whats normal for Stilo JTD's? Mines goes up to half way, and sometimes drops to above 1/4 if im driving steady. Im used to cars reaching running temp, and staying there, is it normal for the temp gauge to go up/down?

Mine aways went to pointing straight up and never moved anywhere.

Wouldnt unduely worry just keep eye on water and oil for first couple of weeks.

You should be fine

cheers. I had a quick look, and it looks like it has had a fairly recent coolant change, so ill just keep an eye on it as you say

sounds like your thermostat is stuck open. it should open when it reaches half on the dial and slowely close if it starts to drop so it never moves.

if its dropping when your driving the thermostat isnt closing again and if it drops far enough may knock the choke back on and waste wayyy more fuel..

also its going to be using alot more fuel to warm it up as if its stuck open then its going to be flowing through the radiator even when cold so it will take alot longer to warm up, so more time on choke.

it wont do any damage aslong as you dont nail it when its dropped down but id put most my money on needing a new thermostat (although u MAY get away with cleaning your old one)

oh, and be ready. there quite expensive. for what they are!

Yeah I'd put my money on a stuck thermostat. Here's one from Polishland

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-BRAV...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item33733598dc

clock34 said:

if its dropping when your driving the thermostat isnt closing again and if it drops far enough may knock the choke back on and waste wayyy more fuel..

also its going to be using alot more fuel to warm it up as if its stuck open then its going to be flowing through the radiator even when cold so it will take alot longer to warm up, so more time on choke.

Click to expand...

choke?? on a diesel.....
if your car is dropping around to 1/4 and staying between that and 1/2 way i wouldn't bother too much, as long as you have enough heat in the winter it will be fine.
i wouldn't worry, put the heater on full to see if its hot enough for the winter months if not then look at getting the thermostat done, but if its ok then live with it.
side note, my car drops down to about the same region when cruising about 50-60mph, or 2k engine revs, if i put it up to 70mph the temp goes back to 1/2 way - the car has always done that and i still get around 57 mpgs on the run when the temp is lower...

never owned a diesel personally. but surley they put more diesel in when cold?

The injector spray is different on start up than normal running, may be possible if it drops low enough the ecu would put it in cold start mode and put the injectors in over-run? But Roy seems to get by no bother

na, unlike petrols that use extra fuel to over come cold oil and up the revs until the cylinders are warmer - diesels pre heat the fuel and has far more bang than petrol, when you start a diesel the engine revs remain the same from cold to full running temp. the pre heating of the fuel is taken over by the temp in the cylinder head, also with the stilo the glow plugs stay on given that little bit more heat to the fuel given it the optimal bang.
i think the only real difference is the turbos are not brought into full power for a few mins after start.

in that case.

we have the problem. the thermostat

but the solution is up to you. as it seems you will be fine running like that


thanks for the info guys!

Mine takes a while (like 5-10 miles at 50mph) to get to half way from cold, and then if i slow down just after it's reached half way it'll drop back towards a quarter, particularly in the colder months but it still drops a little bit from half at this time of year. The higher the heater temp or fan speed the more quickly it drops.

If you've been on a long motorway run & you slow down/idle it'll probably not drop from half for a lonnnnng time as it's thoroughly warmed-up. Mine usually stays dead on half for about 10 mins in winter if i've done a long fast run & in the warmer months i've never seen it drop after a long run.

It's been like this since i got it nearly 4 years ago & my previous Punto JTD was more or less the same for the 4.5 years i owned that. Unless anything else arises that could be linked to the cooling system, i'd leave it well alone as it's probably quite happy just being a quirky little Fiat :slayer:

blimey....that IS expensive for a thermostat!! is it at least easy to get to?

it'll have to be something i keep an eye on for now, as I want to check/fix the brakes first job.

PITA to fit imo.

Mine was fixed on halfway for the first six months or so I owned it, then it started dropping. It fluctuates between quarter and halfway, depending on outside temperature, speed etc. Never goes over halfway, so no risk of overheating, and there was no noticeable change in fuel consumption after it started happening. So it's a stuck open thermostat - it's irritating/worrying for the first few weeks, they you forget about it. I guess the only issue is that there might not be brilliant heat in the winter, but I was fine all last year, so I think this is a "quirk" to be filed under "nice to fix, but not worth the effort".

interesting points. i want to do mine now. I did think the heater was a bit dull!

where is the thermostat? i havent looked yet...is it under the black cover? if so, im buggered right now as I dont have the correct tool yet...

Nope, its sitting up boldly, on top at the right hand side of the engine bay. See the pic in the ebay item earlier in this thread, you can't miss it. Let us know how you get on and how easy it is to change!
If your heater is dull, remove the pollen filter for improved air flow. The air filter provides enough resistance to deflect some of the incoming cold air before it gets heated, resulting an a could draught in the footwell.

ah yes I just went out and looked harder, I can see it. At least its accessible, so ill give that a go in the next few weeks. I can see now why its expensive what with all the sensor attachments etc...

its only got the temp sensor attached iirco. but does pipe the hot water from the block to everywhere it needed.

its a bit** to do but you should never need to do it ever again

How much do you reckon a mechanic would charge to do it, and are there any specific things you need to know or tools required?

it cant be that hard, surely? its right there, i can see the bolts, pipes etc, i cant see any restrictions. I reckon a garage would charge an hours labour tops. I admit, on other cars i have changed thermostats on, it really is easy. unplug pipes, undo bolts, remove thermostat housing, then remove thermostat. refit gasket and refit thermostat to house and fix back in place, fit pipes, top up coolant etc etc....

should be an interesting project if nothing else!!