Overheating Ford Fiesta
 

Good Afternoon,

I’m the owner of an S Reg Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec-S fitted with a Piper Cross Induction Kit and I’m currently experiencing overheating problems. The car seems to be ok until you put your foot down or drive for more then 10 minutes and then the temperature gauge starts to rise. The fan kicks in but does nothing to cool the car down and bring it back to normal while in transit. When stationary the fan brings the car back to normal temperature but as soon as I pull away the temperature starts to rise resulting in the water boiling up and the temp gauge going into the red again. The cars heater seems to constantly blow hot and when I have pulled over and checked the radiator before it has been cold and sometimes some of the pipes are hot and other times they are not. The system has been flushed completely through with cleaning liquid to try and clear any blockage if there is one and we have also replaced the thermostat and checked the water pump which is fine. I have been informed by one garage that they think it could be the head gasket but the car does not appear to be any slower and sounds the same as it always has so I find it strange that it can be this when there is no lose in performance. Could this be a head gasket fault or are there any other conditions that can cause this? The problem first occurred when I was in heavy traffic on a very hot day with constant stopping and starting for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Any suggestions would be really appreciated and if any of you know of a good garage that specialises in Fords to go to in the Harlow/Essex area please let me know.

Eagerly awaiting any help

Regards

Rob

RE: Overheating Ford Fiesta
 

Number,
Try this; check the radiator pressure. With the engine cool, remove the radiator cap and instill the tester. Pump it up to spec. (this should be on the cap). Disconnect the wires to the ignition module, and crack the engine for a few seconds (15s). If the pressure reads higher then what you installed then the head gasket is bad. Sound like you already checked all other options. And yes the gasket can be bad with no seemly apprent laps in preformance