grichardson661

Hi,

I'm looking for some guidance from you experts.

I've just purchased a Focus 52 plate, 1.8 TDI with a known over heating problem. The car has just had the cam belt replaced, head gasket done and much more.

I drove the car 30 miles down the motor way around 70mph with the temp gauge at the middle, then with in a minute it started moving over to the red. I pulled up left it 5 minutes and released the cap off the water tank slowly which then released all the pressure. About half a pint of water was pushed out! It then settled, I set off again and same as before, another 30 miles down the road it did the same. The heaters are blowing hot so the water is travelling through the header matrix. I’m uncertain what the problem is. I’m going to replace the thermostat this evening but if anyone else has other ideas I would appreciate it if you shared them with me.

Thanks!

grichardson661

Ok i think we've made progress.

Tonight we've removed the thermostat, re-attached all pipes, topped the water up and let the car warm up for 30 minutes and took it for a quick drive. We got back, both pipes off the radiator were warm but the radiator was cold, the water tank was hissing with pressure. We hit the air release value on the radiator and released (pressured) air for 20 seconds but no water came out and hissing stopped. It seems like the water isn't flowing round the engine when running, not sure.

We also ran water through the top rad pipe and watched it flow through the rad and out of the bottom pipe to check for blocks in the rad but they're arnt any.

We're thinking the problems down to the water pump or a cracked head but not sure.

Anyone got any ideas from the symptoms i've given? I'm not a spanner guy i work on computers! lol

Thanks!