old newbie

[tommo1051]

Hello everyone,
I have just bought a 1.6 silver puma with a 1.7 engine fitted, new cambelt and waterpump. Looked to be in pretty good nick with 53k on the clock and minimal rust showing.paid £450 for it. Drives fine.
HOWEVER, there was no history with it but it does have Mot til March next year.
First real drive - 13 miles to and from work- the engine began making boiling noises and I noticed the heater only pumped out hot air.
Project Puma to the rescue! With your help I not only diagnosed HVC but managed to locate it AND replace it with only minor swearage. I know very little about cars.
In addition got great insurance quote from one of the suggested firms on this site. My lot wouldn't insure it at all due to engine change ( Admiral) and comparison sites were quoting silly money.
So now sorted, I intend to take to the road again tomorrow.
Oh and temp guage not working. I tested the HVC by letting the car sit running on drive for 20 mins and then took it for 15 minute drive.seemed okay and hope will stay that way.
So here's to all the great advise. Great site!

 

[quest63]

Welcome aboard :thumbs:

 

[tommo1051]

Thanks for the welcome

 

[Catweasel]

Welcome to the forum, hope the HCV solves your problem.

 

[red]

Welcome to the site, glad you've found some useful information already.

 

[tommo1051]

Evening ,
Thanks for the welcomes,
Well, drove to work today and the heater still blasting out hot air, but, car not boiling as before. So took couple of hours off and took Hvc back to parts shop and explained that it didn't fit quite right at the connector and was loose. The guy in the shop compared it to their 'superior' model and you could see there was a definite difference between the electrical connector blocks. The 'superior' was very slightly shorter in length than the other one.1 and 1/2 mm. He said he would report it to HQ! So I returned the original, paid 8 quid difference for the new one( apparently made by same people who make Ford's HVC's ??) Went home and fitted it and it now works fine. Phew!
Still a bit concerned re radiator / thermostat as radiator is not heating up. Going to try to bleed radiator a few times and see if that works. When that's sorted i'll try and sort non working temp guage, which does move in dashboard diagnostic check.

 

[quest63]

Run it parked up with the cap of the reservoir and with the heater temperature dial set to full hot, the temp dial not the blower.

Then run it for 20 mins gently squeezing the pipes until the bottom left hose is as hot as the top right hose.

You might have to do this repeatedly.

 

[tommo1051]

Thanks for that. I'll give it a go tomorrow night. Should be alright to drive till then? Coolant level is constant.

 

[oilburner]

I would only use a genuine Ford HCV as I've never known a non Ford one to last more than a few months

 

[tommo1051]

Hi, well I may have sorted out 'kettling' problem I had which happened again this morning. I followed Quest63's advise, above, ( for the second time, didn't do it properly first time)
As the engine heated up I squeezed the top right rad hose, as you look at it, and bottom left hose from rad. This one was slightly more tricky as I had to squeeze my big fat hand down in front of another hose ( maybe aircon hose ?) The bottom left rad hose was cool to start , whilst the top hose became very hot. As I continued squeezing, the coolant dropped by about a centimetre, which I topped up. Within the space of a few seconds , while I was squeezing it, the bottom left hose became very hot. Too hot to hold for more than a second or two. The kettling did not occur after 30 mins so I stopped and put the cap back on. The coolant had not gone down any more. I did notice that the fan did not come on during all of this. Would it be expected to? I know it works because when I first had car and it was kettling, before I changed HCV, it did cut in. The HVC appears to be working for now as I have hot and cold air in the cabin and the hoses to it are very hot ( so fingers crossed for now)
Out of interest I carried out a dash diagnostic check for the engine temp and got readings at number 13 of ' 255 a' and '-40' alternating. Not sure what this means?
Temp guage still not working, new sensor due tomorrow.
So thanks for the help again. Any ideas on the couple of questions re fan and temp reading?