Ford ka engine heat

Deco99

Ford ka 2003 after half hours driving the engine was hot. Bonnet still pretty hot half hour later. Could keep hand on bonnet comfortably but still a bit more than warm. What should I check to avoid disaster.

biko

Is this a recent thing? You've had car a long time?
Is the temp gauge inside operating normally?
Is coolant bottle full?

Open bonnet when hot and have a poke, be careful

Deco99

Car only recently purchased. Passed NCt last week for what its worth. Coolant level ok. No temp gauge. Opened bonnet but dunno what im lookin for. Have read that because its a small car there isnt much room for heat to escape so it bounces around. Just want to be careful thats itd not something more serious

Atlantic Dawn

I think the coolant reservoir is at the top right of the engine, see the top right tank in this video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFK22C8yCf0

porsche boy

what you should have on the dash in place of a temp gauge is a red temp light. this should go on when you turn on the ignition and go off again after a moment. this light will go on when the engine overheats.

the engine itself isn't modern by any means, so thermodynamics wasnt a major player when the engine was being designed hence slow heat disapation. The basic set up for that engine has been around since the late 60's with a couple of additions along the way.

Deco99

porsche boy wrote: »

what you should have on the dash in place of a temp gauge is a red temp light. this should go on when you turn on the ignition and go off again after a moment. this light will go on when the engine overheats.

the engine itself isn't modern by any means, so thermodynamics wasnt a major player when the engine was being designed hence slow heat disapation. The basic set up for that engine has been around since the late 60's with a couple of additions along the way.

Ok. Coolant ok. Light not on. Designed not to disapate heat as a priority. Should be ok to drive away so just keep an eye on ot

porsche boy

Deco99 wrote: »

Ok. Coolant ok. Light not on. Designed not to disapate heat as a priority. Should be ok to drive away so just keep an eye on ot

well I honestly cant guarantee that but from the information you have posted that seems to be the situation.

Deco99

porsche boy wrote: »

well I honestly cant guarantee that but from the information you have posted that seems to be the situation.

Oh ya of course.