Car is still overheating! (2012 Fiesta 1.6l)

[party ford se]

Hello everyone. I'm from the USA

I am at a stump on this car. I bought the car with the engine overheating and white smoke coming out of the exhaust.

I have replaced the head gasket, resurfaced the cylinder head, water pump, and thermostat. Now the car runs well with no misfires, but it still overheats.

I did a compression test and all of the cylinders were slightly above 110psi. (I was told by a ford technician 100-110psi is the normal compression range). There are no coolant leaks. I did a combustion gas test and it failed to detect exhaust gas in the coolant reservoir. And I pressurized the cooling system to 16.5psi and it only lowered to 15psi in 10 minutes.

White smoke from the exhaust is so still present when the car is warmed up after 10 minutes. But other than the overheating issue. The car runs great!

Does anyone know if my engine is ruined or is it still fixable? Thank you!!!

 

[scotman]

I would guess that the cylinder head has a crack. if it is using coolant it should be readily apparent which cylinder or cylinders are being fed coolant. If there’s white smoke out the tailpipe then the coolant is being pumped through a cylinder or cylinders.

 

[Handy Andy]

You might want to reinvestigate the water pump.

The OEM one versus the one you're replacing it with.

Why?

Porting - the OEM vanes go a set depth - and maintain a pretty tight clearance in the cavity - but if the replacement has a different shaft to the inside or the impeller is too small (Referring to rebuilt units or used pulls) - the vanes spin, but don't throw enough of the fluid into the ported chamber to get close to the thermostat so it can feel the heat. The higher RPM usually pushes the fluid far enough and with enough force to get at the thermostat and start to open it. But if the vanes are not close enough to the ports and the cavity - the force of the fluid just swirls and doesn't gain any momentum in any direction until there's a higher continuous RPM that is enough to spin the fluid and make it throw far enough to pump or move in the ports. Also - there is a bell or bubble valve on that thermostat too, it has to be on the top of the thermostat when it's seated in the throat of the outlet. Kinda' important, if it can't "breathe" then air pockets that are formed from the "boiling" just sit there - the thermostat takes a L-o-ong time to sense any heat and open up. This goes without saying but you may also want to double check the spring side of the thermostat is on the INSIDE of the motor - else too much heat is needed to open the port to circulate the fluid.

When white smoke appears, this may be from "water or coolant" but then that is arriving to the manifold either by EVAP port valve action from the canister port - or from the valve stems.

You don't always have water present in a pressure test at simple idle. But if the cylinder head was cleaned and machined, was it too, checked for cracks? Because when the valves are closed, the chamber is sealed - so no leaks. But if a valve was open and was showing signs of being burned or bent due to age and wear (seating and excessive clearance) the combustion chamber seal may be OK due to the valve seat to valve chamfer is good, but not the valve stem itself - it may have a failed seal.

However, the lower block section could be involved is unlikely except for maybe the oil vapors and the PCV valve are picking up a leak from the BOTTOM of the block - that would show up as a displacement of oil (oil rising and showing more oil than you originally put in on the dipstick) and or colored goo on the underside of the oil fill cap - but not all conditions - there is a line from the rearward side of the exhaust that is a burp line - if that line is plugged or has had damage - this may be the reason for that seepage - the rear seal for this line is failed and cracked. IF there is enough vacuum in the exhaust manifold - it can pull it in to the exhaust port tube of that #4 cylinder and blow it back into the exhaust system causing that steam. However white smoke can also mean oil is just vaporizing - not burning. Which means a leak has formed and is letting oil seep/spit into the exhaust manifold. Can you pull it off? Just to see - it may also contain oil - which it just may need a valve job to fix the seals.

You'd see that as an oily coating on the exhaust pipe outlet and the catalyst can produce an ash and spit it out at the tailpipe you'd see it as a "watermark" left on the pavement

So there are several other options you may need to discuss with the mechanic to see if the white smoke is really steam, or is it smoking oil from a bad valve seal and it's just raw oil smoking - not burning from a combustion chamber (for burning oil has a bluish tint and strong odor while smoking oil - while not burning just vaporizing, will emit white smoke and oily vapor and not have such a foul odor) - just the residue leaking into the manifold and since its hot back there - the smoke appears.

 

[Mercurios2011]

Hello everyone. I'm from the USA

I am at a stump on this car. I bought the car with the engine overheating and white smoke coming out of the exhaust.

I have replaced the head gasket, resurfaced the cylinder head, water pump, and thermostat. Now the car runs well with no misfires, but it still overheats.

I did a compression test and all of the cylinders were slightly above 110psi. (I was told by a ford technician 100-110psi is the normal compression range). There are no coolant leaks. I did a combustion gas test and it failed to detect exhaust gas in the coolant reservoir. And I pressurized the cooling system to 16.5psi and it only lowered to 15psi in 10 minutes.

White smoke from the exhaust is so still present when the car is warmed up after 10 minutes. But other than the overheating issue. The car runs great!

Does anyone know if my engine is ruined or is it still fixable? Thank you!!!

was the cylinder head pressurized?

like Scotman mentioned if the head is cracked and on the exhaust side you will never see it.

also as counter parts man , I agree with Andy , sometimes OEM is the way to go regardless how fancy the "lifetime warranty " looks on paper for the after market replacement

partiality clogged radiator or incorrect coolant bleeding will cause it to over heat as well , but wont explain the smoke or constant coolant loss

while you are at it , pull the coolant temp sensor and inspect it ,should be wet but with no corrosion(heavy dark looking ,dull kind thick oily residue ) other wise it won't read temp until is too late ,

that little piece can escalate a 45min job into hours of trouble shooting and parts failure costing you a few hundreds in the long run.

good luck man!