Cooling Issues and Limp Mode

[Mr.Wiggles2004]

Hey Guys,

I am new to the forum, but just wanted to start off by saying thanks for having me.

I have had my Fiesta ST for roughly a year now and have just run in to a major issue which I am in need of guidance/help with.

Background on the vehicle:

2014 Ford Fiesta ST
Approx. 93,000 miles
No issues to this point
Regular maintenance performed

Description of issue:

I was driving through relatively heavy traffic on a particularly hot day, when the car went in to limp mode. I immediately noticed the loss of power and looked down to see the CEL and Coolant lights on. I turned off the car and pushed it on to a side street where I turned off the engine. Once pulled over I popped the hood and noticed that the overflow tank was close to empty and I could hear steam and leaking coolant. I traced this back to the shorter of the two small fittings going to the coolant overflow tank. The tube going in to the overflow tank had broken at the fitting, and this was the source of the leak. The old plastic tubing and fitting basically crumbled in my hand leaving a roadside repair out of the question. I had the car towed to my place about a mile away, and ordered a new hose and fitting. Tonight I was able to install the new hose and fitting from Ford and refill the reservoir with coolant.

Now to my current issue; once I start the car the CEL is still on as is the coolant light. The temp gauge starts low and fairly quickly moves up to the highest digital setting (faster than it should on a cold engine even with a major cooling issue). The fan stays on and the car idles but the engine will not rev above approx. 1k RPM. The accelerator has no effect on RPM. This is exactly the state the car was in before I shut it off and moved it to the side of the road.

My thoughts are that I (A. Have a major cooling issue. Or (B. The car is stuck in limp mode. Or (C. There is another faulty sensor somewhere that I am overlooking. I have disconnected the battery attempting to clear the code but it just starts back right up in the same mode.

Any thoughts or insight on this issue are much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

 

[Mr.Wiggles2004]

UPDATE:

Thanks for all of the replies! LOL. I wanted to provide a quick update on what is, for now, a positive outcome.

I hooked up my scan tool with the car running and pulled a "cylinder head over temp" code and a couple of other cooling related codes that were less specific. I cleared the codes with the vehicle running and it came right out of limp mode. Once out of limp mode the temp gauge started slowly backing down until it was in normal range. I drove it around the block a few times and all seems well.

I tried all normal methods for clearing the code, battery disconnect pedal presses, etc. Only using the scan tool with the car running cleared the cylinder head temp code. I hope this helps someone else along the way.

Cheers,

 

[MRX330]

The shortest thread with a happy ending. Good job 👍

 

[Mr.Wiggles2004]

The shortest thread with a happy ending. Good job 👍

I'll take it! Thanks!

 

[BlueSt fiesta!]

UPDATE:

Thanks for all of the replies! LOL. I wanted to provide a quick update on what is, for now, a positive outcome.

I hooked up my scan tool with the car running and pulled a "cylinder head over temp" code and a couple of other cooling related codes that were less specific. I cleared the codes with the vehicle running and it came right out of limp mode. Once out of limp mode the temp gauge started slowly backing down until it was in normal range. I drove it around the block a few times and all seems well.

I tried all normal methods for clearing the code, battery disconnect pedal presses, etc. Only using the scan tool with the car running cleared the cylinder head temp code. I hope this helps someone else along the way.

Cheers,

I am going to try this tomorrow am, thank you

 

[manzanita.st]

Unfortunately this didn’t work for me, cluster would just flicker and everything would stay on.