ford escort heater matrix advise

[Matt82]

a friend of mine owns a 98 ford escort, she had driven all the way from essex to swindon, when she got there, steam started to rise from the dashboard.

her bf works for a garage. she took the car there. the carpets are only slightly damp, but no one can tell me what level the water is in the header tank.

they say its ok to drive it back. i say dont drive it. the cooling system is clearly compromised. i would only take their advise if they signed a statement confirming they would cover any repair costs if the engine overheats/fails on the way back (which clearly they wont because they have no idea what they are talking about). plus, she can get free rac recovery.

i thought that if the matrix failed, the carpets would be soaked. seems it may have only lost a little water.... or maybe there was only a little left and it had all been boiled away by the engine.

does anyone out there have any advise?

 

[jaydee]

If it's only a small leak from a rotten matrix top up and regularly check the coolant level until you get a new matrix fitted. Switch the warm air to cold as an emergency measure as that may completly switch off the coolant supply to the matrix. If it does, the car's drivable longterm (forever, even) but no heating. Buy a coat, wear a cat or whatever...

A temporary breakdown fix is to completely bypass the heater with a bit of hose or copper plumbing pipe etc. Works a treat if you do it right. Then wait for summer and the car will be nice and warm. Then sell it...

Another hot tip is run with the rad cap loose which prevents the system pressurising thereby possibly eliminating the leak. Dunno if this trick works too well with a remote coolant reservoir though. Drive moderately or you'll boil up and dump coolant. Less than 90 should be ok...

Another great get-you-home fix.