Hi All,

I am been having a problem with my car for quite a few months now, had a mechanic look into it but still no luck just wanted to get some further advice and see if anyone has had or knows what the problem might be.

Car: Ford Focus, 2001 - Automatic, 1600 engine.

Issue:

The temperature gauge after approx 10 minutes of running is going right up to the highest point suggesting the car is completely overheating, however it is not. If I stop at traffic lights for a few minutes, it will drop back down again to the middle. If I go uphill for any length of time it will shoot up to the top almost immediately and stay there and at this the point the car engine management will come on. Also, a flashing exclamation light will appear on the dashboard.

This happens every single time I drive the car, I am only doing short journeys at the moment (around 30 mins or so) - not been on the motorway. To be clear, the car is definitely not overheating it is just the system showing that on the dashboard.

My concern is if I do take it for a long drive I could have a breakdown etc..

What has been done to date:

- New radiator fitted
- New temperature sensor fitted
- Pipes checked
- Dashboard reset

I have had a highly qualified mechanic look into the car on multiple occasion, he is old school and has said he believes it may be more of a computer issue than a mechanical issue as all the tests so far have been unable to replicate the issue off-road.

The main reason for asking is, I am not confident enough to take it to a garage without some kind of idea what the issue is, I don't want to spend more money on investigation work. If someone can pin-point the cause I can take that back to the mechanic or another garage.

Would appreciate any help/suggestions.

Many thanks,

 

It is not always easy to troubleshoot over the net.
To throw out possibilities would only confuse you more.

We don't know the complete story of what your mechanic checked or what he didn't check.
Not knowing for sure everything that was done doesn't help.

If you keep driving it without determining exactly what is going on you could wind up with more serious problems. If you don't have the confidence in your present mechanic, I would suggest find a different place to have the vehicle checked. Until you do that, anything is possible . It could be something simple or more serious, but to gamble with it is not a wise course to take.