Ford SportKA SE 1.6 (2004) - Temperature light keeps coming on, but not overhea

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Thu 24 Mar 2016 09:30
Ford SportKA SE 1.6 (2004) - Temperature light keeps coming on, but not overhea - Simon78

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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Thu 24 Mar 2016 18:28
Ford SportKA SE 1.6 (2004) - Temperature light keeps coming on, but not overhea - elekie&a/c doctor

Sounds to me you still have coolant loss or air lock.The engine may have been cooked from the first episode.You need to get a chemical test of the coolant to establish possible head gasket problem.Don't think a diagnostic test will show anything.Back to basics for this problem.The valve that was replaced,was it the heater valve?and if it was ,can you confirm that a genuine Ford part was fitted,as an aftermarket part can cause overheating issues.

Edited by elekie&a/c doctor on 24/03/2016 at 18:28

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