2000 Focus wagon - Overheating at 40K.......sound familiar?

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b2v - 31 Aug 2004 18:53 GMT

Started smelling antifreeze on the way home last night. Sure enough,
approaching a hill, noticed the temp. gauge rising fast near the red zone.
Got home, but noticed the next morning that the resovoir was well below
the cold fill line. No fluid was even dectectable. Just had an oil
change and the usual fluid fills about a month ago, so I'm puzzled? This
sounds similar to a post by focus_owner a while back with the same car and
mileage, yet his coolant tank was full. Any thoughts? Thanks!

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Henri - 31 Aug 2004 19:38 GMT

I had the same problem and the dealer replaced (according to the invoice)
the AC Resistor Assembly. The fans would not come on unless I turned the AC
on. I am assuming that you have a Zetec engine? I did not loose any
coolant.
I was told that the Zetec engine is pretty bullet proof for overheating
problems and has a feature built into the computer system to protect the
engine in the case over an severe overheat condition.

You might want to check the dip stick to see if there is oil in the coolant,
considering lost coolant any how you might consider taking the car in and
have them check it out especially for a warped head . Those are my thoughts

Started smelling antifreeze on the way home last night. Sure enough,
approaching a hill, noticed the temp. gauge rising fast near the red zone.
Got home, but noticed the next morning that the resovoir was well below
the cold fill line. No fluid was even dectectable. Just had an oil
change and the usual fluid fills about a month ago, so I'm puzzled? This
sounds similar to a post by focus_owner a while back with the same car and
mileage, yet his coolant tank was full. Any thoughts? Thanks!

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b2v - 31 Aug 2004 20:08 GMT

Another clue: I noticed something else a week ago that might have been a
precurser to this particular problem. We were having some unseasonably
cool weather, and when we tried to turn the heater on....nothing, then
roughly 15-20 minutes later, it came on without warning. ???

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Erin Peterson - 01 Sep 2004 12:19 GMT

> Another clue: I noticed something else a week ago that might have been a
> precurser to this particular problem. We were having some unseasonably
> cool weather, and when we tried to turn the heater on....nothing, then
> roughly 15-20 minutes later, it came on without warning. ???

I had similar problems with an old Dodge Colt I used to own. The thermostat
was shot. I don't know if this is a common problem with Foci but its a
common enough problem with any car and that's what it sounds like to me.
Erin

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Erin Peterson - 01 Sep 2004 13:10 GMT

> I had similar problems with an old Dodge Colt I used to own. The thermostat
> was shot. I don't know if this is a common problem with Foci but its a
> common enough problem with any car and that's what it sounds like to me.
> Erin

Could be the head gasket too on second thought. My wife's Pontiac Montana
just blew a head gasket (which was thankfully still under warranty) and one
of the things symptomatic of the problem was that it was burning coolant.
Well not literally I don't think but I had to top up the overflow every week
or so.

Both of these problems make me appreciate my 2002 Focus SE Wagon even more.

Erin

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Alex Harrington - 01 Sep 2004 20:14 GMT

> Any thoughts? Thanks!

Sounds like you had an airlock in the system.

As the air gets hot, it forced the water out the system (hence the
antifreeze smell) and then there was no water left to cool the system so
it heated up.

The heater thing helps to confirm this.

Heater matrixes tend to run cold if the coolent level is low or if there
is air in the system.

Get it filled by someone who knows what they are doing and it should be
fine.

Alex

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