fiestaturbo.com

[Incognito_GBR]

Hi, my girlfriend has a 06 plate Ka 1.3 duratec, she broke down last week and i came to meet her and fix it, It had been steaming away so she pulled over. there was no coolant in the reservoir, she pointed out where it was steaming from so i inspected and determined it had been leaking from the thermostat temp sensor, I removed the sensor and inspected the seal which had been damaged, there was evidence that it had leaked from the thermostat gasket too. i dried the excess coolant, filled her up with water and simulated traffic conditions to get it to overheat again, eventually it did, there was a leak in the sensor but only very slightly, no sign of it coming through the gasket any more, yesterday we were driving home and the engine conked out from overheating, the coolant was boiling well what was remaining of it. Ive ordered a new thermostat for tomorrow but i think it could be something greater. any ideas?

thanks very much
-Leif

[jayrs]

If there is no visible leaks in the engine bay, and assuming the heater matrix is not leaking, then it's got to be a water pump issue, or maybe worse, head gasket problem.

Is there white smoke from the exhaust on start up (not just condensation like a cold day, more than that) and/or when driving?
Might happen when it gets up to temp more?

Could also be a simple thing such a naffed thermostat, and the water is boiling off due to overheating.
Easy way to check that is to remove the stat and try the car without one.

Might be worth back flushing the rad while system is empty, that way it will wash any crap out, and your see how well and fast the water flows through the rad.

Also, have you checked to see if the rad fan kicks in when it gets up to temp?

[snake]

Heads warp easily on these duratec engines, chances are theres permanent engine damage if you have driven it till it stopped with no water in.