Hi Guys, New to the site and need some advice. I have a S-reg sei sporting. When I bought the car the Heating wasn't working, so today I decided to drain and bleed the coolant. While doing this I removed my thermostat and to my surprise there was no spring valve just the housing. Assuming this was my problem I duly replaced with a new item.

After refilling the system I let the car come up to temp but still no heat inside the car, both pipes going to the heater cock were hot and the cock appeared to operate with the cable. I then decided to remove the pipes to flush the heater matrix in case of a blockage. The top pipe came off easily, but I have broken off the bit that the bottom hose connects to.

So my questions are

1, Can I replace only the cock or do I need the whole heater assembly

2, If the whole assembly needs replaced how do I go about it IE does the dash have to come out

3, When the new thermostat was fitted the car started overheating would a blockage in the heater matrix cause this

Thanks in advance for any help, it will be much appreciated

A significant blockage in the main radiator or engine coolant pathways would cause overheating, the missing thermostat indicates something might be wrong.

The heater wont work without the thermostat, not good in summer but cold in winter, all the engine systems are designed for optinium water temperature.

If you can connect the heater matrix pipes together metal pipe and hose clips the system (normally) should work ok. (This is the get you home if the matrix leaks...)

It it does not try a rad flush set of chemicals.

If the radiator was holed and it and the engine is (possibly) now full of e.g. rad seal then the passages may be too blocked, hence overheating...

Breakers yard for radiator.

The trick is not to cause further damage, easy to say I agree. Did you buy it from some one you know, and can ask questions off, before you try anything?

Noel

I would agree wth most of what was posted, but I would go for a new rad, not that expensive.

Reverse flush the system, scrappy might be an idea for a cock.

The heater comes out from the engine bay side, but needs released from the dash.

I must admit I could do a Cinq one blindfold, but the Sei is slightly different.

Welcome to the forum, nice to see another west of scotland inmate.

Cheers

PD

Thanks for the advice guys, to put you in the picture my brother bought this car for his daughters christmas from ebay .

Once he had collected it a quick look around made it clear whoever owned it previous had done allot of bodged jobs, ie wrong size tyros fitted, temp warning light disconnected, silicone used as gasket, cam belt covers missing, radio harness butchered the list goes on. It has also been in an accident previous as it has wrong bumper fitted new wing headlight and slam panel.

He decided to buy a second (Identical) sei for his daughter, which leaves me this one to try and get into a respectable condition. The idea is to either sell on once the work is done or maybe keep as a bit of fun. Either way it owes us £600 so I don't want to be throwing money at it.

Okay when I flushed the main rad yesterday the water seemed to flow ok was a slight brown colour but not too bad but I shall try a chemical rad flush tomorrow.

The cock and the matrix is all one piece correct? can it be released from the dash side by takin the heating panel off or does the dash need to come out. Once cables are released is everything else disconnect from engine side.

Thanks again for the reply's sorry it's a bit of a novel but never owned a fiat before and looking for all the help I can get.

The heater is the wrong side of the front bulkhead to come out from the dash side. Its the controls that need to be released from the inside, then the whole assembly comes out over the engine, once the induction is removed.

Cheers

PD