Hi chaps!

I'm new to the forum - a long-term Fiat driver, having got through 2 Unos and a Tipo TD (looking out for another: they're fabulous) and currently on a Brava 1.4 SX. Which is causing problems...

In a nutshell, I noticed a couple of times lately that the temperature was rising to around 110 degrees before the thermostat kicked in and heating system worked as usual. Then, the other day, the temperature just kept rising until it was nearly on the red - no worries, I thought, the thermostat's jiggered.

I replaced the thermostat this afternoon, but the problem's still there. The water in the radiator is cold and pours out of the top when you take the cap off, which made me concerned for a cylinder head gasket, but there's no water in the oil and the engine's running fine.

Spoke to my mechanic, and he reckoned it could be an air lock - this could be the problem, as there's no hot air coming out of the heater. How would I fix it? And what else could the problem be?

Was going to add some questions on fuel economy, but reading through some earlier posts has answered that question...

By the way, I would be driving my girlfriend's Cinq Sporting today if it hadn't had a disagreement with a Landrover Discovery on Monday (http://www.fotolog.net/kit_allen/?pid=10019033) This hurt a lot!

Cheers, Trumpet

hi there,does sound like an air lock if the HG is fine.
you need to look around and find any bleed screw/s on the heater pipes to bleed out any air. i'm assuming the brava has them.
if not its more work but go with the bleed screw/s 1st

edit:thats some hit the little cinq took!! G/F okay?

Cheers, mate - sounds promising. Any Brava owners ken where I could find the bleed screws?

GF wasn't driving the car at the time - was just myself. Wasn't wearing a seatbelt, so got thrown out of the drivers seat and nutted the passenger window so hard that I shattered it into my forehead.

:bang: <-Felt a little like this...

When bleeding the system, make sure you set the cabin heater as hot as it will go, (fan does not need to be on) this lets water through the heater matrix.

Hey again,

I've just spoken to my mechanic this morning, and he's utterly bemused with the problem!

Apparently, the water in the cylinder head block is hot, but the water in the radiator is freezing - it could be that the water pump impellor (spelling?) is detached, but this is a little unlikely as the car has done this heating thing a couple of times already and cooled itself down again.

More likely is either a blocked radiator, or the beginnings of a cylinder head gasket failure, but we're not sure which. Has anyone had this problem at all?

Cheers...Hope someone can help!

Still go for air lock just like everyone is saying. Get it sorted or it WILL develop into a head gasket. I'd drain it all out and start again. Do exactly as it says in the Haynes manual. It's really easy to get an air lock if you fill too fast or don't have heater control on hot or have all bleed screws open. There's a lot that can go wrong when refilling so do it exactly like it says in the book

The water is hitting an unpassable barrier of air, one side is boiling and the other is stone cold