Ford FocusOverall, it feels cushier than other compacts, both in terms of its comfortable seats and its soft suspension. It's fun to drive, however, with agile handling. It's comfortable on long trips and stable at high speeds. The Focus is among the best of the compacts in terms of ride quality and has been lauded by the enthusiast publications for its handling.
My focus a 2000 wagon is overheating, it only overheats when i am driving , if the car is in park i could leave it on all day and it does not overheat. When i drive it even for a short distance it overheats. Also when i turn on the heater it doesnt blow out really hot air is more like slightly warm air, and it was making some sort of banging noise from what seemed like under the dashboard somewhere... please help with any info..
Mine was the thermostat. (Mine's also a 2000, and for some reason the generic ones didn't fit, I had to go to the dealership for a Motorkraft one, but it was only about $13) Had something to do with the old one not recognizing it was hot enough to let coolent into the radiator to cool off the car. Mine sounds similar because I could drive it around, until I had to gunn it a little to speed up, then it just got HOT. But, the new thermostat has been working fine just fine! Infact, it runs cooler than it did before, and the longer I'm driving around, somehow it manages to get a little bit cooler Hope I helped!
Squeeze top radiator hose (when motor is cool) and watch for bubbles around the thermostat housing. The housing is injection molded plastic attached to the cylinder head (Rt. side) and prone to breakdown overtime. Small gasket inside the housing drys and cracks. Coolant leak very slowly past the gasket usually at higher idle only (while driving) Usually very slow if any at first then more and more leaking. Noticed sometimes no leak at all while at idle. Also, the small leak at the housing will not allow pressure on the thermostat, this is usually how the overheating occurs ( no coolant movement) HOT coolant doesn't pass the thermostat (high temp sensor on other side of thermostat) so fan never comes on. I replaced my thermostat and was temporary fix then noticed the housing issue. Dealer item and removed blower box and battery to get to it. Actually pretty easy. Hope it's just the thermostat. Good luck.
Last edited by JohnnyQ; 03-19-2006 at 08:03 PM..
Reason: more info
I own a 2000 Ford Focus ZX3 Kona Edition, 5 speed manual transmission, 30000 miles on the odometer, and other than squeeling brakes when cold, she was running fine. A few days ago I took her for the 30000 mile service, and they replaced the front brake- pads and rotors (no more squeeling when cold).
I picked the car up, and while driving home that night I noticed that at highway speeds the car would overheat to just under the redline. At normal surface street speeds the temperature would be normal, until I stopped, then it would spike high for a minute before returning to normal. When idling or stuck in traffic I can hear that the radiator fan is on. Prior to the service the temperature was constant at the ½ mark and the radiator fan would only come on when it is really hot.
I returned my car to the dealer, and they said the cause was the thermostat being stuck closed, and I was charged for the thermostat replacement. When I asked them how this happened, they it may have been caused by the cooling system flush that was performed during the 30000 service.
While driving home that night I noticed the temperature was a little below the normal ½ mark, and although she did not overheat immediately, after about 30 minutes of highway driving the temperature would spike to ¾ mark and then after a few minutes recover to below ½ mark. This spiking behavior would continue happening at highway speeds, especially during hard acceleration or hill climbing, and as before when stopping. When stuck in traffic or stopping I could also hear the radiator fan blowing. Symptoms very similar to the original problem, except the overheating was not as dramatic.
I returned my car to the dealer, and they said they could not find anything wrong, neither could they reproduce my described behavior. I was not charged for this check, and was told to return the car if it happens again. Well, it still happens.
From posts in other forums I have been advised that it may be a leaking thermostat housing, or a faulty temperature relay.
I would appreciate your opinions on what the cause may be, or online references to similar cases that may help me when I take her back to the service department.
I have a 2002 Ford Focus SE Station Wagon with the 16 valve motor and I now have 2 problems.
1- The Air Conditioning does not work.
2- The car will Overheat in say 30 minutes or less especially noticed when doing highway driving.
First, the fan controller for the heating and A/C have positions from 0-4 and then the defrost position. The A/C system has 2 buttons located under the heading MAX AC. One button is Marked AC while the other basically has picture of a car with a full-circulation type marking which when pressed as long as the fan controller is in position 4 will turn the fan on at high speed.
If the fan controller is in any of the positions 1-3 nothing at all happens, no fans and no A/C period. The fan will only come on in position 4 as well as the max forced air (high speed) push-button will only work while in position 4.
0- is for off. 1-3 as far as I can see are for the air conditioning which does not work. 4- is for the fan which works for both hot and cool air.
The car overheats.
I've only had the car now for a couple of days and haven't driven that much.
The trip I took was roughly 20-25km mostly highway driving.
After about 12-15km the temperature needle would start to slowly climb above the half-way mark. Another 5km and the needle would be in the red.
I then pulled into a gas station and put the car in park. Not too sure it the radiator fans were working or not all that I could actually hear was noise sounding link water boiling over. The needle started to drop.
From a little bit of tinkering with a 10A fuse I guess is for the A/C or perhaps the water cooling pump but not sure I don't have the manual and Ford didn't provide descriptions for the fuses on the cover, only 'look it up in the manual'.
Anyway with the car running, as I took the fuse in and out a couple of times I could hear a noise sounding like something were trying to kick in. When you look where the belt is running on the passenger side of the motor and at the very bottom in the front of the motor a roller appears as though it’s being engaged on the belt. Maybe this is the water pump. But if it’s engaging and I can see it turning how come I don't see or hear water circulation.
While tinkering with the fuse, causing the pump I guess it is to engage and disengage I could hear the motors acceleration decrease when it engages and increase when it disengages. While doing this several times, it would cause the temperature of the motor to rise above the half-way mark.
How come the radiator fans don't come on when Air Conditioning is selected?
Under the front headlight on the passenger side I have found a type of aerosol can attached to some kind of other canister that looks sort of like a filter. Is this aerosol can even suppose to be there? It just dangles on a flexible hose.
Ok, I know what your problems are and how to fix them. I had the same problems with my wifes car. To fix the A/C you need to replace the BLOWER MOTOR RESISTER. PART # (3M5Z18591BA) $20.00 /any Ford dealer will have it. to replace it take the glove box off. ( very easy) 3 screws. Looking at motor hosing, on the left side is the resistor mounted to the fire wall. As for your overheating you will need to replace to thermostat hosing and gaskets. Its made of plastic. And doesn't last more than 5 years.
Good luck Paul
My problem is that whenever I am in idle(like at a stop light) the temp needle moves slowly towards the 3/4 mark and sometimes a little further towards the red and then abruptly moves back to the mid way mark when I am still idling. at other times it will move to the 3/4 mar and beyond when I am acceleratin normally in city traffic. I've never noticed it happening during higway driving though which is rather strange because the engine is working quite hard and should produce more heat. however, i do not hear the fan at any time so i imagine that it has to do with the fan somehow. please help.
I am new on this forum and I have a question about the overheating issue on my 2000 4 door Focus automatic with 66K current miles.
It started in the past few month ago, when I drive up hell or on the FWY during traffic jam with the A/C on, the temperature will goes up near the redline and once I turn off the A/C, the temperature will drop back to normal.
I took the car to my friend's shop for check out, the overheating problem never occured. The coolant level, radiator fan, switches all works fine so we couldn't get the problem solved. I have got the car back for 4 days now and the overheating problem doesn't seem to appear again.
I am curious and wondering what could possibly happen.
I am new on this forum and I have a question about the overheating issue on my 2000 4 door Focus automatic with 66K current miles.
It started in the past few month ago, when I drive up hell or on the FWY during traffic jam with the A/C on, the temperature will goes up near the redline and once I turn off the A/C, the temperature will drop back to normal.
I took the car to my friend's shop for check out, the overheating problem never occured. The coolant level, radiator fan, switches all works fine so we couldn't get the problem solved. I have got the car back for 4 days now and the overheating problem doesn't seem to appear again.
I am curious and wondering what could possibly happen.
Thanks.
If you guys checked it and saw nothing and its been 4 days and nothing yet, I would just say it was an air pocket. No other mechanical problems would dissapear.
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