Dave’s Free Car Repair Advice

Subject:  1996 Ford Fiesta Diesel

Alena asks:  My in-car temperature gauge keeps going up to nearly in the red but not quite. Should I be worried, my local garage doesn’t seem to think so? Also, I?ve been told I’ve got a noisy clutch release bearing, do I need to get anything done to it?

I would first make sure the coolant level is up to par.

If this is a sudden thing happening then maybe there is a bunch of bird feathers in the front of your radiator or dead bugs making the thermal co-efficiency of your radiator way down thereby causing the higher heat levels.

Subject:  Collapsed Hose

Mike tells me: I have a collapsed upper radiator hose on my 2001 Alero. When I open the cap slowly air rushes in and the hose returns to normal.

Mike, I think you need to add more antifreeze/coolant, and I think your overflow tank is not allowing it to go back in the radiator once it cools down, which ts should if your radiator cap is in working condition.

The reason for the vacuum is that when your engine is relieving pressure into the reservoir when hot from the expanding coolant, all is well, then as your engine is cooling, the radiator cap is not allowing for the overflow to get back into the radiator.

Your car or truck goes through a lot of wear and tear during its time on the road. There are so many items in need of attention that it can be difficult to really focus on the proper maintenance at the right time for your car.

We all want to rely on our vehicles and the more maintenance that we are able to keep up, the more reliable our cars are in return for the proper care.

We should all be taking care of oil changes at the manufacturers recommended maintenance schedule, but a couple of car maintenance items are overlooked quite often and that is the automatic transmission fluid and the coolant in the engine.