Focus....Underheating??

master-d

Hi folks, just picked up a 06 Focus 1.6 tdci and have been driving it around for the last few days. One thing that I have noticed is that the engine temp never goes above approx 80 degrees, as opposed to the 90 I would expect.

The fan seems to be running a lot more than I would have expected, after driving on the motorway the fan is running, I would have thought the fan would only run when there is poor air circulation.

So the question is can anybody confirm or deny if this is normal for a diesel focus and if i need to get it looked at?

congo_90

It's within normal tolerances I believe. Once its running in the middle 3rd of the gauge line your fine.

Hal1

Just do the regular weekly checks on fluids, oil, coolant, water. She'll keep purring like a kitty then.

GTE

master-d wrote: »

Hi folks, just picked up a 06 Focus 1.6 tdci and have been driving it around for the last few days. One thing that I have noticed is that the engine temp never goes above approx 80 degrees, as opposed to the 90 I would expect.

The fan seems to be running a lot more than I would have expected, after driving on the motorway the fan is running, I would have thought the fan would only run when there is poor air circulation.

So the question is can anybody confirm or deny if this is normal for a diesel focus and if i need to get it looked at?

I have read that some modern diesels dont heat up as petrols do when you leave them to idle. Its meant to be that they are so efficent there is no where near as much lost enegry in terms of heat.

So, what im saying is that since the engine takes a long time to heat up beacause it doesnt really generate heat, the normal operating temp wouldnt be as high.

My VW diesel is around 80 to 85 usually.

frank gooding

Maybe the fan stat is a bit dicky and coming in too early.

GERMAN ROCKS

mine is normally around 70-80oc. only time you would see it go up to 90 is if you were pulling a heavy trailer especially up hills

master-d

Thanks folks its nothing to serious to worry about anyway from what I gather!

frank gooding wrote: »

Maybe the fan stat is a bit dicky and coming in too early.

I was thinking this could be the problem and was waiting for some one to suggest it! The fact that the fan is running after driving on the motorway cant be normal, especially when the weather is reasonably cold.

mullingar

Its seems to be designed to run a little colder than an average engine (increase efficiency??).

Here is a fact I recently discovered, on the 05+ 1.6 TDCI Focus, Ford installed an electrical heating element into the cabin heating system as the engine does not heat up fast enough on tick-over, without it it would be terrible sitting in traffic on a frosty morning

Find out the rating on the stat, if it's below 90 deg C than happy out I reckon there is no issue, not all cars run at 90 deg C.

Once it's stable when heated up the stat is fine.

Row

Not sure about the focus 1.6 tdci but all peugeot 307's and 407's that have these engines bring on the fan (high speed) when its going through a dpf regeration.
When the dpf starts to block the fan can run most of the time as its
trying to regnerate the dpf.

What milage have you on your focus...??

master-d

Row wrote: »

Not sure about the focus 1.6 tdci but all peugeot 307's and 407's that have these engines bring on the fan (high speed) when its going through a dpf regeration.
When the dpf starts to block the fan can run most of the time as its
trying to regnerate the dpf.

What milage have you on your focus...??

Hi Row, that could be it, Iv never heard of it before, should a light in the dash not come on? The car has 85,000 miles on it, I have the car booked in to get a new key cut on Monday, and the guys said they would do a diagnostic check on it. Is there anything I should do in the meantime, can I continue to drive it?

Row

On Peugeots/Citroens a eml is usally displayed..not sure about ford...
With this eml been displayed they recommend to take the car on a motorway and give it for a hard drive which may allow the dpf to regenerate.

This maybe worth a try...but again this could be one of many things thats causing the fan to run on....

Ley us know what the garage come back with...:)

GERMAN ROCKS

drive away. it would be 1793285918658743265 times worse if it was overheating

mumblin deaf ro

My Focus diesel is slow to reach the middle of the temp gauge, but I got the thermostat checked as part of the service and all seems well.