Technical Over Heating Marea Weekend 1.8 16v

Currently reading:
Technical Over Heating Marea Weekend 1.8 16v

Celt

New member
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
22
Points
4
Location
Huddersfield
Hi All,:p

New to the forum, but have been scanning the pages over the past few days for solutions to the problem below.

I was driving on the motorway 4 days ago when the injector light came on, at this point I noticed the temp gauge was all the way to the top. I slowed down and the light went out as the temp started to drop.

Over the past few days the car has only been used for essential journeys until I have a chance to look at it, which will be tomorrrow. The injection light has not come on again (I suspect it only came on as the engine had got so hot the first time) however the gauge is still showing the engine running too hot.

Pointers:-

Ran the engine today until the temp gauge was up to normal (4-5mins) felt the radiator - cool to the touch.

Heaters in the car are working fine.

Checked oil - looks fine (no white bits).

Fan still comes on after the car has been running for a while.

When the temp goes up there fells to be a loss of power.


I am hoping this means it is just an air lock in the system, which I will try and bleed tomorrow. Other ideas are a blockage or hopefully at worst a thermostat problem.

Any hints/advice/pointers welcome.

Do Haynes have a manual for the Marea?
 
Hi All,

I need a bit more help!

Replaced the thermostat which has partially solved the problem (old one was stuck closed - Thanks Hellcat). The car now drives for ½ hour before the needle starts to rise above half way. Driving with care I can keep the needle down - real pain in the butt!

Having scanned the forum for pointers I now suspect it is the Water Pump that needs replacing.

A bit of history:-

Last September the cam belt went at 71,000 :eek: (I had been getting the car serviced by what I now know to be a crap garage - serviced my car for 2½ years but never thought to change the belt!!!!!) got it all fixed, the garage did it on the cheap (as I discovered) never replaced the tensioners, got this fixed in Jan.:bang:

However, reading the forum it looks as if the water pump should ideally have been changed at the same time.

Please tell me I'm on the right lines?!!!

Is this as easy as changing the themostat housing?:yum:

Help:cry:
 
Replacing the water pump means changine the cam belt and tensioner too. Its more involved than replacing the thermostat and not really a job for the D.I.Y mechanic. Its easy if you know what you are doing though.
 
Yep I'd check for airlocks first. Ideally you want to have waterpump and cambelt changed at the same time - oh and don't leave the belt for 72k this time - Fiat has changed their reccomendation to around 60k. I'd say 50k to be on the safe side. The waterpump isn't expencive, and hardly any work once the cembelt is off.
 
Thanks for your help,

I tried bleeding the system the other day, used both bleed screws on the radiator until coolant came out.

Should I be trying this again with the front of the car raised (park on a hill perhaps?) or have I missed an additional bleed screw?

Have been scanning the posts again, various hints about, ingnition on (not engine) heaters on hot, squeasing pipes, etc.

I'll give it all a try.
 
Help needed!

Simple question.

Besides the two bleed screws on the radiator, are there any other bleed screws?

Thanks
 
Thanks,

:cry: :bang: :cry:

This is really getting to me. I can't find another bleed screw, but there must be one as the two on the radiator are too low.
 
There should be a bleed screw on the inlet & outlet pipe for heater matrix, also a good idea, if you are taking the hoses off is to put a hose pipe on the outlet and reverse flush the heater matrix with clean water you'll be suprised how much s**t comes out.
(y)
 
Thanks,

Still cant locate anything.

The inlet and outlet pipes for the matrix, am I right in thinking these are the two pipes that leave the thermostat housing, pass behind the engine and pass through into the passager cabin in the centre of the car? (all lower down than the radiator bleed screws)

The matrix is behind the dash, right? Surely, I don't need to start looking in here to bleed the cooling system?!!!!!:eek:

Drained the system again and refilled very slowly. No change?:bang: :cry: :bang:
 
There should be 2 rubber heater hoses going into the bulkhead behind the engine about an inch or so there should be a plastic knurled screw in both of the hoses (there is a provision for a screwdriver if they're tight) bleed the lower hose 1st with the engine running keep topping up the header tank make sure the heater is open fully, when no air is comming out do the top most hose as before, if that dosent help you might be looking at a head gasket failing, I know this might sound silly but is the water pump working??:idea:
If that dosent help try and find someone with a fault code reader and see if it throws any fault codes at you relating to this prob' ideally that is the 1st course of action, then start poking and prodding if no stored fault codes in the ECU.
 
Last edited:
If anything it seams worse,

I think I'm going to have to give in and take it to the garage!:( (although they can't fit me in til next thursday, so anyone has any other ideas before then - most appreciated):worship:
 
Hi all,

Well I took the car to the garage today.

Guess what? They couldn't sort out the problem either!:bang: :bang: :bang:

They think it may be an electrics fault. The car runs okay initially, the pumps working, it gets up to temp, the fan comes on (and stays on non stop), the temp gauge starts to rise above normal but the engine is not running too hot (ie radiator, pipes, engine cover, etc cool enough to touch).

Not the temp sender, as they replaced that - no difference.

Not an air lock as they vacuum filled the coolant - no difference.

I doesn't appear to be the head gasket as the car is not boiling and it doesn't appear to be using water (although I am going to keep a very close eye on this over the next week)

There is some smoke/steam from the exhaust and it does run poorly when hot (jumps/judders a bit).

This is making me sick:yuck:

I may have to take it to a fiat garage (miles away) to get an ECU diagnosis.

If anyone has any ideas at all now is the time to tell me.....please:worship:
 
hi mate, 2 possible things spring to mind. the radiator could be partially blocked inside, particularly likely if ordinary tap water has been used to top up the system throughout the cars life. distilled water should ALWAYS be used to prevent scale building up in all the waterways, a particular problem where the space for water to pass through is small such as the radiator. my other thought could be a broken water pump impellar, i have seen it before where all seems fine but as the engine heats up the lack of any real pressure from the pump causes gradual heat build up in the engine. it has been known for blades to break off or the whole inside part has broken away leaving not much in the way of pumping action! if it has sheared completly inside you wouldn't necessarily hear any rumbling as the 'inside' part of the pump is free floating and might not give any noise out. good luck!
 
Hi all,

I have almost given up.:cry:

Have booked the car into the fiat garage for next Thursday, strangely they have not been forthcoming with any advice (save for the fact that it will be £49.50/hr(n) ) "I need to bring it in before they would have any idea".

One question that someone may be able to answer. Have run the car today, the temp gauge was nearly at the top. Radiator was warm (not hot) the hose from the thermostat housing to the rad was hot, the hose from the rad (top right as you look at the engine) back to the engine block was cool. Is this correct or could there be a blockage in the radiator?:(
 
Hi All,

(y) Thanks to all of you who have spent time to reply to my posts.:slayer:

Took the car to the fiat garage, they had a look......

Cylinder head damage:cry: :cry: :cry:

The overheating caused by the cooling system over pressurising.

Surprisingly, they did not want to carry out any futher work!! Suggested I take it back to the garage who did the repairs following the cam belt failure, as it would seem to be their responsability.

even more surprisingly the fiat garage did not charge me a thing for their time(y)

Two questions for everyone.

1 has anyone any experience of this sort of failure 5-6 months following cam failure and sucessfully had the work done free or reduced price?

2 How much am I looking at? £400? Are there any other factors I should be aware of?

Thanks everyone
 
Back
Top