overheating probs

[jimbob-mcgrew]

got a bit of a dilema - im havvin overheating probs, fan cuts in at half way like it should, but the temp keeps rising gradually, untill its starts to get silly and u have to turn it off, then when u pop the bonnet u can hear the water bubbling a bit in the overflow tank, and a very slight hiss thru the lid. all the pipes around the system feel hot, so i dont think theres a blockage in the system, one thing thats not proper is the systems filled with just water, should have some coolant mix in there really, but still its getting hotter than youd expect.

would i be right in thinking it could be the thermostat not opening fully or could it be something more serious like a water pump or god forbid head gasket ? its a new shape escort with a cvh in by the way, not the nova, but engines are all prety similar, cheers anyone that can help as i fear its gonna cook itself if i keep driving it like it is.

[Rich]

Best to get a block tester on there, sounds like headgasket could be going/gone. Does it smell like petrol/exhaust in the header tank?

[Mike]

what fan are you using? Aftermarket or OE?

[jimbob-mcgrew]

dunno and dunno lol will check

[jimbob-mcgrew]

oof, she sounded rough as **** this morning, some serious blowing noise that went away shortly after i set off, feels even more gutless that usual.

no petrol / exhaust smells in the overflow, but waters prety dirty and seems to drop and rise randomly.

standard fan im prety sure.

prob head gasket aint it - **** - means it gotta sell it

[1.6 8v turbo nova]

head gasket set for like 16 quid? worth selling over that o.O?

[1.6 8v turbo nova]

oh sorry ! escort.. my bad :(

[craig green]

No anti freeze in the coolant is a possible cause tbh. Water on its own is corrosive.

New headset, skim & bang it back together.

[jimbob-mcgrew]

no money for nowt im afraid, how many boilings can it take before it dies

[mikey14sr]

it's a ffff, can't say it, just weigh it in.

[jimbob-mcgrew]

im not seeing any cream under the filler cap, does this mean its possible the gaskets still ok ? its running rougher and rougher, especially uphill, was going up a steep one earlier today, 15-20 mph, could see the guy behind me in my rear view mirror loosing his rag. with the matrix fans on the go, it stays within temp.. but i wouldnt wanna turn em off, feels like its missing on atleast one cylinder, possibly sometimes two cylinders.. im gonna investigate the plugs & leads and flush the coolant out for fresh stuff with a bit of anti-freeze in.

[jimbob-mcgrew]

had a quick look but ran outta light due to crappy ford design.. gonna have another go tommora morning on the bottom hose.. need to drll out some rivets holding on a piece of shielding thats in the way, took off the top hose while i was there to find rusty water, tried flushing it thru a bit, more rusty water, was diluting it slowly.. but need to get that bottom hose off to do a proper job, then have a look at the plugs and leads.

[jimbob-mcgrew]

good news, the head gasket aint gone.. but the engines been repeadetly cooked so its ****ed, but if it keeps working ill be happy.

pulled the plugs out to have a look and re-gapped em while i was there, no. 4 was an apsolute **** to get out, possibly the heads warped and made it real tight around the plug or whoever put it in there last threaded it, was silly tight all the way out. they all looked fairly normal to me.. with some signs of overheating as i expected.

didnt bother drilling the rivets out of the shielding, just ripped it out and dashed it, managed to get on the bottom hose after that. flushed the system out, plenty of ****ty water in there, refilled it with clean water and some anti-freeze, looks like that was the main culprit as its not getting quite so hot anymore.. but the damage has been done allready unfortunatly.. ill be happy if it just keeps working tbh.

pissed out everywhere:
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll227/photon_09/PICT0159.jpg

someone said about the fan, after closer inspection i did notice a bit of a chink out of one of the blades, but that wouldnt make that much difference would it ? i cant deside if the fans on the wrong way round.. as theres serious amounts of backdraft / air coming out the back side of it and when its turned on it doesnt seem to do anything to help on the temperature front, the internal matrix heaters do alot more.
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll227/photon_09/PICT0160.jpg