Please help - car problems and no money

vaio

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vaio wrote: »

If you let it sit and idle does the radiator electric fan come on before the car over heats?

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Mad_girl wrote: »

Hello, thanks for your post, yes, the fan does come on.

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vaio wrote: »

And what does the temperature gauge say when the fan cuts in?

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Mad_girl wrote: »

Still sky high, it only goes down once I start driving again.

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[FONT=&quot]The fan should come on when it’s only just above normal, if it’s not coming on until the thing is red hot that points towards a faulty fan temperature switch. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Easy to check, look for a cable that plugs into one of the end tanks on the radiator, pull the plug off and use a bit of wire/paperclip/hairgrip to connect the two contacts in the plug. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Arrange the plug so it’s not going to get tangled up in anything moving and any bare metal is prevented from touching the bodywork, turn ignition on and if you’ve done it right the fans will run straight away. Start engine and let it idle.
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[FONT=&quot]If it doesn’t overheat with the fans running constantly then you need to change the temperature switch which is screwed into the rad. They cost next to nothing and should take under 30mins to change. [/FONT]
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Looking at the other suggestions I’m struggling to see how lack of circulation or blown head gaskets would only affect the car when stationary. [/FONT]

molerat

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

If the cabin heating isn't as strong as it once was, there's clearly a problem with the circulation of coolant.

Which is a known Fiesta problem, the heater valve sticks. So maybe more than 1 fault.

goldspanners

welshsue wrote: »

Hubby just looked at this and said "WHAT, £160 for a radiator". We had one for our large Rover which was only £80 delivered. Bearing in mind he's already charged you for antifreeze. Do you think he's one of these guys that charges extra for women as he believes they don't know what they are talking about. I have had this in the past.
I am lucky I have a hubby who knows a bit about cars and always deals with garages etc.
The head gasket failure (HGF), take the engine oil cap off and have a look inside. If there is a milky white gunge on the inside then that means the water is mixing with the oil and that would be HGF. The sniff test is take the cap off expansion tank and sniff (not when hot), if you can smell a petrol like smell then that can mean its HGF. One more thing, when engine running, open bonnet and look at expansion tank, if you can see lots of bubbles that is another sign it could have gone.

Might be worth joining a forum for ford fiesta. We have joined a rover one and its amazing what you can find out. Lots of help for no money.

how can the price to deliver a radiator for a rover be the benchmark to supply and fit radiator to a ford fiesta?
and being charged for antifreeze again when the "k" seal had been used previously would mean the old antifreeze shouldn't be used with the new radiator,so being charged twice for 2 lots of antifreeze is also fair.
i don't think the prices the op has been charged so far have been extortionate,i would have said fairly priced. and if the radiator being replaced cured to coolant leak then the jobs been done,but theres obviously something underlying causing the overheating.

i think the mechanic has tried to do the op a favour by trying the cheapest possible methods first hoping they would cure it.

i get customers like the op always telling me how moneys tight can the job not be done cheaper, i used to do what the ops mechanic did here by trying to do a favour doing the job as cheap as possible,it usually ended up with me and my company out of pocket. mentioning how skint you are to the mechanic might get his sympathy but won't always get to the cause of the problem.
i quickly realised that most of the customers were trying it on and taking advantage of my good nature,so nowadays they get no sympathy just the brutal honest truth and the correct prices to repair the fault properly,like it or lump it.

Mad_girl

goldspanners wrote: »

how can the price to deliver a radiator for a rover be the benchmark to supply and fit radiator to a ford fiesta?
and being charged for antifreeze again when the "k" seal had been used previously would mean the old antifreeze shouldn't be used with the new radiator,so being charged twice for 2 lots of antifreeze is also fair.
i don't think the prices the op has been charged so far have been extortionate,i would have said fairly priced. and if the radiator being replaced cured to coolant leak then the jobs been done,but theres obviously something underlying causing the overheating.

i think the mechanic has tried to do the op a favour by trying the cheapest possible methods first hoping they would cure it.

i get customers like the op always telling me how moneys tight can the job not be done cheaper, i used to do what the ops mechanic did here by trying to do a favour doing the job as cheap as possible,it usually ended up with me and my company out of pocket. mentioning how skint you are to the mechanic might get his sympathy but won't always get to the cause of the problem.
i quickly realised that most of the customers were trying it on and taking advantage of my good nature,so nowadays they get no sympathy just the brutal honest truth and the correct prices to repair the fault properly,like it or lump it.

I have never once told him money is tight, he TOLD me wheat we should do so quit jumping to conclusions. If you look at me , my house etc it does not look like money is tight!

mikey72

Thermostat not opening fully?

catflea

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Utter rubbish. You have no idea how long it takes to remove and fit a radiator to a Ford Fiesta. Neither do I, but I'd be very surprised it if takes less than an hour.

Well, about 15 mins to remove on the MK3 - no idea about refitting though. The car was being scrapped

goldspanners

Mad_girl wrote: »

I have never once told him money is tight, he TOLD me wheat we should do so quit jumping to conclusions. If you look at me , my house etc it does not look like money is tight!

it probably looks like you have loads of debt.

anyway,the point i was making is the guy has offered the cheapest soloutions first by trying the k seal, it didn't work so he replaced the radiator to cure the leak eventually.
but theres another fault underlying causing overheating.

did you get the water pump changed when you had the timing belt changed?

gordikin

catflea wrote: »

Well, about 15 mins to remove on the MK3 - no idea about refitting though. The car was being scrapped

It takes longer when you are trying to avoid damaging hoses and clips which you need when you have to put it back together again! If you are scrapping you don't care! Then there's the time refilling coolant system and the time taken to make sure there's no airlocks. It could run to anywhere between 1 hour and 1 hour 30 mins I'd speculate.

Inactive

Mad_girl wrote: »

I have never once told him money is tight, he TOLD me wheat we should do so quit jumping to conclusions. If you look at me , my house etc it does not look like money is tight!

You seem to have forgotten that you headed this thread;

" Please help - car problems and no money "

Don't blame people for drawing " conclusions " from that.