Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 2001 1.6 quick to heat up

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Mon 5 Jan 2009 18:18
2001 1.6 quick to heat up - watty
hi
have read as many other posts as i can find, all with similar symptoms to myself.

recently car has been quick to heat up, temp gauge goes from zero to midway first thing on a cold morning, doing about 30-40 for a mile and a half.

gauge stays at midpoint whatever the driving conditions, some of my journey is 60 (ish !) on A roads for 20 minutes, some is crawling through town.

heater hasnt been a problem, usual amount of heat, neither warm or excessively hot. changing temp or fan settings has no influence on the temp gauge.

fluids had been topped up and as normal until this started.

way home sat, 6 miles into journey and temp needle suddenly goes to max and yellow warning light came on., pulled over, switched off, and back on, temp was in middle, light was off.

inspected under bonnet no leaks or obvious, contunied journey as normal. normal journey today. to work. inspected fluid levels and reservoir was empty. topped up, and left engine running 15 minutes on drive.

temp gauge is showing middle, but no heat in any of the pipes to or from the radiator..

as with other threads.. am i likely to be experiencing a thermostat stuck shut?? or anything more serious like the water pump?

cheers
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Mon 5 Jan 2009 19:25
2001 1.6 quick to heat up - TurboD
Head gasket?- where has the coolant gone otherwise? (Airlock after refilling ) Thermostats do not empty coolant reservoirs.
Expect the worse, than anything else is better.
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