Can anyone help please?
I've got a 2000 Seicento 1.1 and it's overheating. I checked the fan and it was sticking, so I had it off the car and found the motor was totally rusted. Straight in the bin and new one fitted. Thought that would be the end of the drama.
But no, came to use the car about three hours later and the battery is absolutely dead. Seeing as there's only one connector to the fan (with two pins of course) I couldn't fathom how I could have indices an earth leakage. Decided to back out of the situation by disconnecting the fan electrically (but leaving in place) and everything is back to as it was i.e. no fan assisted cooling and overheating.
Any ideas?
Have bought a replacement coolant switch but a quick look at the installed electrical properties and there appears to be nothing wrong with the current one. So started focusing on the 'coolant temperature sender' - at least that's what I think it's called as I have no manual or electrical circuit to go on. Turns out these are about £88 from a Fiat dealer which I regards as a bit steep. The only problem is, the diagram they have sent me indicates a unit with two terminals. Mine only has one electrical connection (and a screwed fitting of course). Going back to on elf my problems I can't get a Haynes manual for anything other than a Cinqcento and the electrics seems different on this car, as it's got a temperature indicator on the dash (mind doesn't).
Any pointers anyone?

Re: overheating

Fuse?

D

Re: overheating

OK sat and thought about your reply in case there was some deep and hidden meaning. Came to the conclusion there wasn't.

Ok explain to me how a blown fuse can cause the battery to discharge inside of three hours?

I'll repeat again what happened. Connected new fan - battery drains to zero. Disconnected fan - battery ok i.e. holds charge, car runs ok. I think there's more to it than a fuse that magically restores itself.

My guess, and as I mentioned I'm not familiar with the circuit, is one of the components (probably the sender unit) is shorting to earth. Aside from the fan, the cooling switch and the cooling temperature sender, is there anything else in the circuit?

Re: overheating

Ok, maybe a bit of a short reply.

Your fan was seized, what was the state of the fuse? If the fan tried to start it should have blown the fuse. If the fuse was intact yet the fan seized and the car overheated, one must assume that the wiring somewhere is damaged.

It is a very simple system on the SPi (yours is about the change, is it SPi).

Cheers

D

Re: overheating

I have a brand new radiator in the classifieds.

I bought it for my overheating Seicento but it was the water pump that was knackered.

Re: overheating

Remove the fan fuse and do a resistance check on the fan circuit wiring to chassis. Could be melted insulation on wires?
You can also try a multimeter on 10Amp current range between the battery positive and +v connector. Should show what current is being drawn.

Re: overheating

DocHoliday said:

...started focusing on the 'coolant temperature sender'....Turns out these are about £88 from a Fiat dealer which I regards as a bit steep.... the diagram they have sent me indicates a unit with two terminals. Mine only has one electrical connection (and a screwed fitting of course). ...

Click to expand...

For future reference: when you need new parts click on the ePER link at the top of the page, enter your car details & it will show what parts (& part numbers) your car requires.
I think the sender you're after is 46520384 -but double check it on ePER yourself!!!, took 2 minutes to found one on eBay at £12.53.

Re: overheating

RallyCinq and cc1, thanks for your response. I will follow this up at the weekend.

Ouby, I did at least speak to Fiat and establish which sender should be on my car, having supplied them with the chassis and engine number. The part no. is actually 46477022 and according to them £86.15 (or about £15 on eBay, although that seller advertised his part 'all rigts reserved' so not really sure about it's pedigree, me thinks)

The rub of it is, both the sensors above at two pin. The one fitted to my engine only has one pin? Maybe the previous owner fitted the wrong one, and might be one explanation why it's not working. But again I'm back to my original question, which is what is the correct wiring and part list? Without a diagram I'm flying blind. However I do like the electrical continuity checks mentioned by RallyCinq and cc1 which I think I'll do before splashing any cash. If it comes down to melted insulation I'll owe you guys one.

Re: overheating

I'm not sure which sensor you might have needed -it's not my car.... but i trust ePER more than any other source for part numbers so it's handy to bear in mind if you do need to replace something in the future. Part number listings from other sources can be extremely dodgy (esp on eBay.... fits ALL cars from 1998-2010 my foot!).
There's no Haynes for the Sei but wiring diags are available in the Downloads section, or you can buy a workshop manual CD off eBay for a few quid.
For now i'd follow cc1 & rallycinq's advice on how to find the source of the problem.

There are two temperature senders. One for the 'too late' light, one for the management, again assuming SPI.

Is your car SPi?

Cheers

D

Emmision not tested (engine overheating)

Hi All,

Ive had my 2003 Fiat Seicento 1.1 sporting for over 5 years now & its been a great car, last year it failed on a tyre & they also said that it was overheating & they couldnt do the emmisions, i replaced the tyre & could not understand why they where saying that it was overheating, well anyway i bought a new thermastat & flushed the system & filled up with fresh antifreeze, it passed the re-test, i took again to the same place that i have been going too for many years & this time the headlight was out & also the same overheating problem with the emmisions, the car has never overheated since i have had it, it doesn't loose any coolant, the fan comes on & goes off, the heating works fine & when i leave it ticking over for 30 mins it doesn't boil over, the guy at the MOT centre said that the fan was probably not coming or had steam coming out etc, im not a car mechanic but i know when a car is overheating & if it was i would cewrtainly know, i would appreciate it if someone could shine some light on this matter....

Thanks In advance

Baz

Re: Emmision not tested (engine overheating)

Bazerino100 There is a good chance your car is actually failing on emissions and he is giving you an out option with a pass by saying it was overheating Rather than the headache of a doing a retest.