Overheating

[Kilgore1970]

Hi All,

Driving home noticed the temp was high (stopped just before red bars)

No leaks anywhere, been suggested Engine coolant temp sensor

focus 1.8 TDCI 2007

Anyone had this problem/any other advice.

Cheers

 

[Dee_82]

I had that on my last summer, was that from the gauge in the car? I don't trust mine, they are notoriously wrong, the forscan usually shows a good 10-20c variance from what it says it right to what the dash gauge reports, I now have a oil temp sensor tapped in to  the sump to give me a good idea what the engine temps are really doing 

[isetta]

i feel it is more likely to be too hot rather than a false reading.

bear in mind the hot weather, if something has been getting worse over time it is more likely to show up now. I am thinking of faulty thermostat (the thing which opens and closes to allow water through the radiator - if these start to fail, it ends up permanently closed as opposed to permanently open ie. it stops the water flow through the radiator), or maybe radiator core silted up restricting flow.  backwards flushing of radiator washes out the silt etc.

[andypsp]

have you enough antifreeze in there as it should be around 50% water 50% antifreeze 

[Dee_82]

if you use forscan you will see the temps raise to about 70c at which point it will drop a bit as the thermostat opens up, if it doesn't drop then it wont be passing through to the rad but, in sayng that, if it doesn't open at all you would be having some serious problems

[Kilgore1970]

coolant levels fine topped day before problem, drove the next day 1.3 miles max got hot in that time (not to red bars).

asked techs at wolk both suggested fan not kicking in, going to test this now.

 

[v530anh]

Had same problem just squeezed the connector to the sensor, may work.

[DJ_Andy_M]

On 2017-5-27 at 8:25 PM, andypsp said:

have you enough antifreeze in there as it should be around 50% water 50% antifreeze 

The 2007 Focus uses a pink oil based coolant. You should not be putting water in these cars!

[Kilgore1970]

Tested car over the weekend & drove to work this morning.....temp fine back to normal ??????

[andypsp]

2 hours ago, DJ_Andy_M said:

The 2007 Focus uses a pink oil based coolant. You should not be putting water in these cars!

blimey never knew that no water and 100% antifreeze thats a first 

[DJ_Andy_M]

16 hours ago, andypsp said:

blimey never knew that no water and 100% antifreeze thats a first 

The same goes for your 2012 pal!

[Dee_82]

I suspect you mean if you are using fords super duper antifreeze for life stuff, you pour it in as is 100% pure.  If you are using regular ford or compatible antifreeze, you use a 50:50 mix so yeah, you can use water, but if you do, you will need to follow the serving guides for replacing it periodically

[DJ_Andy_M]

On 5/31/2017 at 10:06 AM, Dee_82 said:

I suspect you mean if you are using fords super duper antifreeze for life stuff, you pour it in as is 100% pure.  If you are using regular ford or compatible antifreeze, you use a 50:50 mix so yeah, you can use water, but if you do, you will need to follow the serving guides for replacing it periodically

My understanding was that if you're got pink fluid, you should only use pink fluid because otherwise you're liable to damage your engine.

[mjt]

The pink fluid is most likely OAT or Hybrid OAT, see an explanation of the different coolant types here.

As far as I am aware all coolant types are water-soluble. It may just be that the Ford long-life stuff is pre-mixed to be used "neat".