaged, i did think afterwards why not change both but there you go, id better get a haines manual and start learning lol

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Mine is a D920 but you cant seem to get it anymore but check this out it will save you an absolute fortune in repairs - £30 a time.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/D900-Vehicle-Car-OBD2-EOBD-CAN-BUS-Fault-Code-Reader-Scanner-diagnostic-tool-/331052859667?hash=item4d1449c113:g:UG8AAOSwEeFVNRiK

Buy all your parts on eBay even if you get it fixedin a garage - buy the part and let them fit it , that way they cant rip you off for parts!

Kwikfit wanted to supply a new exhaust system for my Streetka quoted over £700 - I priced it up on eurocarparts for less than £200.

Good luck , as long as the weather is good it gets you out in the fresh air , loads of scraped knuckles and learning about how your car works but

morfe importantly wqill save you a fortune , avoid ripoff garages but you will have to invest in a good set of tools as you will eventually come

to a point where you need that special tool to remove a special bolt or fitting and you can either make a tool or buy one but your collection

will build into a nice little toolkit eventually!

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thanks guys for the advice. ive just got back from an 16 mile round trip to a supermarket. i lifted the bonnet and it sounded liked boiling/hissing water lol you could hear the coolant going around the pipes and they were very hot to touch along with the plastic coolant tank. 

the pipes circled especially were really hot & added a pic of the car for good measure

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Just check all the other posts on this board with the words overheating , temperature - they are mostly all down to the same problem you are having.

Pictures and fixes are all there!

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yeh thanks sorry if i keep going on lol, i just want to understand what the actual problem and solution is. my knowledge doesnt go far beyond knowing what fluids go where, i couldnt point out where the clutch or gearbox is for instance. im good at building a computer and fixing problems with them so i should be able to work things out i guess. ive noticed these other posts all seem to have the overheating warning light come on whereas mine doesn't 

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Heat control valve stops working/ jams stopping the water from circulating and then overheats causing damage to the system.

You need to diagnose thermostat or hcv but it sounds like Thermostat.

Cannot believe your garage have left it like this - perhaps once you fix it you can go back in

and tell them what the issue was , how easy it is to diagnose and ask for a refund.

Print these conversations out and take it to them and shame them!

I've seen a few people do that on forums to get their money back - threaten them with a youtube video and puttin their garage up in a review on Yelp or Blagger.com , facebook , twitter - better still take a gopro and video them - you would be surprised how a bit of bad publciity can quickly reap rewards. Or a police uniform lol

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hcv not working or jamming stopping the water doesnt lead to overheating . what do you think happens when you turn the heater temp control to cold? it stays closed.

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Yip too much beer and puff tonight not a good combination - its the thermostat or a blocked radiator or pipe!

Hcv stuck only causes heater to blow cold or hot all the time as you have said yours does.

So sounds like you have both problems.

Duh!

 

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haha i dont know what to think about it, loads of posts say its the HCV others say thermostat or blocked radiator and faulty HCV cant possibly make it overheat grrrrrrrr. surely if it was thermostat or radiator then the 2 different garages would surely have picked up on something so basic ????

 

Im gonna drive it a bit later then when i get back ill lift the bonnet and is there anyway i can tell what it is by feeling the pipes/rad or anything ?

 

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back from a drive and coolant boiling as usual, the radiator was stone cold while the liquid was boiling through the engine. so im guessing the radiator is blocked an thats causing the problems, is it safe to even drive it i think this has been like it for ages so im worried i might have damaged the engine

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I wouldnt drive it myself.

What i should have said is thermostat stopping working stops the water from flowing through and you end up overheating.
The old ones used to use wax/paper spring thing so it sounds like your on the way to a fix - just check the pipes with your hand or a hand held temp gauge if ye dont want burned to see where the cold areas are and work your way back or forward. I would empty the whole system and put a hose into the system and flush it all out - i did that last year and it helped as the system was literally clogged with thick brown nasty rust water = remember to put antifreeze in as it protects the system from corroding as well as cooling.

Well the water goes in the radiotor and out so if its not hot on the outlet then its blocked - could also be the water pump seized.

Get yer investigating breeeks on!

Most garages are a bunch of conmen.
Nasty day today no car mechanics for me - very sore head too much gringo!

 

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