Hey there,

I currently have few issues with my 1.2 Bravo 80sx 2001.

Originally the car used to start up with an intermittent missfire and then after about a minute or so everything would be fine. It also judders sometimes when driving at a steady speed.

Another problem I have with it is it overheats. Normally the temperature gauge would stay just below half way and on cold days would drop down to about 1/4 of the way when moving. Now the needle stays at the bottom of the gauge for about 10 minutes and then rockets halfway up and then drops very quickly to about 1/4 of the gauge. Within another 10 minutes or so it's touching the first red bar on the gauge.

I took it to a garage and they couldn't find out what is causing the missfire but are confident it was the HT leads, which I will change myself. The car also didn't overheat when they were checking it so they couldn't figure out what was causing it. They did a compression test and all the cylinders were fine.

I have also noticed there is no heat coming from my vents even when they car is overheating. I think this is probably because my heater matrix is empty or something.

I keep checking my coolant level every other day and have to fill it up as it seems to be vanishing. I haven't spotted any leaks so I don't know where it is escaping. I also check the Oil Filler cap and there was some gunk in there which I presumed might have been from condensation, so I cleaned the cap out 2 weeks ago and it's still fine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as what might be the issue and how to fix it. I don't want to spend money on parts that I don't need for the faults as I am getting rid of it this summer so want to have as much money as possible for my new car.

Hi!

Rocketing temp guage? Temp sensor/sender (its an all in one piece) black plug with 4 pins, plugs into the inlet manifold at the bottom left near the coil pack. This happened to us before and after we cleaned the contacts and the unit itself it worked much better. Not perfect but thats because we didnt have a new one to put in at the time. Costs about £15 - £20 from a Fiat garage HT leads can go iffy with old age but so can the coil pack, thoroughly clean it as dirt is their downfall, make sure the leads are in fully in the pack and cylinders and if it still misses a good second hand one from the scrapyard is your best option. When were the plugs last changed?

However, water disappearing with no leaks sounds like a head gasket, when you drive the car when its well warmed up does it still emit plenty of gas from the exhaust? Top it up then bleed it, there are 2 bleed screws, one at the back of the engine bay and one near the coil pack, bleed the system and if you have to top it again the next day after a drive, get the cylinders pressure tested for loss of compression, this will indicate if there is a leak in the head gasket. It costs approx £20 for the gasket and £40 to get the head skimmed along with the correct tools if you prepare to do it yourself. This could also explain your rocketing temp guage (although dont rule out the other part it may be dirty) and no heat in the heater as an air pocket could be in the system.

Hope this was some help!!

@m20b25

Cheers for the info.

I took it to the garage because of the intermittent missfiring and the overheating. I think because I topped up the water in the coolant, the system appears to work fine for about 15 minutes or so. They did a compression test and everything was fine.

I keep checking the Oil Cap and Coolant tank, as I have to keep topping it up every other day at the moment. It looks like there might be a build up of gunk in the Oil Cap, at the moment it's very fine and there isn't a lot of it.

I'll have a look at the thermostat tomorrow and change that first, along with it's gasket. If it then carries on I suppose I will have to have a look at the head gasket.

I'm not too sure there is an issue with the HT leads but I will get them changed as soon as I can. However, the garage said they had to boost my battery which seems strange because it's only 2 years old maximum.

I'm not mechanic but I'll try doing all this myself as I really don't want to spend too much paying for a garage to fix it when I'm getting rid in like 4 months. I'll enjoy it though, I like findind out how things work.

Change your garage!!

Refill the coolant and make sure you bleed it.

Run the car up at a standstill and look for water/steam leaking. It must be going somewhere.

Assuming the garage have been competant enough to do the compression test properly, it shouldn't be head gasket, so look around the water pump area for drips.

Cheers

SPD

Just had similar problem, overheating and no cabin heating, turns out i had a massive amount of air in the system. Took off one of the small hoses that travels over the throttle cable, put heating on hot ran the engine until a nice flow of water was coming out of the pipe, keeping the coolant level topped up all the time.

Re: Bravo Overheating/Low coolant help

Ok, a quick update.

Checked the thermostat housing, and the gasket around it was completely worn out. It was that bad some of it even wrapped around the thermostat probably preventing it from opening/closing properly. Took off the gasket and made a DIY one until I can get a new one from a garage/parts shop.

Since I put this DIY Thermostat gasket in and topped up the coolant after I started the engine, the engine isn't overheating anymore. However after about 20 minutes or so the temperature gauge stays half way, even though the radiator fan isn't/doesn't come on.

There is definately water getting in the oil because oil cap had gunk in it, but the dip stick is fine.

So it does sound like a HG failure from the HG threads I have read in this forum. I'm losing water but there isn't a leak, well there is at the moment due to my DIY gasket, but it isn't severe, just a few drips. The missfire on start-up is probably from water leaking into cylinder 4, as that is what I read in a previous post with similar issues, and the garage said it was cylinder 4 that was missfiring.

Oh well, Looks like I get a nice little project to work on for the next few days/weeks depending on when I can make time to fix it. Boy you got to love Fiats.

Re: Bravo Overheating/Low coolant help

anthonyburns1988 said:

Ok, a quick update.

Checked the thermostat housing, and the gasket around it was completely worn out. It was that bad some of it even wrapped around the thermostat probably preventing it from opening/closing properly. Took off the gasket and made a DIY one until I can get a new one from a garage/parts shop.

Since I put this DIY Thermostat gasket in and topped up the coolant after I started the engine, the engine isn't overheating anymore. However after about 20 minutes or so the temperature gauge stays half way, even though the radiator fan isn't/doesn't come on.

There is definately water getting in the oil because oil cap had gunk in it, but the dip stick is fine.

So it does sound like a HG failure from the HG threads I have read in this forum. I'm losing water but there isn't a leak, well there is at the moment due to my DIY gasket, but it isn't severe, just a few drips. The missfire on start-up is probably from water leaking into cylinder 4, as that is what I read in a previous post with similar issues, and the garage said it was cylinder 4 that was missfiring.

Oh well, Looks like I get a nice little project to work on for the next few days/weeks depending on when I can make time to fix it. Boy you got to love Fiats.

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STOP, back up a few paces.

The temperature gauge is supposed to stay at halfway. It shows that the thermostat is now working. The fan will not come on until the gaage (and it is only a gauge, not an instrument) reaches about three quarters.

The compression of the engine is far far higher than the pressure of the water, even at full temperature, so any fail of the HG between a water way and a cylinder will lead to the water system being pressurised beyond the limit of the cap and all the water will be forced passed the cap.

If the HG has failed beteen a water way and an oil way, the water is at far higher pressure than the oi and you would notice your oil level rising and also turning to mayonaise on the dipstick.

Mayonaise in the filler cap is almost certainly condensation.

Get the thermostat properly fixed then investigate the missfire.

It could be dampness causing a lead to malfunction, it could be an injector problem.

Its not always headgasket.

Cheers

SPD

Re: Bravo Overheating/Low coolant help

Ok, I haven't really touched it since.

Since I got the heating system working again there is still air getting into it. I spotted a leak today when I moved my car a few paces, the leak appears to be coming from underneath a small flap of material near the top of the engine bay undearneath the windscreen. I shall have to investigate this further throughout the week.

Re: Bravo Overheating/Low coolant help

anthonyburns1988 said:

Ok, I haven't really touched it since.

Since I got the heating system working again there is still air getting into it. I spotted a leak today when I moved my car a few paces, the leak appears to be coming from underneath a small flap of material near the top of the engine bay undearneath the windscreen. I shall have to investigate this further throughout the week.

Click to expand...

Has it rained recently?

Cheers

SPD

Re: Bravo Overheating/Low coolant help

rallycinq said:

Has it rained recently?

Cheers

SPD

Click to expand...

Good point there is a drain tube from the scuttle out through the top of the firewall on both passenger and drivers sides.