Hello everyone,
Im a motor trader. About 2 months ago we brought a 56 reg Ford Sport KA with 50k on the clock. After a week it started overheating. We took it to our local garage who apparently flushed out the rad etc.He said he'd had it running & was now ok. A Couple of days later we sold the car. 20 minutes after selling it the lad was on the phone stuck on Tescos car park with the engine over heating. So we had to go and take him his money back & apologise for his inconvenience. Luckily he only lived 10 miles away so had'nt had to travel far.
So car goes back to garage and im not joking it was there almost 3 weeks before they'd fixed it. Now its had new head gasket,head skimmed,radiator,oil pump,thermostat & housing. So we pick it up,put it back on Autotrader & lady comes from London today to buy it (130 miles).Took it for a test drive,loved the car,came back to our house to pay for it & when she parked up you guessed,it water pi55ing out the bottom!!! To say ''I wish the ground would of opened and swallowed me up'' is an understatement!!! Tomorrow morning its going back to the garage hopefully to be fixed this time! (we have been using them years and have never let us down before).

So my question is does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem can be??? We have noticed the fan doesn't come on but after reading a few Ford Forums it seams the fans rarely comes on anyway. The car has only been on a short run today,approx 2 miles before it was overheating. As you will know theres no Temp gauge on these but the red temp warning light didnt come on either.

Thanks in advance.

 

YES YES YES YES ive been hear 2 times before with the duratec engined kas!!

i tryed every think!! water pump stat flushed rad the lot!!! was doing my head in!!! would sit there for hours running fine (at idal or holding the revs up) but after a short drive would over heat!

one melted an engine where the owner kept driving it! put a new engine in and guess what?? it over heated!!!!!

what did i do to fix it in the end???? heater control valve!!

TO THIS DAY i still have no idea how this valve gives these symptoms!! even when it apears to be working fine!!

but on both kas it worked lol

 

heater valve, agreed.

its due to the control flow direction, flawed basicaly.

Zetec S mk5`s suffer with this also, late ones 200-2001

 

yes had it on a zetec s also. i bet this guys problem was the valve at the start! gonna feel pissed for paying for a head gasket lolol

 

Thanks for the replys guys! As regards to the heater control valve,we actualy had this problem with a Puma a few weeks ago. The previous keeper had rigged the pipe work to have hot air but no cold,the Control Valve was missing completely (its under the wipers). While i was cleaning the car it over heated & luckly it burst one of clips they'd attached the pipes together with otherwise we'd of never seen it as its under a rubber housing.

Now my Dad used the KA earlier this evening before the lady came to view it,he said he put the heaters on & hot air was coming out of them.If it is the Heater Control Valve thats broke would we still be getting hot air coming of of the heaters???

 

Thermostat and heater valve replace both items

 

yup as said all the cars ive had this problem with the heaters worked fine hot/cold ectect just over heat after a drive

change the valve i bet it will be fine

 

Thanks for your advice mate!! Took the car in today,showed the mechanic this thread & he read all the replys. So we've had a new valve fitted,he said he did 10 miles in the car then had it running for 30mins with no problems (although he said that when we picked it up Monday after we'd had all the other work done!!!). So tomorow i'll be testing it myself & i'll let you know how i get on.

Thanks to everyone again for the replys.

 

belive it or not shitty aftermarket ones cure this, Genuine ones are what cause the problems, circa 2000-2001 part numbers

 

let us no how you get on

 

You sir i think have solved the problem!!!

Went out this morning,had it running for an hour while i polished it,then took it for a blast round the streets,kept it running while i was doing other stuff then took it for a couple more blasts round the block. To my relief NO over heating!!! I Have noticed now the fan comes on around every 60 seconds for a about a minute or two,before the fan didn't come on at all.

So fingers crossed the problem has been solved! The car has been a real pain.Got it off BCA website for Ł1,300,owed us Ł1,600 with fees & delivery from Newcastle.Had a bit of work done on it & rear quarter sprayed because of rust round petrol cap so before the work on the engine it owed us around Ł1,900.Now we've had head gasket,head skimmed,oil pump,thermostat,radiator & now heater valve,prob another Ł400 that makes car owing us Ł2,300 & we're only selling it for Ł2,175!!! What a nightmare,wish I'd posted on here sooner!!!

 

Win some you lose some im afraid glad its all sorted