98 mondy 2.0 zetec over heating issue , started yesterday on way home in traffic , never had a problem before yesterday ! noticed it was in the red after about 20 min of driviing at rush hour , pulled over and steam was coming from under the bonnet , let it cool down and had a look but water level seemed fine , got it home and let it cool , opened the expansion bottle cap and let the engine idle , temp gauge stayed normal , but every now and then there ws some bubbling in the expansion tank , like water being pushed back up the pipe into the tank , stayed fine so put the cap on and went round the block and it went straight to red ,still have HOT air blowing from the inside heaters , radiator top hose doesnt feel hot at all , and sounds like a gurggling in that pipe when engine is off , looked for a bleed valve but cannot find one , also noticed the temp needle goes down to middle when going straigh but as soon as i turn , left or right it goes to red again .
any one tell me were to find a bleed screw or what they think can be causing this ?
also some said these have to be lifted at the front and the rad cap removed and run for 15 - 20 min to bleed , and they wont bleed done on a flat surface ?

thanx in advance

 

First point of call replace the thermostat.
Next does the fan kick in?, if it doesn't replace the fan sensor switch in the thermostat housing, check the fan itself actually works, do that by taking the plug off the sensor on the thermostat while the engine is running, if the fan motor is ok it will run continuously.
Last I can think of. if above does not work, is the impellor in the water pump has died, that will need new water pump.

.

 

Hi , yeah fans work fiine and come on when at normal operating temp !
Would i still get heat inside the car if the thermostat was buggered ?
had the car 2 years , never touched it !! so will replace it anway , might flush the sytem at the same time and replace 50/50 water coolant , any one know how many litres coolant i need ?

cheers for the reply

 

Faulty temp sender switch for the dodgy temp readings so ive been told by heartlands ford !

 

changed thermostat, temp switch and still over heating altho needle stays half way ? water bubbling away like mad in expansion tank ! and releasing steam and water under pressure. Top and bottom hoses are hot but the rad is cold ! got hot air blowing inside the car fine tho .

what i want to know is , would i get hot air blowing (nice and hot) inside the car if the pump was gone ? and secondly how to bleed the system correctly?
..

 

rad could be blocked.


also possible damage if geniuinely overheated:

if your expansion tank is bubbling away (with cap on) take it to a garage and have a sniffer test done. if it picks up hydrocarbons then your head gasket is fucked and the head probably warped too!!

is the oil ok? no milky, creamy residue on the dipstick or filler cap? this would also indicate head gasket failure.

 

Ahh but not always, only if the gasket has failed between oil feed and water jacket.

Good call on the sniff test!

 

true, thats why i suggested the sniff test too

having said that those 2 tests wont show up a failure between cylinders or between cylinder and block edge.


sorry to be a kill joy to the op

 

oil is fine , on both dipstick and oil filler cap ! first time it over heated was yesterday , tested the old thermostat in a pan of boiling water and didnt work so did think the new stat was gonna sort it ! A buggered head gaskt would cause the rad to be cold ? And can the rad get damaged from overheating?


cheers for the replys guys , will also get a "sniffer test" done . good thinking !

 

Check the obvious as well, the de gas pipe, the small thin pipe that runs from the top of the stat housing to the top edge of the expansion tank is clear, and the cap on the tank is ok, I would also be tempted to pull off the top hose with the engine running(just started) to physically check you have flow from the pump, as the top/bottom hoses will still get hot to some point from pure heart travel through the coolant, just to discount it as a issue.
tabetha

 

Hi tabetha , long time no speak, hope all is well m8. yeah am gonna go do that with the top hose now ! what about hot air blowing inside the car ? could it still get hot in the car with no pump?

cheers for the reply m8 and will get back to ya !

 

rad is getting hot now , but am loosing heat inside the car also aquired a new gurgling sound cant make out wether or not its from behind the dash or under the bonnet very confusing indeed not over heating either but getting alot of gurgling and bubbling inside the bottle .
how hard is changing the pump on this thing ? 2.0 silver top zetec D.I.Y ?
ive heard the timing belt has to come off and best to replace with a kit rather than just the belt ??

also how long will it last out ? no over heating but no hot air inside the car till 3000 rpms ? am i good for a few weeks to save some wonga?

 

problem solved ..... seems it was just an air lock in the system and only way it wanted to come out was with the front of the car up high on the jack with cap left off , lacked it up heard a gurgle , bottle needed topping up a far bit, left it running for about 40 min and have hot air inside the car, hot rad, no gurgling or bubbling , have drove it for about 30 miles and needle dont even hit the half way mark

mad the air only came out when the car was lifted at the front tho .

 

fantastic news and a great idea lifting the car like that!

glad you got it sorted, sometimes you can get a problematic air lock.