[emmylou0]

Hi guys, I wonder if anyone can help. Had my puma since beginning of May and when I got it the temperature gauge was running in the middle, it has gradually got to being on the L of normal, so obviously booked it in as I filled it up with water twice in 2 weeks, they have did a pressure test on it to make sure there wasn't a leak, and had it running for an hour and half (so they told me) and it was fine, fan came on etc, but I'm sure they weren't looking at the needle, so they said nothing is wrong, I drove it 16 miles home and it was just touching the red, so turned the heater on full wack and it went down, what do u think it could be??? I'm starting to worry about it as I feel like I have lost a limb without my car, tho I have one I can borrow but its just not mine!

I left some card under it to see if anything has leaked and it hasn't, but something has to be wrong, someone said could be the thermostate but the fact that it goes up and then when I turn the heating on it goes down. Don't wanna tell the garage how to do their job but just want to make some suggestions!

Sorry its a long post, just worried!

Many thanks

Em
xxx

[Sw33t]

Hope you get it sorted and it's nothing serious.

[cgandps]

Hope it's just a faulty thermostat rather than your head gasket

[emmylou0]

Thanks guys, had a read of that post and thanks, spoken to them again and they said it could be either the Water pump (I might be a girl but I had suggest that already! ) or the radiator, so its going back tonight for however long it takes and they are gonna get it sorted, gonna miss my poor puma again!! but needs to be sorted and I won't rest till it is.

Round two! .........

[Dr_B]

i can't really give any better advice then whats been given. the only thing i mite question is the amount of water in your system. i don;t know the effect of that. the puma engine heats up to boiling so maybe if its too thin your loosing through evaporation????

anyway welcome to the gang.

[tiefighter]

hi my puma silver thunder is doing the same thing, but ive had a new thermostat fitted today. I think it might be the heater valve, but last friday stuck on the m62 the car eventually would not cool down. ive been driving it for a few weeks with a faulty overheating b4 i bought the thermostat, if you apply power to the pedal it forces the gauge back to the middle. Its a real pain playing with the heating problem, and ive noticed the car heats up quickly and when i turn the heater switch to cold it still kicks out hot air. im puzzled too
1. it could be the faulty heater valve as it was replaced a few months ago after the original hose mountings broke free and the coolant was gushing out.
2. air in the system but i thought the puma had an auto bleed mechanism
3. cant be thermostat ive just got a new one.

its weird to get it overheating you have to dash through the streets and if you turn corners quickly you can see the needle wanting to move over to red.

Well i give up ive had to take another day off work to get this car working and i dont know whats up, but im going to bypass the heater valve hoses and see if this works. Ill also check the part number to see if this is a faulty one!

tie

[PumaVoodoo]

Failing HCVs give exactly those symptoms

[phill751]

mine did exactly that

it was the Heater Control Valve

cost £30 and about 10 mins to fix

[tiefighter]

mine did exactly that

it was the Heater Control Valve

cost £30 and about 10 mins to fix

nice one ill have a look at the heater valve tomoz before i take it to the garage. I actually got the heater valve off a scrapped puma with the millenium alloys which would be a 2000 - model but either it was damaged or it still had the AA product part number??? not sure ill find out tomoz. .

Do ford usually have these in stock at the ford dealer, arent they also used on the fiesta and KA models!?

tie

[PumaVoodoo]

They are a known failure point, so Ford dealers generally have one or two to hand.

[AndyW]

Certainly sounds like the HCV to me. I had these problems, until I fitted a new one. Make sure you get the one with the letters AC at the end of the part number, and not AB - these are the faulty ones.

[tiefighter]

Certainly sounds like the HCV to me. I had these problems, until I fitted a new one. Make sure you get the one with the letters AC at the end of the part number, and not AB - these are the faulty ones.

Drove the puma today with the faulty hcv off and re-routed the pipes using a plastic tube, drove fine to and from the ford garage. i got a new HCV with the AC part number the one i had fitted was a AA so thats that problem sorted. Fitted the new HCV with the AC part number and let the puma idle for a while outside the house. The fan kicked in but not fully then it really kicked in and the temp shot up 3/4 then i stuck on the heat inside the cabin. The engine settled back down and the fan switched off. I guess it will do this because the car is stationary and theres no cool air flowing through the radiator. I took the car for an hours drive over the tops giving it some low and high gear ratios to give the engine some work to do and let the engine warm up. i pulled over a few times to check the fan. Sometimes it was on and sometimes not at all, but it always turns it self back off. I left the heater in cold position and i noticed cool air pumping out of the heater. A good sign, and it hasnt overheated at all yet. Usually it over heats after 5 miles or so, but nothing yet! so fingers crossed.

I just hope its fixed now after paying £39.99 for the new HCV plus a thermostat, or ill be stranded over the moors again as the puma does around 80 miles a day to and from Leeds!

wish me luck!

tie

[tiefighter]

well after replacing the ac part no: HCV after installing it 4 days ago its decided to start overheating again, twice tonight on the way home. well im confused how can a part work for a couple of days putting the engine through its paces and now the gremlins returned. has the part failed? are these hcv's so rubbish at failing all the time or is it summit else????

ive had the heater on cool and tonight after slowing down for some cows..moo;-) i noticed the fan buzzing away under the bonnet. i stuck the heater on hot then it went. Drove back from shopping with my wife and just before i got home the needle jumped up to 3/4 hot. i wont repeat what i was saying in the car but i wasnt happy!

anyone know whats going on with the valves or overheating problem??
cheers
tie

[m_kitty]

we had exactly this when the hcv was changed. we sent it back to the garage many times, it seems it just takes time for all the air pockets to bleed out. our procedure was to just pull over when the gauge shot up, turn off, wait a couple of minutes, then start up and drive off. i seem to recall the garage made some enquiries and the consencus was tgis setup was a pig to bleed.

[hotrodspike]

Had overheating probs on my old Mk2 Capri 2.0. The fault was that the top heater hose was higher than all the other pipes and an air lock used to gather in the highest point. All I did was cut the top hose and put a bleed valve in, then if the car overheated I just let the air out.

[tiefighter]

Had overheating probs on my old Mk2 Capri 2.0. The fault was that the top heater hose was higher than all the other pipes and an air lock used to gather in the highest point. All I did was cut the top hose and put a bleed valve in, then if the car overheated I just let the air out.

i thought this might be the problem, hence when i go round a shape corner turning right the temp needle sways to just below 3/4 hot then when the car comes back to sit right the needle drops to middle again. and the same when left goes to just below middle then comes back! should it stay ?? in the middle at all times when cornering as mine doesnt it sways?? how do yo bleed the puma?????
cheers
tie

[tiefighter]

seems to be ok now the hcv but need to at least check the water every week, and make sure its topped up all the time. if its below the high it then plays up ....my engine is very pickie even if the coolant is below max level. to be honest it will still do it if you dont check or if you dont have heater on middle setting, the fan still kicks in at low speed...but its behaving.

all i can say is ford..... ya got to be on guard all the time!

tie

[PumaVoodoo]

Its still broken if its acting like that, I don't have any such problems with mine. Its not a "ford thing", its the fact that its not working properly.

[Dogsbody]

I'm not sure how the HCV would cause the engine to over heat?

I had to replaced mine on my first puma a few years ago as it played up.
The engine never over heated though and when I removed it, there was a lump of something stuck inside it.

That one is now sat on the shelf as a stand by for current Puma.

Have you had the cooling system flushed through?
Make sure you use a corrosion inhibitor / anti freeze.

If you have been adding lots of tap water, it could be starting to scale up.

You can buy radiator flushing fluid.

Good luck, warmer weather has just arrived. (think its called summer)