Ford Feista- In Car Heating System

markjobrien

Alright lads,

My little fiesta is having a rough time the heating system has stopped working properly, for a while on fan setting 1(plus full heat) i was getting a bit of heat coming from the vents. IF i turned the fan up full power that heat would disappear completetly as if the full fan speed just blew it away.

On advice from a mate i changed the thermostat for a new one and used Radflush a couple of times draining the water system and refillng unfortunalty now even my small bit of heat has disappeared. Nightmare!!!!!!. Anyhow the two hose pipes that sit side by side going into the heating grill appear to me anyway to be of equal temperature.

What could be wrong!!!!!!!! The model is a 1996 1.3 LX(new shape). Someone told me these don't have airlocks is that the truth.

Cheers

KeRbDoG

If the heater stops in the car, you could (really out there chance) have a leaking head gasket. The leak would put huge pressure into the cooling system and stop the in car heating.
If it was the head gasket, the temp guage would also start to rise above normal

Anan1

Water pump?

markjobrien

Don't think its the head gasket, no baileys type water/oil mixture on oil cap also temperature is normal according to gauge.

Water Pump- how would this problem display itself

Anan1

markjobrien wrote:

Don't think its the head gasket, no baileys type water/oil mixture on oil cap also temperature is normal according to gauge.

Water Pump- how would this problem display itself

The water pump circulates the coolant throughout the coolant system, including the heater matrix (the radiator which warms the air for the heater). That said, it could simply be a problem with the lever between the heater knob and the heater flap, ie the knob is not opening the flap to let incoming air flow over the heater matrix. Bear in mind that i'm not a mechanic - this is only a guess.:) I'm assuming your coolant level is still normal?

KeRbDoG

If it was the water pump, expect your car to be over heating within 10-15min of driving

markjobrien

Yea its not overheating done a bit of research on the net it appears it could be the heater control valve however surely if it was this the two pipes beyond the heater junstion would not be warm?????? Any ideas

Roddy23

I remember reading before that it is a design flaw with this particular model. I remembered it, because the exact same thing is happening to my 98' LX 1.3L model.

I'll see can I get more info. on why its happening, but it can be repaired.

OldmanMondeo

Had the same problem on the missuses Puma. There is a Radiator Valve that tends to go on these. Can remember exactly what the part was or much, but it didn't cost to much, even though I got a garage to do the work.

Edit: the more I think about it, it was under the windscreen and is part of the piping that conects to the heater control in the car. Sounds like your's is stuck partly open.

Anan1

kerbdog wrote:

If it was the water pump, expect your car to be over heating within 10-15min of driving

True, but it mightn't show on the gauge as the coolant around the sender mightn't get that hot.

markjobrien

Oldmanmodeo yea think your right the valve control box has four pipes going in and out two from either side and is located under the windscreen however surely if it was closed one or two of the pipes would be cold or at least noticeably cooler than the other pipes. Want to be sure as there's nothing worse that replacing a part that isn't broken, i've already changed the thermstat and from what i can tell the heater control valve would cost about €50 to buy

OldmanMondeo

Mark, That sounds about right. Did you get the price from Ford or an auto factors?

zilog_jones

markjobrien wrote:

Oldmanmodeo yea think your right the valve control box has four pipes going in and out two from either side and is located under the windscreen however surely if it was closed one or two of the pipes would be cold or at least noticeably cooler than the other pipes. Want to be sure as there's nothing worse that replacing a part that isn't broken, i've already changed the thermstat and from what i can tell the heater control valve would cost about €50 to buy

I'd be almost certain it's the heater control valve. It's supposed to be a very common problem with these Fiestas. I had to replace mine recently as I was getting no heat at all. I got one for €46 in a main stealer - the guy at the parts shop said he sells one every week

It's quite easy to replace yourself - I've only had a car since October and was able to do it myself. It's explained pretty clearly in the Haynes manual.

markjobrien

hey zilog were all your pipes entering the valve warm

zilog_jones

Yes they were. I assume when the valve is closed, the water just goes straight to the hose exiting from the valve - it wouldn't make sense for the water flow to just stop there.

Even the small pipes going from the valve to the heater matrix still felt kinda warm when it wasn't working.

markjobrien

Hey lads just a follow-up and in case anyone else does a search on this problem took the valve of very easily done just remove the four pipes entering and the valve detaches from a clip also remove the power cable entering the valve.

I took the cheap route which envolves the little electrical valve being forced to stay in the always ON position. You do this by unscrewing the valve housing under where the electrical connection was. You'll now see where the electromagnet that pushes the all little arm forward and back is. The ON position is the default state so pack something around the bottom of the arm to ensure that is can't push the arm out again. Voila stick it all back together and install very easy only took me 45 mintues and now i'm enjoying the heat again. Cheers for all the info