Ford Fiesta (2000 - 2002) - 01 1.3 Coolant flushing and renewal

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Thu 15 May 2008 18:44
01 1.3 Coolant flushing and renewal - andyj941
Hi I've decided to renew the coolant in my Fiesta 1.3 Flight since whats already in there contains what looks like dust, rust flakes and an oily surface sheen. Can I just check that all I need to do is open the radiator plug at the bottom of the radiator, collect everything that runs out and discard, then use a garden hose to flush it out. Then I fill with water + radflush after closing the radiator plug, turn the heating to full and run the car until the thermostat opens and the radflush penetrates the whole system. Then should I flush the radiator again and repeat a further time to clear out the whole system? If this is the case I guess I leave the expansion tank lid off to allow the system to burp.

Plan to use halfords deioised water and 2 step radflush, not sure what antifreeze yet but will hopefully be able to get one from halfords too.
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Thu 15 May 2008 18:50
01 1.3 Coolant flushing and renewal - piston power
Thats pretty much it,

You could take both pipes off the radiator and flush out & also the heater matrix is worth a go if some sludge is there.

As for rad flush i have never used it just put a hose through the system back flushed to remove the gunk.

Top up and bleed jobs a good one!
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Fri 23 May 2008 12:23
01 1.3 Coolant flushing and renewal - andyj941
How do you bleed it? Going to try it this weekend.
Thanks
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Fri 23 May 2008 17:42
01 1.3 Coolant flushing and renewal - jc2
There are no bleed valves;just run engine with heater off till all hoses are hot;switch off and let engine cool and top up header tank to between the limits.
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Fri 23 May 2008 20:24
01 1.3 Coolant flushing and renewal - mjm
jc2, don't you mean run with heater on? if it gets hot then there's a fair chance that the matrix has bled itself.

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Fri 23 May 2008 20:29
01 1.3 Coolant flushing and renewal - jc2
You're right;on an '01 Fiesta heater should be max hot but fan off.You need to run engine at 3,500+rpm for at least 30 secs to get air out of matrix.Both heater hoses should then be hot.
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Mon 7 Jul 2008 16:22
01 1.3 Coolant flushing and renewal - andyj941
Thanks jc2 I had to do that. I flushed the old coolant out and took out the expansion tank and gave it a good clean - the system was filthy though and it was impossible to get all the rust and deposits out even after several flushes. Anyway got new coolant in it now and replaced + sealed the thermostat gasket so stopped the leakage.

However the electric cooling fan doesn't seem to work even after leaving the car running for 15 minutes or after a long journey. I'm a bit worried about this. I don't know if it was working before or maybe if a fuse or some water got in a connection when I was draining the coolant. Any advice?
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Mon 7 Jul 2008 20:39
01 1.3 Coolant flushing and renewal - piston power
Pull off the plug off the rad fan switch and short it out with a split pin, with ignition on does the fan spin?

If yes replace the rad fan switch/clean terminals etc.

If no, check fuse, check for a feed to switch?
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