koalar said:

Don't forget to check its sealing shut before fitting. Not unknown for new parts to be faulty

Click to expand...

Should I put it in a plastic bowl with boiling water to see if it does anything?

DaveMcT said:

I'm really surprised a car with no under tray warms up significantly faster with a radiator blanking plate. But here's the proof!! I will have to try it for my car as its often used for shorter journeys.

Click to expand...

Don't rely solely on the coolant temperature gauge if you go this route.

I'd suggest a couple of remote reading thermometers in the underbonnet area if you're doing serious testing - at one point I did manage to get things hot enough to start to smell something, even though the temperature gauge was still right on the halfway mark. You won't want to cook your ECU!

From past experience, you should be OK if you restrict the blanking to 50% of the total grill area; I ran like this until the end of March without issues.

SB1500 said:

Should I put it in a plastic bowl with boiling water to see if it does anything?

Click to expand...

To do the boiling water test, you need to put it in a pan and heat it on the stove - beware the risk of scalding yourself. By the time you've poured boiling water into another container, it'll likely be too cool for the thermostat to start to open, leading you to believe it's faulty when it isn't. It might not even be fully open at 100C; remember the system is pressurised and in service, the boiling point of the coolant will be around 120C.

It'll be closed until it gets close to boiling water temperature so all you need to do before fitting is check it's fully closed.

If it doesn't open, you'll know soon enough - just keep an eye on the temperature gauge.

They don't go wrong that often providing the coolant is changed regularly; the ratio of the number of times I've suspected a faulty thermostat to the number of times one has actually failed is about 10:1.

If I post a photo would you know by looking?

No just suck on the outlet. Should be seal shut.

These are the parts that are assembled into the housing.

http://thumbs4.picclick.com/d/l400/pict/311696012707_/Gates-Thermostat-for-FIAT-IDEA-16-D-350A2000.jpg

Its not unknown for the black rubber seal to be missing.

Well guys we have her in and voila. Up to temperature. Warm heat.

See for yourselves: pic

There seems to be too much antifreeze in the bottle now, as there was air / problems with the cooling PRIOR TO the new thermostat I think the correct level then is actually incorrect now that we have the air out - or something along those lines. Does that sound plausible?

Going to keep bleeding it over the next few hundred miles

Good work.

The other 0,01%

Well done Stop worrying. Keep the F**k up fairy at bay (isn't it a leprechaun?)

gr J

A3jeroen said:

The other 0,01%



Well done Stop worrying. Keep the F**k up fairy at bay (isn't it a leprechaun?)



gr J

Click to expand...

If it is a leprechaun that'd explain a lot since me and @WeeSmurf have had a fair few on our Pandas this past two weeks lol !