Ford Fiesta car heating not working, any ideas please?

bingobango_3 · 22 May 2006 at 8:57PM

Thanks for looking in. The heating in my Fiesta has stopped working. I had inconsistent trouble with it a few months ago, only once or twice where the opposite happened, it would only pump hot air and not cool down (despite turning temp knob right down to coolest, and driving for 20 mins or so). Then later it seemed to be ok again selecting either hot or cold.

Now I have the trouble that it won't warm up. I wondered if the temperature dial was actually doing anything so I took the back off (the small dashboard section where the dials are) to check that it was turning the control on the small circuit board behind the dial (which it is). I'm not a car mechanic but do like to learn and try to do it myself (saving and learning at the same time

). Does anyone have an idea what it might be and if it's easy to fix please?

Many thanks.

trigger_mike · 22 May 2006 at 8:59PM

Maybe heater maxtrix has gone?, does the car leak in water? or does the thermostat need changing?

fannyadams · 22 May 2006 at 9:05PM

Check the water/coolant level in your radiator header tank and top up with twice boiled or distilled water.
I have a fiesta and this is the first indication that the water level is dropped in the rad.
I also had a VW Polo that did the same trick.
HTH

ArsenalFC · 22 May 2006 at 9:21PM

Heater matrix or the radiator is gone. Is there a leak from the radiator at all? Or does the temperature gauge gone above half way mark?

bingobango_3 · 22 May 2006 at 10:16PM

Thanks trigger_mike, fannyadams and ArsenalFC.

The temperature gauge sits at around half way (will double check this but am sure when I looked it was half way).
Will check the water/coolant level in the radiator header tank (with help from my manual to locate it LOL!

)

Will look into the matrix too. Thank you for all the fast replies :beer: , much appreciated. Will let you guys know how I get on with it.

rsvtoddy · 22 May 2006 at 11:06PM

My money's on a faulty thermostat (after you've checked the water level)!

mr_accountant · 23 May 2006 at 12:59AM

i seem to remember a similar problems on a lot of small ford on www.honestjohn.co.uk it was something called the 'water valve' which may be faulty. I recall it was around £40 from ford and took around 1hour to fit.

If i was you id go to the honestjohn website and post your query there too. Its in the technical section of the forum

bingobango_3 · 23 May 2006 at 8:14PM

Have checked the water/coolant level in the radiator header tank and it's sitting happily between the min and max lines. Can't see and haven't noticed any water leaks.

Thanks mr_accountant, i managed to find a link on there, people talking of flushing the matrix, bleeding the system etc.

As much as I like to do things myself I think I might end up popping it into the garage to get them to have a look (not money saving I know, or doing it myself, but I am pretty limited on my car knowledge and don't want to start bleeding wrong things and so on).

Thank you all for your advice and help. Will keep you informed what happens.

djl · 23 May 2006 at 8:20PM

what I do is call my local ford dealer first for advice then try to sort it cheaper than there £65.00 per hour:eek: :eek: :eek:

mr_accountant · 23 May 2006 at 11:57PM

bingobango wrote:

Have checked the water/coolant level in the radiator header tank and it's sitting happily between the min and max lines. Can't see and haven't noticed any water leaks.

Thanks mr_accountant, i managed to find a link on there, people talking of flushing the matrix, bleeding the system etc.

As much as I like to do things myself I think I might end up popping it into the garage to get them to have a look (not money saving I know, or doing it myself, but I am pretty limited on my car knowledge and don't want to start bleeding wrong things and so on).

Thank you all for your advice and help. Will keep you informed what happens.

why not post this query on their forum, then you will identify the problem, then buy the part from ford and take it to a mechanic to fit, it will be much cheaper than taking it to fraud.

In the first instance post on honestjohn

kaya · 24 May 2006 at 6:39AM

many older cars required bleeding, with the engine COLD and the radiator filler cap removed turn the heater controlls as you would for maximum heat and run the engine for a few minuites before replacing the filler cap, if you have an airlock in the system this should clear it

Ford Fiesta car heating not working, any ideas please?

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