Ok! I drive a 2001 Brava 1.2 SX 80Hp 16V. I live in Cairo, Egypt. Normal temperature in summer time is 42 to 46 degree Celsius. Add that to Cairo's crazy traffic. However, the car had never ever heated before! It will celebrate its 9th anniversary next December and it covered 110,000Km.

Recently, the car started to overheat past mid-point. As soon as it did that, the fan would kick in at second speed to bring it down to normal. I flushed the radiator, put in new coolant, and bled it but the car still heated up. After a while it started to heat excessively.:bang: The only way to cool it down would be to turn on the AC (cold) or drive really fast. I figured that something was wrong with the fan.

The following day I had to travel to a near by city (100km away of Cairo) and the car drove just fine. However, on the way back, the entrance to Cairo was jammed. My girlfriend was cold and she asked me to turn off the AC. In a fraction of a second, the car heated all the way up to H and white steam came out of the passenger's side (where the coolant reservoir is so I'm guess that was just boiling coolant) of the hood.

I pulled over immediately and left it to cool down. I didn't try to open the cap of the reservoir or anything; I just waited for 30 minutes until it cooled down. I started the engine, turned on the AC, drove my girlfriend to her house, and parked the car for a couple of hours. It was late into the night and relatively cold when I came down to the car. I checked it before driving back home: it was completely cold, there was a slight coolant loss, nothing wrong with the oil (no mayo), and AC was blowing Hot. Topped the coolant, started the engine, waited until it warmed up to mid-point and checked the exhaust: no white smoke! Drove it back home and took it to FIAT authorized dealer in Egypt (Omatra) the next morning.

The people at Omatra claimed to have carried out both a coolant compression test and a leak test on the cylinders. 20 minutes later they asked for 6,000 L.E. (about 600 pounds) for a new head gasket! I was like "No! Thank you! Give me back my car!":nono:

I checked out the car and headed off to my spare part dealer.:idea:

I got a new reservoir cap, a new coolant sensor, new fan relays, new fan resistance/diode and a new thermostat. The problem was with the reservoir cap, the fan resistance and the fan relays. However, I changed the thermostat and the coolant sensor just to be sure. Then I flushed the radiator again, put in new coolant and there you go; the car ran perfectly! I took it into the longest tunnel we have here in Cairo. It is poorly maintained and therefore the ambient temperature inside is not less than 30 degree Celsius at this time of the year. There was also heavy traffic. The car never heated and I didn't have the AC on!

Now the way I see it, and after calling FIAT to ask them what the hell they are on, there is nothing wrong with my head gasket. They said they perform both tests with the reservoir cap on and if the old one wasn't holding pressure then I'm guessing that's why the found a leak?!!

So to summarize my story:

1. There is NO mayo on the inside of the oil cap, or the measuring rod.
2. There is NO coolant loss.
3. There is NO white smoke coming out of the exhaust.
4. AC blows both warm and cold just fine.
5. The flushed coolant was 100% clean; no oil, no rust, no residues of any kind both times.
6. The car never heats now and it's driving just fine as it used to.

Now the tough question is: Do you guys think I blew my head gasket? Or that it is in its early phases of going “bye bye”?! I think Omatra was just after my money!:devil:

Another problem is that after washing it today, I hear a strange sound; it sounds like water running free somewhere in the car! It's not the running water sound on startup, no; this one is more like holding a bottle of water or a plastic box filled with water and shaking it. It sounds more like water trapped in a container. I bled the car perfectly so I know there is no air trapped inside any of the pipes, heater matrix or the radiator. Do you guys have any idea where to look? The sound is clearly heard if I start driving on first gear and build up some speed quickly then stop suddenly. I checked the trunk, floor carpet, ceiling, etc… All seems in order and nothing is wet anywhere.

Can it be the fuel splashing inside the tank? The sound does come from behind! If so then it's about time to sell my Brava because it is making me both crazy and paranoid!:bang:

Cheers! And thanks in advance for any input!

Could be your sunroof channels, if you have one, I hear that some times after washing my car as water moves around inside the roof and clears down the channels.
If your car runs fine, shows no sign of any engine problem then don't worry, mine blew a head gasket in 2007 and had water pouring out of the exhaust, so I know what that is about, spent around £600 on it having head skimmed and presure tested and then put together again, and after that I was paranoid for a while about sounds, the coil went on it last December and it started me off again, Oh head gasket!!!!! as it showed close to the same syptoms, but it was just a coil, enjoy it, mine has now done 125,000 miles and still going like a train, don't look for fault, it WILL find you eventually!:yum:

also possible a drain hole is blocked, water could be in inner front wings or even doors.