Bit of head scratcher, Taking granddaughter home yesterday afternoon,
gone about 10 or miles temp warning gauge came on , stopped asap on lidl car park. water in tank (only a bit) boiling like a badun. left it to cool a bit then topped up with buxton spring water (Lidils finest)
got to destination (about another 8 miles) no prob.
Got RAC out to check it, chap had good look over, said he suspected heater matrix partially or fully blocked. plus fan was not kicking in at all.
he did the bridge thing and it worked. he followed us back home (20 or miles.)car ran fine (fan was bridged and on all time).
RAC cahp suggested running hose pipe or pressure washer through matrix to see if it cleared, (is this wise)
Plus he said he suspected a sensor onthe bottom of the rad could be stopping the fan from kicking in ,cant find ref to this Anywhere (haynes - or up here.
I have trawled all through this site and have gathered loads of info
but could with a logical elimination system to try .
plus interior heater only blowing cold.
mrs stressed me gettin greif,

Sorry forgot to say its a Cinquecento sx 899 ohv

It sounds like you might have an airlock somewhere, look in the guides/FAQ's on how to bleed your system. It really is easy to do.

Thanks

Right , only bleed screw is next (in front of) headlight/expansion tank.
removed screw and filled tank, water runs freely. with cap off.
start engine it froths and splutters from bleed pipe .
squeeze hoses to and from radiator it gushes then stops coming out then sputters again. ??

I had to buy a heater matrix for my wife's cing 899 and the cheapest place was Serck Marston (£20 ish).

Fitting it was fairly easy.

Funny this.

I,m about to drain my entire cooling system on my Sei.

I would put in one of the over the counter coolant flush fluids and run the car for a while.
If you need to bridge the terminals on the fan I,d do that.

Then drain the lot out and flush it thru with clean water.
Hopefully,you are able to get a hose to your car.
I,m going to have to go to a mates to do this.

you,ll need about 4.5 litres of coolant (I always go 50/50 distilled water/anti freeze).

Try and disconnect the heater pipes from the engine bay side and let water clean it out.
I would,nt use a power washer.
Leave it for a good 10 mins to flush out any crud.
With the hose directly to the heater matrix.
Reconnect pipes.

Then once everything is connected you can replace the thermal switch,which if memory serves,is between the upper and lower hose on the radiator.

Then fill with coolant with the bleed open.
once you get some coolant in,start the car and run it up to temperature.

Once coolant comes out of the bleed you can just close that and top up the header tank to the correct level.

I think I,ve covered everything.
Also,have a look at the oil.
Just check to see if oil is mixing with water.
Just confirm you have,nt got a head gasket on the way out.

When you run you car up make sure the heater is on full hot to get the coolant round the heater matrix.

I think thats about it.

RALPH

CHEERS MATE, there is a bit of mayo in cap but non on dipstick (have read up here that can be normal as dont do lot of miles).

Good luck with it but try and confirm location of ALL bleeds.

Other than that its no to complicated.

Just keep checking the hoses are all getting hot as you run the car up to avoid any more air locks.

RALPH

Really appreciate ya help .
Definately only 1 bleed and its infront of expansion tank.
will give it a go when i get thermal switch.

Are you sure there isn't a bleed screw on the bulkhead carpet?

Water pumps are external on the 899, and can loose pressure at low engine speeds.

When was the coolant last changed?

What coolant did you use?

Cheers

SPD

Def no bleed screw on bulkhead.
coolant changed about 16 months back. no idea what was put in.
had core plug go.
checked and topped up regularly since with tesco,s finest.

Core plug suggests cheap coolant without inhibitors.

Pop the rad off and flush, see what comes out.

When bleeding, stick the front of the car on the kerb.

Cheers

SPD

Test the thermostat !

remove it and drop it into some hot water

Right.
Put new rad fan switch on.
bled it as best I could.
all pipes now now getting hot (which they wernt before) but top heater matrix pipe sometimes luke warm - or warm-or hot this pipe is warmer where it passes expansion tank ,same with heat in car, goes from cold to hot to cold.
have looked on the web site
smoke for a few minutes on start up which then goes away. is ok yes ?.never noticed it before but then I dont drive it that much plus you dont really look behind for that normally do you.
just took it for a short run no smoke- and when I stopped to check it no smoke, just on start up.
oh and replaced expansion tank filler cap.
Starts fine runs fine but water level in tank dropping after run wheres it going ?.? also not heard fan running.
close to despair. help!!

The heater suddenly blowing cold is a sure sign of an overheat or serious loss of coolant (the matrix is the highest point in the system so fills with air)

Check the thermostat as this could cause the radiator to stay cool enough for the fan to not cut in.

Pressure test the cooling system and/or compression test.

Cheers

SPD