99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating

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Sun 15 Jul 2007 14:31
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Neupert
Hi Guys,

I've just bought a new car, as my old was overheating, but now the new one is doing it... argh!

So it's a Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.25, 1999, 32000 miles, Serviced every year since new. Today i noticed the gauge going into the red, it could have been doing it before, i'm not sure, but i've only had it for a week! Opened the bonnet to here a whooshing gurgling noise coming from the pipe that goes into the expansion tank to the main heating block bit, rather than the pipe going from expansion tank to rad. I'm not sure if this is normal, but it looked like coolant was coming back to the expansion tank from the engine.
I let it cool, came back to it and the expansion tank was pretty much empty. I filled it up with antifreeze on a 60:40 ratio, went to the petrol station and filled it up. Took it round the block a few times and it went into the red again. Popped the hood again, the fan is cutting in. There doesn't appear to be any leak in the system.

I can't be 100% that the coolant was at the correct level when i bought it - so maybe i'm hoping adding this coolant will help? It's a vague hope i guess..

I'm dubious of a head gasket fault as oil looks clean and no traces of oil in expansion tank.

Other problems i'd assume would be an airlock, water pump or thermostat issue. Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help :)
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 17:27
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - milkyjoe
could be a faulty thermostat ( stuck closed) or worse a broken water pump, the temp gauge works off the coolent temp in the block, but the fan is activated by the temp in the thermostat housing IIRC or as you say the water level is dropping but no leaks (apparently) could be steam escaping, are there any white stains at any of the joins in the cooling system hoses?
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 17:37
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - bell boy
Ive had the exact same problem with one of these this week and it was a faulty cap on the header or rather i had topped the level up to sales level and had failed to tighten the cap back up enough,i also feel that these engines under the small bonnet could really do with better airflow through the radiator,im sure this isnt helped by the small fan and no gap between engine and radiator(s)
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 18:18
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Neupert
Thanks for the help, it's not great having a week old car go wrong!

I've had a look - i haven't noticed any white marks around the joins. I think i've pretty much followed all the pipes - my coolant is pink and i definately couldn't see any pink stains.

Whether i'm losing coolant i can't be certain. I know it expands when warm - and i picked the car up when warm and it looked fine. I've driven the car 3 times since i filled the coolant up today and once cool i've noticed no difference in level. Saying that the first 2 times it reached the red pretty quickly, the final time it didn't reach the red but was hanging pretty close (20 mins drive).

I did try bleed the system, i took the cap off and ran the engine from cold. I'm not sure if this was at all relevant to my problem though! Strangely i've not heard the gurgling noise since i've done that - and i did that just prior to the 3rd driving attempt of the day when it didn't overheat.

Am i on the right lines do you think?

As for the pump - i had the pump replaced on my previous car - and it was baking hot when i drove/steam etc lots of coolant required. On the brighter side i haven't noticed anything as extreme as this - the car drives fine (at the moment!!)
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 18:19
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Neupert
I've just checked i screwed the cap on tight too!!
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 18:46
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Simon
Did you buy ( PU) it from a trader or just privately? If it was from a trader then take it back and get them to sort it.
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 19:18
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Neupert
No it was bought at an auction by a family friend who buys and sells from auctions for a living. Unfortunately the cars at this auction are sold as seen.
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 19:47
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - waldenyid2007
Hi, I don't post much on these forums as my knowledge of cars isn't the best. I am, however, almost certain i can help you as I had exactly the same problem. I bought a 2001 fiesta ghia 1.6 zetec s not so long ago and it was overheating just like yours.

The problem with an overheating car is that it can be so many different things so i started by getting a new thermostat and new radiator cap (started cheap). After that it was still overheating. I was almost certain at the time that it wasn't the headgasket, because like in your case there was non of the tell tale signs. Anyway, I wasn't sure what to do so i googled and googled away.

What i found is that there is a very very common problem with zetec engines where the heater control valves break. The heater control valve just controls the temperature of the heater, and when it breaks (gets stuck?) your heater will normally play up although for the most part mine worked ok oddly enough. But whats unique to the zetec engine is that a dodgy heater control valve can actually cause your car to overheat. I bought a new 1 for £40 had it replaced by a mechanic who even when replacing it (a 2 minute job) was adamant it would not solve the problem. But guess what - it did.

So I would be 99% sure that all you have to do to fix your problem is get a new heater control valve.

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Sun 15 Jul 2007 19:54
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Neupert
.*********
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 19:56
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - waldenyid2007
?
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 19:57
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Neupert
(Whoops i think i said a naughty word in the above post, my apologies!)

Thanks for that - i also have been googling ALL day!! I did come across the heater control valve problem - seems like a very common fault. I'll take it for a drive in a bit and have a play at the heater (i don't have air con though does that make a difference?) Do you know where i can find this little **** too?!
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 20:02
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - waldenyid2007
You can get it from any ford service / dealer and they are pretty cheap. I don't think it matters that you don't have aircon although i do. Also with my car it usually required at least a half hour to an hour drive before you'd see the temperature start shooting up so a couple of times id get my hopes up thinking it was sorted only to be let down like 5 minutes from home lols. But I had my heater control valve changed 2 months ago now and my car has been perfect ever since.
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 20:14
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Simon
>>No it was bought at an auction by a family friend who buys and sells from auctions for a living.
>>Unfortunately the cars at this auction are sold as seen.

No prizes for guessing why it was put through a 'sold as seen' auction then!
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 20:19
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Neupert
i think this is a new problem though - i took it on a 2 hour drive back from the auction house with no problems. You'd think if it was going to overheat it'd do it then really.
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 20:22
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - bell boy
Do you know where i can find this little **** too?!
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>tinyurl.com/2dofw4

Good point about this valve ,its the bit that joins the two pipes internally that is not wide enough to get the water flowing round the engine,you could always join the pipes up directly to see if the temp goes down (ie do away with the heater for a few days)
didnt know this problem affected the 1242 engine though.
I posted on this subject a few months ago and even had the ford numbers to avoid just in case the dealer has old stock that was affected by this valve that was made wrong for about a year.
The thing is your car may have been fitted with a faulty valve subsequently started running hot so the last keeper sold it in auction with no comeback,why not ring him and ask him? he can only put the phone down on you
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Sun 15 Jul 2007 22:03
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Neupert
Just a quick update - tried the fans on full heat, came out cold. Did not in a 35min round trip overheat, although did get close.

Enough evidence to warrent a new heater control valve?
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Mon 16 Jul 2007 11:18
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - waldenyid2007
Let me explain the exact symptoms of my car. Firstly i traveled from walthamstow (london) to saffron walden (essex) a lot so this approximate 1 hour drive was the drive that I'd normally do to test if it was fixed. The majority of this journey was on the M11. Car would be fine getting out of london (lots of traffic) and fine the whole time on the motorway. Then I'd come off the motorway at bishop stortford and its about 15 minutes from there to my house at which point its country lanes with various towns in between. When the problem was there it would always show itself like 5 minutes from my house, however, its worth noting that it only once ever actually went to the red - it always stayed just below. Also the temperature on it was never stable.. it would shoot from its normal position to inbetween 3/4s and red and then instantly drop back down the moment i gave it a little more gas.

It really made me wonder if the car was in fact overheating at all - A red hot engine cant cool itself instantly can it? But yeah as has been said its basically as if the control valve stops the water getting to your engine. Because of this the way to make the temperature stay down for me was to drive it hard (?!!!) - as long as the car was working it would stay cool, its when you stopped or slowed down it would shoot up.

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Mon 16 Jul 2007 11:20
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - waldenyid2007
FYI since the change my fiesta temperature stays at just below the half way all the time. If your fiesta is getting high (even if it isnt actually overheating - as i said mine didn't actually overheat) I'd change it. Its cheap and to me it definitely sounds like it's the heater control valve.
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Mon 16 Jul 2007 12:18
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - Neupert
Yep true - mine also jumps from nearly red to halfway etc. You've convinced me, i'll put an order in for the bit today!

Will keep you updated, thank you very very much!!
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Wed 1 May 2013 17:54
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - ccrewz
Yep true - mine also jumps from nearly red to halfway etc. You've convinced me, i'll put an order in for the bit today! Will keep you updated, thank you very very much!!

How is your car now?

I am having virtualy the same problem with mine, it is a '99 1.242cc

These are the steps I have taken to correct the overheating problem:

new thermostat

coolant system fully flushed and the correct new coolant fitted

tested for heat gasket leak - compression test & tested the water for hydrocarbon - all OK

heating valve replaced

all these jobs are being done by qualified mechanics and the car still runs far too hot and if I am afraid to go out of town with it because it gets to hot too quickly. In this recent cold weather I only had to drive 4 miles and the guage was all the way up to the R in NORMAL.

Clearly this is not right as the car was never like this in the past. In fact it was fine until it stood for 2 months.

Does anyone have any more ideas because if not then this car is going to be SCRAPPED!!!

it is the old story " throwing good money after bad. Well if no one has a solution the it has to go.

Thanks

Edited by ccrewz on 01/05/2013 at 17:56

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Wed 1 May 2013 20:21
99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 - Overheating - alastairq

does the radiator fan work?

Does the thermo switch that activates the radiator fan work?

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