Hi I've decided to renew the coolant in my Fiesta 1.3 Flight since whats already in there contains what looks like dust, rust flakes and an oily surface sheen. Can I just check that all I need to do is open the radiator plug at the bottom of the radiator, collect everything that runs out and discard, then use a garden hose to flush it out. Then I fill with water + radflush after closing the radiator plug, turn the heating to full and run the car until the thermostat opens and the radflush penetrates the whole system. Then should I flush the radiator again and repeat a further time to clear out the whole system? If this is the case I guess I leave the expansion tank lid off to allow the system to burp.
Plan to use halfords deioised water and 2 step radflush, not sure what antifreeze yet but will hopefully be able to get one from halfords too.
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Thats pretty much it,
You could take both pipes off the radiator and flush out & also the heater matrix is worth a go if some sludge is there.
As for rad flush i have never used it just put a hose through the system back flushed to remove the gunk.
Top up and bleed jobs a good one!
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How do you bleed it? Going to try it this weekend.
Thanks
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There are no bleed valves;just run engine with heater off till all hoses are hot;switch off and let engine cool and top up header tank to between the limits.
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jc2, don't you mean run with heater on? if it gets hot then there's a fair chance that the matrix has bled itself.
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You're right;on an '01 Fiesta heater should be max hot but fan off.You need to run engine at 3,500+rpm for at least 30 secs to get air out of matrix.Both heater hoses should then be hot.
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Thanks jc2 I had to do that. I flushed the old coolant out and took out the expansion tank and gave it a good clean - the system was filthy though and it was impossible to get all the rust and deposits out even after several flushes. Anyway got new coolant in it now and replaced + sealed the thermostat gasket so stopped the leakage.
However the electric cooling fan doesn't seem to work even after leaving the car running for 15 minutes or after a long journey. I'm a bit worried about this. I don't know if it was working before or maybe if a fuse or some water got in a connection when I was draining the coolant. Any advice?
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Pull off the plug off the rad fan switch and short it out with a split pin, with ignition on does the fan spin?
If yes replace the rad fan switch/clean terminals etc.
If no, check fuse, check for a feed to switch?
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