2002 Ford Fiesta MK6 - Fiesta overheating

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Thu 19 Dec 2013 22:22
2002 Ford Fiesta MK6 - Fiesta overheating - letsgojuno

Hi, I've recently picked up a 02 Fiesta MK6. After driving for a while the temperature rises and the warning light comes on. I've been trying to diagnose the problem myself. So far this is what I know.

The coolant looked a little low, it was topped up but the next day dropped a little.

The heating inside the car works intermittently, with the fan on full heat it blows hot for a while then cold.

When the engine has run for a while and warmed up the top pipe on the radiator is hot but the bottom is cold. Could this mean problems with the water pump, blocked radiator or faulty thermostat? I'd appreciate any ways to tests these separately so I can narrow this problem.

Tbh I'm worried about problems with the head gasket, are there any tests for this?

Thanks for any help

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Thu 19 Dec 2013 23:04
2002 Ford Fiesta MK6 - Fiesta overheating - bathtub tom

>>Tbh I'm worried about problems with the head gasket, are there any tests for this?

Get a local garage to do a 'sniff test': www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCPMW84_zAc

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Thu 19 Dec 2013 23:42
2002 Ford Fiesta MK6 - Fiesta overheating - elekie&a/c doctor

There should be even heat across the rad,if there isn't ,then I would suspect the thermostat.Water pumps on these are generally not a problem.hth

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Fri 20 Dec 2013 00:12
2002 Ford Fiesta MK6 - Fiesta overheating - Peter.N.

A faulty head gasket will not in itself cause overheating, what does though is blow the water out of the overflow/filler cap until there is not enough to circulate, look around the filler cap for signs of dry antifreeze.

If there is still water some water showing it probably isn't that, it will normally blow out some water if you fill it up but you should still be able to see it. If only the top hose is hot, either the radiator is cooling it very efficiently or the water is not circulating properly, this could be due to a faulty thermostat or pump, if the heater is failing as well its more likely the pump, although the heater can stop working if the head gasket is leaking into the cooling system.

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