Any car experts here?

andy_fozzy

andy_fozzy

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My bloody heater has packed up in the car.
Well sort of! It's hot one minute, then cold, then hot............

Any ideas?

52 plate Focus btw!
 
How quickly does it go from hot to cold (and back again).

It's very possibly one of three things:

1). Dodgy thermostat
2). Air Lock (take the rad cap off and run the car up till warm, then give the rad hoses a good squeezing)
3). Blocked/dirty heater matrix

Is the car using any water? Can you just check that there is no Mayo-like substance either on the oil filler or water caps?

Cheers,
James
 
Moos3h said:
How quickly does it go from hot to cold (and back again).

It's very possibly one of three things:

1). Dodgy thermostat
2). Air Lock (take the rad cap off and run the car up till warm, then give the rad hoses a good squeezing)
3). Blocked/dirty heater matrix

Is the car using any water? Can you just check that there is no Mayo-like substance either on the oil filler or water caps?

Cheers,
James
Click to expand...

Ta James.
When the engine is warmed up, it can go from hot to cold in a matter of seconds, and vice versa.

When I looked at the water situation about 3 weeks ago, the reservoir was actually empty :eek:
I of course filled it straight up with water and anti-freeze, and there was no tell tale signs, ie overheating!!!

Just going to check out the other bits you mentioned right now!
 
get your head gasket checked out if you water bottle is empty also check for signs of leakage underneath

loss of water 9/10 times is a head gasket

take to your local garage and they normaly can do a check in your header tank

in theory if you lose water it may cause a water air lock then ok becuase the next bit come through or might need the water system bleeding which has been known on certain models of cars
 
my head gasket blew - eight year old - 92,000 miles Vitara - got it fixed at great expense then they found the sump had cracked or something - total write off! :eek:
 
is it petrol or diesel? what spec level is it
 
mine? petrol - spec level? you've lost me
 
What does the temp gauge do? When this is happening. I'd guess it's a air lock. A lot of modern cars suffer from it unfortunately. Had great fun getting the air out of my daughters 106 a few weeks ago with the same symptoms. Run the engine without the expansion bottle cap and full up with water/antifreeze and the heater set on hot until the car gets really hot and keep a eye on the water level it will burb and go down a couple of times. You need to have the bottle full to push the air out of the system.
 
Thanks shedend, I'll do this tomorrow.....
Temp gauge stays right in the middle of the dial, where it should be!!
Always. I've sat in 3 hours worth of traffic, doing like, a mile an hour and the
gauge has never moved (except when the engine is off or cold!)

Bit of an update:

Just spoke to an old mate (who was driving at the time!!!)
and he initially said the same about the head gasket.
Then he asked if there's ever been any odd puddles on the floor of the car, which there has!
Occasionally, on the passenger side there has been a very mysterious puddle ON TOP of the mat. The carpets have always been dry.
We've had no idea where this water has came from. There's no evidence of a leak or anything......

Pete my mate says there's a chance the heater matrix could be shot......
 
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andy_fozzy said:
Thanks shedend, I'll do this tomorrow.....

Bit of an update:

Just spoke to an old mate (who was driving at the time!!!)
and he initially said the same about the head gasket.
Then he asked if there's ever been any odd puddles on the floor of the car, which there has!
Occasionally, on the passenger side there has been a very mysterious puddle ON TOP of the mat. The carpets have always been dry.
We've had no idea where this water has came from. There's no evidence of a leak or anything......

Pete my mate says there's a chance the heater matrix could be shot......
Click to expand...

Think Pete might be right, classic symptoms :bang:
 
Oh and btw, dunno if it's related, but the air con does a similar thing....

One minute there'll be ice cold air coming, the next it's all warm and moist :naughty: :D

Could this be related?
 
EDIT: Read the above post ;) Heater Matrix is a likely contender then.

Are either of the footwells wet? Don't know where exactly the heater matrix is on Focii but if there's any wetness around the footwells then it's more than likely a leaky matrix.

Cheers,
James
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you.....Steep!

He'll be here all week folks!
 
Moos3h said:
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you.....Steep!

He'll be here all week folks!
Click to expand...

Unless he gets lynched first :lol:

A couple of other things to check are the seal round pollen filter housing, which is under the scuttle panel on the passenger side of a Focus in case water is getting in there and also check the air conditioning unit drain isn't blocked.

The heater matrix sounds the most obvious culprit though, being a Ford.....:bang:
 
read flash in the pans post above^

focus' are s***y for damp passenger footwell carpets, theres some unsealed holes on the scuttle panel which sometimes let in water in the correct symptons so it *might* not be the heater matrix, id check for bubbles in the headertank as well as it could be the head gasket, you mention water in the footwell, but does this co-incide with the water dissapearing in the header tank rather than when its been raing out?
 
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:D

Well it's only happened two or three times, but when it does, it just a big puddle on top of the passenger side mat. There's no sign at all of wet carpets, or anything else for that matter....

Always thought it was weird that the mat is wet, and not the carpet.
The first time it happened was when we first got the car. We had a long drive to Devon, and it was a
very wet day.........
The other times I couldn't really say.
I first noticed the empty tank a few weeks ago, filled it up, and tonight again it's empty!

I bloody told my Mrs to stay away from Fords. I hate them :razz:
but for some reason, she loves them.

I think they are a pile of crap.......
 
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Does sound like the heater matrix, but to be safe side check, as whitewash says, for bubbles in the header tank and also check to see if the radiator is hot all the way from top to bottom. If it's cold at the bottom then that's another sign of a dodgy headgasket
 
i work at a main ford dealership for over 6 years (master tech/foreman), the water in the footwell will be down to the pollen filter scuttle panel incorrectly/not sealed. temperture issues could be down to many of the above comments but all i can say is simply "get it checked" before it causes major damage. TBH i cant see it being head gasket, matrix, but you cant be to careful. the TDCI are know for thermostat housing leaking and header tank bottles cracking on the underside due to heat fractures.
 
Cheers guys.
I can't even SEE the radiator, let alone touch it :D
Car engines aren't like they used to be. There's no room at all under that bonnet :bang:

Got her booked in for an MOT Wednesday, so I'll have a word with them then about checking it out.

Unfortunately I have no choice but to drive it to work, as I work 25 miles away and I can't use public transport due to shifts.......

I'll try to have a check tomorrow that it's not the head gasket after I've swotted up on the posts!!!
 
could be a heater matrix leak as mentioned, or a leak anywhere in the cooling system. A small leak that is only occuring under water pump pressure [ie, when car is running] might not necessarily leak when stationary. It would also tie in with having air locks in the system creating the hot/cold heater temp. Mind you, its also fair to say that small leaks usually pretty quickly become big noticable ones, so depends how long the problem has been ongoing for. Also check the scuttle panel, is there a lot of leaves and debris collected under there? They can rot if not cleared and block the drains causing the over flowing into the car in heavy rain, and depending on how the focus is built [yes, badly according to previous posters] that could cause he strange puddles on the mats too.

Definately needs a check over either way.
 
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Yv said:
and depending on how the focus is built [yes, badly according to previous posters] that could cause he strange puddles on the mats too.
Click to expand...

I have only one thing to say......






Laguna (the last one)







:D
 
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look below the wiper blades and you will see 2 black panels running from 1 side of the car to the other, the passenger side 1 hides the pollen fillter
 
Rob_W said:
Do the condom test ........ :cuckoo:

From cold, take the rad cap off, put a condom over the hole and start it up.
If the condom expands significantly the head or gasket is knackered....
Click to expand...

Hey nice idea!!

But I can't even see the radiator, let alone put a JB over the hole :D

Would it work on the plastic water tank?
 
Rob_W said:
As long as it goes over where you fill it up i suppose yeah.....

And remember, you can walk proudly into the chemist and ask for 'Large' ... :lol:
Click to expand...

Excellent, that's something I've never done :D

Cheers for the advice.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Fix Or Repair Daily :lol:
Click to expand...
shedend said:
Found On Road Dumped
Click to expand...

Urban myths same as Dagenham Dustbins and all Fords are built in Dagenham.
The vast majority of cars I see broken down are Mercedes, BMW and Vauxhall.
If Ford are so bad why are they the UK's biggest seller for the past 31 years? Why are so many of their models considered best second hand buy?
:nono:Don't slag the Fords:nono:
I won't have it. :bat:
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Fix Or Repair Daily :lol:
Click to expand...

shedend said:
Found On Road Dumped
Click to expand...

nilagin said:
Urban myths same as Dagenham Dustbins and all Fords are built in Dagenham.
The vast majority of cars I see broken down are Mercedes, BMW and Vauxhall.
If Ford are so bad why are they the UK's biggest seller for the past 31 years? Why are so many of their models considered best second hand buy?
:nono:Don't slag the Fords:nono:
I won't have it. :bat:
Click to expand...

Although funny, and I've not heard them before :lol::lol::lol:
as daft as it sounds, we've never had a Ford let us down, and we've had plenty......

Sure we've had the odd bit here and there that has stopped working, but only once had a serious problem, which was an ECU failure on our L reg escort years ago......
 
Well yesterday it was still happening. Cold air coming out, so when I got home I filled the water tank up (which was empty again), ready for my drive to work this morning.
And guess what? Nice and toasty all the way to work!

Before I left work, checked the water and it was empty again.
So filled it up, again lovely and warm.........
 
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