High Temperature Warning

[Pretherius]

Originally Posted by BigDandthegirls

Could also be your thermostat sticking too.. Go to the dealer on this issue soon.

This was the direction I was headed in also. And I agree--get this looked at *immediately*.

Seems unlikely to me that your sender or gauge only fails to work at specific, reproducable times in your drive. But I guess stranger things have happened.

[Vernl]

Three things come to mind...first..its a bad sensor...second, ..your thermostat is opening late which to me seems like it could be ready to stick shut...third and least likely, is that you have an air lock in your system...I say least likely as with airlocks, you wont usually see things go back to normal and you wont usually see it happen time and time again.But have the dealer check it out and let us know what it turns out to be

[pozi240]

Originally Posted by Vernl

Three things come to mind...first..its a bad sensor...second, ..your thermostat is opening late which to me seems like it could be ready to stick shut...third and least likely, is that you have an air lock in your system...I say least likely as with airlocks, you wont usually see things go back to normal and you wont usually see it happen time and time again.But have the dealer check it out and let us know what it turns out to be

If its in fact his thermostat (I don't think it is), they are designed to "fail" in the "open" position, so, no cause for alarm, in fact, the first sign you have a bad thermostat, is that your car is running too cold..... (and burning tons of fuel because of it)

[HammerStriker]

**UPDATE**

My car has been in the shop for over a week now, and they have no idea what is wrong with it.

They say that it is definitely overheating (which I'm still not sure I believe) and that they can replicate the problem. They have replaced the thermostat and temp sensor even though they both tested good. They have pressure tested everything and have found no problems there.

They tell me that they have a call into the Ford hotline to see if help can be found. I think I will probably get better help here.

So, again, any ideas?

BTW... I F'IN HATE the Ford Fiesta I've been driving as a loaner. I can't believe people buy these things after test driving them.

[HammerStriker]

Originally Posted by Superd

The coolant cant physically heat up and cool down in such a short period of time so it sounds like a faulty temp sensor. Should be an easy fix for the dealer.

When they told me that it was definitely overheating, I brought this up as well. Which is what made them change the temp sensor even though it was testing ok.

I don't think they are taking a true temp reading, and just going off of the car's warning system, but I don't know that for sure. The whole thing seems really weird.

[Pretherius]

Many cars--I don't know if this is one--have two separate coolant temperature sensors. A "sender" to drive the gauge, and a "sensor" to inform the computer of the temperature.

Other than this, about the only thing that's left is the water pump or the belt or chain driving that pump. And your symptoms don't really fit with an issue there.

I think I'd research whether this car has two temp sensors and then make sure they changed the right one. Your tech (or you, in test mode) should be able to see what the computer thinks the temperature is; see if that jives with what the gauge says.

[BiggerBoat]

Originally Posted by HammerStriker

When they told me that it was definitely overheating, I brought this up as well. Which is what made them change the temp sensor even though it was testing ok.

I don't think they are taking a true temp reading, and just going off of the car's warning system, but I don't know that for sure. The whole thing seems really weird.

A bad head gasket can blow combustion pressure into the cooling system and cause intermittent overheating. This seems unlikely on a new engine and would be a worst case scenario.

Also, I not familiar enough with this engine design to know exactly what the symptoms would be on a failing head gasket. I have had the symptoms you described with a bad head gasket on V-6 engines.

[HammerStriker]

Originally Posted by BiggerBoat

A bad head gasket can blow combustion pressure into the cooling system and cause intermittent overheating. This seems unlikely on a new engine and would be a worst case scenario.

Also, I not familiar enough with this engine design to know exactly what the symptoms would be on a failing head gasket. I have had the symptoms you described with a bad head gasket on V-6 engines.

I would hope this would have shown up in the pressure test.

[HammerStriker]

So, its been a few months since I first starting having this problem, and I'm still having it.

Ford will not admit I'm having a problem even though they can see the over temp warnings in my engine log. They have had it for well over a week, and say they cannot recreate the problem.

I have now recreated it multiple times, and here are the steps needed to recreate.
- drive about five miles normally
- idol with A/C on for at least 30 minutes
- drive normally again, and it happens... every time.

Somehow, Ford cannot do this, so I made a video posted here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIig...e_gdata_player

Whats my next move? Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nathan

[dan50]

Originally Posted by HammerStriker

So, its been a few months since I first starting having this problem, and I'm still having it.

Ford will not admit I'm having a problem even though they can see the over temp warnings in my engine log. They have had it for well over a week, and say they cannot recreate the problem.

I have now recreated it multiple times, and here are the steps needed to recreate.
- drive about five miles normally
- idol with A/C on for at least 30 minutes
- drive normally again, and it happens... every time.

Somehow, Ford cannot do this, so I made a video posted here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIig...e_gdata_player

Whats my next move? Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Nathan

Sounds like the reason states adopted "Lemon Laws". This seems like a serious enough issue to qualify. Check your state's laws and start documenting.