Ford figo 2014 model overheating problem

[Wellies]

Hello everyone,hoping to find help here.
I have a ford figo 2014 model which is giving me overheating problem, I have temp sensor changed,water pump and radiator as well.So what is happening is,If i drive in the free way exceeding 100km/hr,the car wont overheat but once i get off the free way and enter stop and go in the streets,the overheating light comes on and then you hear the fan running at max volume/speed, if i turn off the engine and start again the light goes off and i can keep driving maybe till i reach destination before it happens again. So to test whats going on, when i get home i parked the car and keep the engine running with the bonnet open to observe what happens..The car would run,i see the fan comes on cool the engine down and stop..the normal process of cooling system by the fan happens well while the car is parked while engine running, no overheating light will come on.So i dont know what is going on ,seems to me when i get off the free way and drive with low gears the fan delays to run and only runs when temp is already on red.I really dont know whats happening .I know this sounds so strange but thats wat is happening. Any help would be appreciated please.

 

[econoboxrocks]

Sounds like symptoms of low coolant/air in the system. If there are no obvious leaks, it may be that the cap on the expansion tank isn't sealing. It's a pressurized system, so that can cause it to overheat.
If that's not the issue, I'd suspect a bad thermostat. The thermostat may look fine but still not be working properly.

 

[Wellies]

Hi~Thanks very much,the coolant is okay and i have just checked the cap for expansion tank and it seems like it is sealing properly.I will have the thermostat checked if it happens that it can be new and still be faulty..

 

[econoboxrocks]

Did it start doing this after you replaced the thermostat, or did you replace it after it started overheating?

 

[Wellies]

Replaced the thermostat after it was showing the temp light as soon you start so it was not in use,the thermostat was replaced and other thing is that the inside radiator for the heater was bypassed for suspected blockages.The car was perfoming very well after that and then this nature explained above started.

 

[econoboxrocks]

I'm stumped. You can try hooking it up to a code reader.

 

[Handy Andy]

Cn you spend a moment to upload a photo of that engine - we had another member have an overheating problem, only to find out the engine was a diesel - not petrol - motor which just needed to be "regened" as part of the emissions - so their headaches were from the cycling event getting cut off just never completed the cycle.

With the vehicle going into "overheat" - before, you did the right thing by knowing the age of the vehicle - replaced the radiator, thermostat and the temp sensor - yet still overheats - might indicate a plugged hose or bad, mis-laid hose routed and now got kinked - affecting the sensor - or the sensor wiring and even the hoses by it, suffered some type of impact and or failure - so when the service guy replaced the parts, they never bothered to verify the wiring was good ot the pump was working - which now seems to focus more on the Water Pump as having to have failed or getting ready to seize up

Replacing the water pump is the only thing you haven't done.

This is a 2014 and were in the USA - so hope this condition can be resolved by getting your service guy back to it and have them recheck their work.

The car has several variants of engines - mostly 1.4L - in the US - we have a 1.6L version of a similar chassis

Yours should look something like this...​

.

 

[Ashlan]

Ive been having the exact same issue in my 1.4 fiesta, I changed my thermostat, radiator, water pump, expansion tank and cap. I even use premium coolant premixed and it still does it. When it starts to heat up I have to rev up between 3000 to 4000 rpm then the temp drops but when driving in stop go traffic the temp goes up again.

 

[Handy Andy]

When you switch coolants - be careful - the system needs a full rinse and purge.

• (if not suggested, it should be done even if using same OEM fluid - just don't re-use the old fluid - it's done - let it rest)
• A rinse and purge removes sediment, like;
  • metal chips,
  • old dry-spot debris
    • - hot spotting from hot days highway speed driving and not allowing the coolant to circulate long enough to balance the hots spots thermally well enough to prevent small boil-over vapor pockets to form that look much like a bathtub bubble (foam) ring,
  • oil that leaked in from a heavy compression-power struggle cycle - like acceleration then deceleration high vacuum speed brake
  • Pieces of engine and gasket that leached into the coolant sleeve "jacket" - that eventually soften and form a pile of sediment at the bottom of a radiator core - but if left to itself can plug sections of radiator core if the core has been compromised from pinching, rocks, debris, bugs - e&c...
    • It's why the "Orange" coolant has a detergent additive - that is not PHOSPHATE based - else phosphate being a corrosion inhibitor - can affect anodized metals and plated steels - removing coatings trying to replace them with its own. (Aggressive behavior)

Some coolants are glycol in an organic base while others are glycol - with Phosphate added.

Phosphate and organic types of acid neutralizers (to help control PH in the system at all temps) will not mix well and can separate.

When they do - it forms a thick jelly - much like slime, that won't stay put (Think of this like Mercury) and can form "blobs" and layers and plug a radiator and heater core fast.

Its' when you have to "spin up" the motor does the "blob" get pushed enough to deform and allow flow from pressure differences - you're flat sucking a hose potentially pinching it shut keeping the temperature up in the engine but not where the plug can use the heat to loosen - which is where the plug is at, the radiator. Only the excessive pressure gradient can force flow and then heat soaks in and loosens the mess - only to congeal again once cooled off.

Ok, you can say, I never added anything! Well, that may be the case, but if this car was taken to a shop that you seemed to trust - did they accidentally use a wrong phosphate-based additive to help "lube" and try to prevent a condition? Well, this is the payback...

Do not trust any additive that says "Works in all systems - including yours" - which usually means the advertiser was drunk from drinking the stuff with the staff as they partied the night before...
.

 

[Ashlan]

That actually makes alot of sense. Because the radiator can get clogged very easily. Should there have been a mix of fluids to create a block, will q flush of the system fix it or is there another way to completely rid the system of the gunk to allow for clean coolant to flow?

 

[Handy Andy]

I wish I could give you an easy way to fix this, but honestly - you'll have to remove the fluid, full drain - even pull the thermostat and run the motor with clean distilled or at least filtered water for several minutes to loosen the stuff to get it hot and flush out the old stuff. (Old school)

You don't need a ton of heat - just enough to feel heat out from the heater and let it (heater fan) run on high for a few minutes - then shut off engine - take a 15-minute break - then drain...

While you have the thermostat out, you can inspect it or replace it - this can work in your favor if you just drive the vehicle on a short, Less Than 10-minute, trip to the auto store to get a new thermostat - at least the fresh water is helping to dilute the stuff still in there.

I also take the time while this flush is going on - to find the heater hoses to the back firewall and locate the hose that gets the hottest first - while running the heater and fan on full to help pull heat to help find the hottest hose (this is hot - moving parts too - so care must be taken to prevent burns and injury).

Once you found the hot side of the heater hose system, that side - pull the hose from the engine side (This is where the heater gets the heat from circulation-wise) to let you force water into the heater core and push/flush it out of that core as well. IF you can pull both hoses - even better -then you can flush and backflush the heater core.

If you are home and can afford some time - you can do a backflush, basically is - just pull off the upper and lower Radiator hose - pouring fresh clean water into the upper hose until the scent and color and any old fluid and debris is removed from the bottom hose.

Develop a plan and follow thru, just try to flush your vehicles system to restore the cooling efficiency.

 

[Ashlan]

Update on my fiesta... Took it to a radiator specialist to do a CO2 test. CO2 is leaking into my coolant which is probably why i have this issue. common are blown head gaskets. Will update once i've fixed it

 

[scotman]

We hope that the repair goes smoothly! For your own purposes of understanding how that head gasket failed, you wouldn't be at all overstepping if you request that the technician doing the repair snap a couple of digital images of the failure area of the original head gasket. "Where" those gaskets fail are always good to know.
.

 

[Ashlan]

Hi Guys, update on my fiesta overheating fix. So fixed the blown head and the car rand good for 2 days and then started experiencing higher temps. I suspected my heater core was blocked so i sent it to a radiator specialist who did a complete flush of my cooling system, my temperatures improved significantly. there was debris blown out of my core and my radiator and i'm sure there's still some blockages however i'm impressed with the results so far. My plan is to change coolant regularly and flush the heater core as often as I can so over time maybe i can get majority if not all of the blockages out. Worst case scenario i was planning on bypassing my heater core.

 

[econoboxrocks]

Glad it worked out.

 

[Ashlan]

Update... Temps started running high again, so I bypassed the heater core. Improved significantly however city driving (traffic) sees higher Temps, and sometimes, even when the fan kicks in, the temps don't go down unless I rev the engine up abit. Temps go up to about 108 sometimes 111 (low fan kicks in at 105, high fan kicks in at 110, overheat light comes on at 120). When I'm on the freeway the car behaves and I get between 87 and 98. Not sure how else to troubleshoot this other than flush out the radiator again, could be possible debris

Note: thermostat is 3 months old

 

[Handy Andy]

Check the underside of your oil spout - the one you use to pour oil into the engine to refill after an oil change.

Any strange light tan/brown gunk stuck to under the top cover in there?

Kinda looks like this when you unscrew that cap...

IF you're seeing that, then the oil is contaminated with either the coolant
or it's got a blown gasket and water is mixing in with the oil -
OR the engine doesn't get hot enough and you're getting fooled by the sender unit.
The above condition is usually caused by a motor that has a stuck open thermostat or uses the wrong
temperature - it's too cold for the motor or you don't drive it enough to heat it up...
​

So let's look at what is going on...you do city driving - so if it's short trips - the normal operation of the thermostat is less that usual - short trips kill engines because they don't get hot enough to "boil off" or cook off moisture and condensate...

So if city stop and start traffic is not doing this then other things might be taking place.

Including a plugged radiator fin array...

Ok the Figo is also similar to a Fiesta - only the brother...​

You said you (they - the service people) found some debris, so if the heater core is working well, then the other culprit is the AC condenser core and the radiator core, are not ventilating like they should - because of what you said about highway driving - so there is enough air getting forced in, but when you slow down below highway speeds - the heat goes up.

Well, that is somewhat natural - but the engine is supposed to run a thermostat for those other moments of air flow and road speeds - so the vehicle can cool itself even in slow lane traffic of about 35 MPH or at least stay out of the overheating mode.

You may also have a set of air dams that can operate when the weather is cold and act like shutters to keep the wind whack from getting too much cold air forcing the motor to arrive to a operating temperature longer than it should. That was an option on several models.

But in any case, the vehicle is designed to gather enough wind from the pressure front of air it has to push against to make it thru the condenser and radiator - so this tends to make me wonder about something we (in the Rustbelt of the USA Midwest) have to do on a regular basis and it deals with the deicer. The core of the radiator - even in out during Michigan winters is being treated pretty brutal even from the standpoint of the deicer used - the sodium chloride has been replaced with calcium and magnesium chlorides (what?) that are better (if they say not my words - theirs) for the environment - but they also plug up the fins of the cars radiator fast - from the "goo" used to suspend it (glycol and water) - so did you have a chance to review the conditions of the AC and Radiator fins?

There is some restriction to airflow yes, but if the radiator fans are working and the highway seems to cool off the motor the only other two options are

Water pump is on the way out...
OR the Radiator core / condenser core - are partially plugged from debris or their cores' itself has collapsed and needs to be replaced.

You've done your job, so the process of elimination has brought you here...

To Add more:

When a blown head gasket is likely found, or replaced, the old coolant is thrown out obviously, but the remaining debris in the radiator, heater core and even the Oil cooler - is full of oil and sludge from the other fluids in the motor that backed up onto and into the old radiator fluid - so a complete - long term flush and fill - possibly more than one rinse and repeat moment to flush out that oil, sludge and degraded useless old coolant - else the only other fix is to replace all cores involved - which is a time consuming extravagance many can't afford or need.

So - just flush, fill, rinse and repeat as much as possible to remove the plugging mess - it's not easy, but far less expen$ive than a complete overhaul.