ok let my car run at idle today just for a bit while i was in garage pottering about anyway when i looked back at car after turning her off i noticed the car had water dripping underneath!

opened bonnet to expect a leak and found water seeping out the expansion tank filler cap!

so went to tighten it and it was boiling slackened it and as u can imagine all the pressure came over flowing out of the tank.i just let it cool down and left it for closer examination at weekend.

so my question is where do i begin to look for overheating issues i hadnt even driven it its a pretty standard mfi engine.

i have bought but yet to fit an uprated thermostat and fan switch from msd.

i think the fan didnt come on so thats what im going to look at first but im amatuer at best

 

Your cap should'nt leak no matter how hot she gets.Get new header cap (yellow colour).

Make sure your fans are kicking in.

 

ill do that with the cap thats for sure!

 

maybe worth blagging a heat gun to check whats happening/not happening in the water works lol also , if alls well with the stat/fan switch , maybe the rad is blocked? good luck

 

I remember having the exact same problem.Changed the cap and was sorted.

If you still having problems,then check fans.If they aint working,good chance your fan switch faulty or wiring.Other thing could be faulty thermostat staying closed.

Not really anything else due to the fact your wasn't even driving it.If you was driving it id say check you not got air block in water system and make sure your not running mega lean.

 

ok cool thanks for that!

after reading another post im gonna buy a thermostat gasket from burtons and then get cracking fitting that and my new fan switch at weekend hopefully it goes smoothly.

thanks for the advice

 

No problem.Let us know how you get on.

 

Also something that will help is this fan switch that turns the fans on 5 - 7 degrees earlier to help with cooling as well - not super cheap but cheap enough and was a major benefit to my car.

http://www.shop.motorsport-developme...witch-43-p.asp

 

yeah i have that and a thermostat which also cuts in quicker so was planning to fit those anyway i just got them and some other bittys at xmas so its kinda fitting in the fact that if i hadnt bought them i bet this problem wouldnt have occured! im just glad i noticed it! hope it hasnt done some serious damage!

 

How long was it running for, must have been a fair while? Any engine will overheat left idle for long enough, the fan(s) should then activate.

It could just be the cap is dodgy, opening the cap when hot will lead to the coolant escaping, so how do you actually know it overheated?

Did you clean it off as anti freeze will take your paint off?

Martin

 

it over heated coz it was bubbling with the cap on and oozing past somehow! anyway its like melted chocolate pish in the header tank so gasket must be out!?

fans work tho as i by passed the stat however i dont know if they are kicking in havent yet tried it again waiting for the arrival of a friend to help.

it was idling for about half an hr,yes i did wipe the areas and rinse down the parts i could access.

where can i purchase this yellow cap!

 

on the fiesta there is a problem with one of the GREEN relays.... its melts then stops working...

this affects the revearsing light and the FAN.... if you don't have an over cooled engine this leads to engine death! The relays can be got on EBAY Ł3 or your local scrapper for less.

the other thing you can do is pressure test your cooling system. This will tell you if you have a leak and also of it gets over pressured then somthing is running V hot in the engine

 

heat gun! for checking temp i presume or those uber powerful hairdryers!

 

is this the same green relays that i would find on an s2!? where is it located!

 

The relay is relay 5 (V) on the fiesta. This is labled ignition in the haynes manual. if you PM me your email address I will send you some pics.

it is the middle row on the left on the fiesta.