Technical 1970 Fiat 850 Sport Spider overheating

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Technical 1970 Fiat 850 Sport Spider overheating

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I have a 1970 Fiat Spider 850 Sport, keeps putting fluid from the radiator into the coolant bottle when it gets hot. Has reached temp of 220F when doing 60 mph.. I can maintain speed of 45 mph and it doesn't get hot. Stays 190F .....We removed the thermostat and it still does this. Can anyone tell me why! Car has less than 10,000 miles and has been garaged for all of it's life. Please help! :confused:
 
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Could be any number of things especially if the car has never done very much.
Have you flushed and drained the coolant completely from the car?
Have you flushed out the heater matrix?
Removed and flushed through the radiator?
Any odd noises coming from the waterpump? (could be impeller trouble).
Is there a radiator shroud of any kind that can be moved?

You maybe have done it, but a complete strip down and clean out of the coolant system (including 'reverse' flushing of the engine itself) might solve the problem.
Worst case scenario is too horrible to think about, but it's possible that the block coolant galleries are corroded so give it a go and see how you get on. These methods have cleared up more than one problem on my old cars and is time well spent.
 
The 850's are notorious for running hot. There are a couple of additional items that you need to check: 1) Is the engine under carriage piece in place and does it fit snuggly around the oil pan? If this piece is missing then replacing it will likely fix your problem. 2) Is the timing on the motor set properly? (IE) Too little advance causes the engine to run hotter.

Another option is to have your radiator re-cored. Bob at Shade Tree Enginetrics (just north of Dallas) has done two of them for me, and they make a big difference in how hot the engine runs. This is a more expensive route, but it is worth it considering how much it costs to rebuild an engine.

Give these things a check and let me know how you come out,
 
I have a 1970 Fiat Spider 850 Sport, keeps putting fluid from the radiator into the coolant bottle when it gets hot. Has reached temp of 220F when doing 60 mph.. I can maintain speed of 45 mph and it doesn't get hot. Stays 190F .....We removed the thermostat and it still does this. Can anyone tell me why! Car has less than 10,000 miles and has been garaged for all of it's life. Please help! :confused:

Have you looked at the water pump? I had a bad pump that was not moving enough volume of water and never circulated water all the way to the back of the block and the car would over heat very quickly. Went from cold to boiling in five minutes.

Let me know if this helped.

Alex
 
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