any thoughts would be appreciated....
Noticed yesterday and today that my Temperature Gauge was running 1/2 way between quarter mark and halfway occasionally (mainly with heater on), previously it has always gone to halfway and stayed there even with the heater on at full blat. Also carpet on Drivers side is soaking wet, although the area around the centre console is dry as a bone.
I've had a good look round the door and windscreen and underneath the dashboard but can find no trace of any leak anywhere. I'm wondering if the car has maybe developed a leak in the heater matrix ? yet I have checked coolant level and it is where it should be, and the heater is still blowing hot air.
I removed cap from the expansion tank and expected a hiss from depressurization, sounded quite quiet to me as if it didn't have a lot of pressure although there was a hiss, checked around all the rad hoses including heater ones for signs of leaks and with pressure cap off the expansion tank gave all the hoses a good squeeze in case there was any air in the system, all hoses were hot so obviously coolant is circulating through them.
After i had done this the gauge seemed to have settled back to where it should be even with heater at full blast.
Not used to see a Temp gauge drop, normally if there is an issue temp goes up in my experience.
Apart from this engine is running fine, no other issues at all with it.

The temp gauge reading sounds norm if it stays between quarter up to halfway this time of year,as for the wet drivers foot well get some white kitchen/toilet paper & soak up some of the water if it smells sweet or the same colour as your antifreeze coolant,if not make sure that the two rubber holes under the wiper motor/arms under scuttle are not blocked.

Have you checked the underbody? Perhaps it's holed at the driver's footwell.

haven't had a chance to check under the car yet, but it was all sound and solid last time i looked (couple of months back when i had front tires replaced), but it is on my to do list. the 2 Rubber drains i always make sure aren't blocked, especially this time of year as they do get crap in them where they narrow in at the bottom. both are clear though, and i tend to check them weekly(this is 3rd Punto mk2 i've had so was already aware of those blocking).
will get kitchen roll out at weekend and check to see if it's coolant.
Didn't expect to find the temp gauge dropping, it isn't that cold here (just very wet, which actually helped with checking the door and windscreen seals...it was absolutely pissing it down LOL) and i have driven this car in freezing conditions with snow and ice before without any issue with the temp gauge and the heater going flat out.
I'm still not convinced the heater is leaking, since the coolant level looks to be where it always is at Max mark on the tank. but i cant rule it out just yet, as after i squeezed all the hoses the gauge seemed to sit where it should, i'm guessing there was air in the system and the only way i know for air to get in the system (which would cause this issue) is a leak somewhere.
I guess i can always try some radweld plus see if that fixes the problem, i know it's more expensive than normal radweld, but in the past i found this one actually works whereas the normal stuff don't seem to do much.

have a lick of the liquid found at drivers side, if its sweet tasting its antifreeze, spit that **** out afterwards

Don't use rad weld especially if you're only guessing there is a leak, it can block up the radiator.

If you have aircon that is running then that's the likely culprit for the wet passenger footwell carpet. The drain exits the car in the passenger footwell and is a bad design so drips water into the footwell. The aircon removes the moisture from the air and this time of year it removes a lot of it.

The temperature not rising properly is most likely due to the thermostat sticking open for a while and letting the engine cool too much, worth getting it replaced as you do want it sticking shut and causing a head gasket failure

AndyRKett said:

Don't use rad weld especially if you're only guessing there is a leak, it can block up the radiator.

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Scudmonkey

if the coolant level is constant, then that's NOT your issue.

I would be looking at a thermostat swap - as the heating issue,

footwell,
you say drivers.. got the other 3 bone dry..??

Charlie

Aircon cant be the issue....no aircon
and yes other 3 parts of the floor bone dry

varesecrazy said:

Scudmonkey

if the coolant level is constant, then that's NOT your issue.

I would be looking at a thermostat swap - as the heating issue,

footwell,
you say drivers.. got the other 3 bone dry..??

Charlie

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Didn't think of Thermostat and should have. Ran the car at idle today for a while with heating off, temp gauge went to normal position (halfway) and stayed there, when it went fractionally over Radiator cooling fan cut in exactly where it always has so i think it's safe to say overheating isn't going to be an issue.
Turned interior heater on and Gauge promptly dropped to just over quarter mark, before climbing back to a point halfway between quarter and half mark on gauge.
So i guess the Thermostat may be sticking a little, although previous experience with Thermostats has usually been normal engine temp gauge and cold air from interior heater and this one aint doing that LOL.
Still havent figured out where the water in the drivers footwell has come from, coolant level hasn't changed, i guess it's just coincidence that it happened same time temp gauge was going screwy.

Just replaced Thermostat...
so far things seem to be back to normal with the Gauge, goes to halfway and stay there even with heater on full blat.....
Only issue i had was bleeding the Cooling system....what a real PITA

Scudmonkey said:

Just replaced Thermostat...
so far things seem to be back to normal with the Gauge, goes to halfway and stay there even with heater on full blat.....
Only issue i had was bleeding the Cooling system....what a real PITA

Click to expand...

all that could have been avoided if you simply acquired coolant bleeding techniques brochure for only 3,99 squid


buy now, stocks are fading fast

flisko said:

all that could have been avoided if you simply acquired coolant bleeding techniques brochure for only 3,99 squid

Click to expand...

I actually read the procedure on this forum
It's still a PITA to do though, on the plus side ....not only do i get hot air from the heater, it feels a lot hotter than it was in fact with heater on full Car ended up like a sauna inside and Temp Gauge is now at Halfway and not dropping
One other little issue replacing Thermostat well more of a niggle really....the Jubilee clip!...every single Jubilee clip on the car was standard screw type.....except for the one on the Thermostat housing, Sod's law as that's the part i was playing with.
In Missus Corsa and quick trip to Halfords, new jubilee clip and all sorted.
Just waiting for everything to cool right down now ready to check coolant level and top up

maybe it was still on original thermostat

could well be, car had only done 49k when i got it. Temp Gauge has always gone to halfway in whole time i've had the car no matter what the weather was. Only this last week or so it started dropping with heater on. Checked levels after everything had cooled down, only dropped a small amount so quick top up, ran everything back up to temp again.
All as it should be, Gauge not dropping, heater blowing nice and hot, Coolant level where it should be.
Problem solved
Incidentally i checked online before hand..Halfrauds Thermostat is approx £18 quid and couldnt have got it before next Thursday....place near me called Fastparts...£13 and in stock.
Round trip to store to get said item, back and fitted..less than an hour total...

I go with change thermostat but would urge you to also change the metal pipe from the rear of the water pump which branches to the radiator and main hoses. The original is made by www.birth.it but I found mine on ebay for about £18 including 'O' ring and delivery. This is very prone to corrosion, like the sump and develops pin holes - they wear out from the inside out. I just sorted the entire enine coolant circuit with new rad (ebay) £29 and 'waterless coolant' expensive but the closest to a guarantee of no further overheating possible. It doesn't pressurise to doesn't stress anything.

Southsea said:

I go with change thermostat but would urge you to also change the metal pipe from the rear of the water pump which branches to the radiator and main hoses. The original is made by www.birth.it but I found mine on ebay for about £18 including 'O' ring and delivery. This is very prone to corrosion, like the sump and develops pin holes - they wear out from the inside out. I just sorted the entire enine coolant circuit with new rad (ebay) £29 and 'waterless coolant' expensive but the closest to a guarantee of no further overheating possible. It doesn't pressurise to doesn't stress anything.

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Thermo change sorted the temp gauge issue no prob. Been keeping a constant check on coolant level since (always a good idea when you've disturbed anything on cooling system)...Coolant staying at same level so job sorted.
Believe it or not i learnt about that pipe from the Missus's Corsa 1.4 Diesel...it's an almost Fiat...1.4 Diesel engine in the corsa is a fiat engine, if not made by them it's certainly designed by Fiat, and it has that metal pipe on it...and yes it went,
Only thing i got to do now is find out where i'm getting water into drivers foot well. Not been able to find where it's coming from yet despite searching when it's been pissing it down. Guess it will have to be wait for a dry day and get the hosepipe out so i can control where exactly water goes onto the car in order to track the leak down.

When did you last poke out the rubber drain pipes in the wiper scuttle ?

Brendan W said:

When did you last poke out the rubber drain pipes in the wiper scuttle ?

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last weekend, i check them every weekend

Scudmonkey said:

last weekend, i check them every weekend

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Impressed.
You park under trees right, Sycamore and Ash ?
Have you had a look at where the steering column goes through the bulkhead ?

Extreme downpours has been a striking feature of our weather in recent years and seems likely a phenomenon that is here to stay. Do you park your car outdoors by necessity (as I do) and perhaps on a slope, steep drive? Do you have air conditioning? If so, you may find that this is (water in the footwell) directly linked to the deluge. In most cars there is a drainage system that collects water in the scuttle below the front screen and has drains that pass direct through the engine bay to vent water onto the road. At some point these drain ways have narrow constrictions. Even small debris can severely restrict flow rate, in this situation the water level in the scuttle over-tops the freash-air vent to the footwells/air con system.

The only occasion in ten years I have owned a Volvo and had water in the car interior , this is what happened. There were no leeks, so nothing to find. It happened one time only. The car was parked downhill on a steeply sloping garage drive. So cleaning outthese drainage channels should be the first step.