General Cinq overheating

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General Cinq overheating

Michelle4873

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Hi,
I just drove my son's cinq 4 miles and it overheated.
When I opened the bonnet I can hear gurgling around the coolant reservoir area and when I listened closer I can hear air being sucked into the reservoir.

Will replacing the coolant cap help? Or does anyone have an idea if there is a bigger problem here?

The car has only come back on the road after spending 5 months in a local garage because the couldn't find a fault (turned out be be ECU and a big bill - £450 to boot)

I can't face going through sending it to a garage and having to chase every few days for progress over that length of time again and this time around he's not in school but working nights in a care home - so really needs this fixes ASAP.

Any recommendations for a garage near south wales would be hugely appreciated!

Thank you!
 
Hi there. Has the head gasket been replaced ever? Sounds a bit like that might be a possible cause of the overheating.
 
Hi,
I just drove my son's cinq 4 miles and it overheated.
When I opened the bonnet I can hear gurgling around the coolant reservoir area and when I listened closer I can hear air being sucked into the reservoir.

Will replacing the coolant cap help? Or does anyone have an idea if there is a bigger problem here?

The car has only come back on the road after spending 5 months in a local garage because the couldn't find a fault (turned out be be ECU and a big bill - £450 to boot)

I can't face going through sending it to a garage and having to chase every few days for progress over that length of time again and this time around he's not in school but working nights in a care home - so really needs this fixes ASAP.

Any recommendations for a garage near south wales would be hugely appreciated!

Thank you!

Has the coolant level been ok for weeks..and just started dropping

That commute is reasonably long distance..and high speed

So a leaky radiator.. waterpump..hose joint.. COULD dribble the coolant away unseen

IF the coolant has been holding ok until this week its possible its just the 30'c temps this week thats overstretching something that wasnt perfect 10 or more years ago.

@12 years ago we had 3 of these 1108cc FIRE engines on the drive

A Cinq Sporting
A punto 55
A Panda 5 door

I had to do the HeadGasket on them all over a few years

Leaky radiators were the main culprit.. once the coolant level drops.. the motor gets hot..and can finish off the HeadGasket :eek:

Its not a high tech job..
But will cost about 5 hours labour

So IF its the HeadGasket.. you need to weigh.up wether its worth another £500 repair

Parts were @£40 when I changed mine
New gasket and thermostat..

Tell us more :)
 
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It's a recent thing. Water level goes from between min/max to absolutely nothing now (on a 6 mile journey) so he's stopped driving it until it's sorted.

It's my son's pride and joy so I would say we'll be forking out however much it costs to get it back on the road. It's also excellent condition (apart from the recent issues ha ha)

Same has happened to my other son's mini cooper this week though so it's just an unlucky time for us. Going back to teenager's taxi duty is absoultley killing me!
 
Hi, have you had the the water pump off? If it's the plastic vaned type replace it for the metal vaned type. When you order a new one ENSURE that it is of the metal vaned type. I had same issues with one of my Pandas - well documented on here... somewhere on Panda (Classic) - tried to find it for you... can't believe how active I was on here till I was insulted by someone who I'd helped out :confused:, but there you go ...

So basically what happens is the plastic vanes eventually part company with the shaft, but it only becomes evident when the engine gets up to temperature. When cold (ie. when you take it to the garage to have your head gasket done - as I did - the mechanic will spin the pump and tell you that htere's nothing wrong with it as you can see it agitaing the coolant.
I discovered the problem by getting at it while it was still hot (just!) and I could physically turn the vanes while holding the pulley flange.
First job on the Centos was to fit metal-vaned water pumps...

Does make you wonder just how many of these terrific little cars fell prey to such a poor design!
 
Turns out its a 903cc

With rusty looking coolant.. and an orange streaky stain across the front edge of the block cylinder 3 to 4 area

Are the pump..or thermostat located around there?

YEARS since my 903 panda..1982 X reg.
I'm sure the 903 is basically the same as the 899.
So thermostat bolted on top of the head near the throttle-body (or carb)
Coolant pump a separate part mounted on the front of the engine.

So yes both could result in a stain there.
 
I had same issues with one of my Pandas - well documented on here... somewhere on Panda (Classic) - tried to find it for you...

So basically what happens is the plastic vanes eventually part company with the shaft, but it only becomes evident when the engine gets up to temperature. When cold (ie. when you take it to the garage to have your head gasket done - as I did - the mechanic will spin the pump and tell you that htere's nothing wrong with it as you can see it agitaing the coolant.
I discovered the problem by getting at it while it was still hot (just!) and I could physically turn the vanes while holding the pulley flange.
First job on the Centos was to fit metal-vaned water pumps...

Does make you wonder just how many of these terrific little cars fell prey to such a poor design![/QUOTE]

Here you go Mick :)

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/334185-panda-overheating.html?p=3326302
 
So on a five minute drive the car coolant level went down about a third.
When stopped on the drive afterwards I could see a leak dripping onto the floor directly under the water reservoir. Left the car to cool before checking the oil cap for residue and when cool the car had lost all of the coolant. Oil cap with sight white residue.
Topped her up with coolant and another 5 min drive to see if the same happens.
New cap has been fitted (and tightened for this next drive as I noticed I could give it another 1/4 turn after the last 5 min drive)
 

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(Photo taken from underneath and shows area of wet directly underneath the tank)
 
Possibly a loose hose.. or a split in the tanks plastic

You can probably unbolt the tank..and see if you can see where its dripping from

Kitchen towel will highlight where is damp quite quickly ;)

You are certainly saving a fortune on garage labour :)
 
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I had same issues with one of my Pandas - well documented on here... somewhere on Panda (Classic) - tried to find it for you...

So basically what happens is the plastic vanes eventually part company with the shaft, but it only becomes evident when the engine gets up to temperature. When cold (ie. when you take it to the garage to have your head gasket done - as I did - the mechanic will spin the pump and tell you that htere's nothing wrong with it as you can see it agitaing the coolant.
I discovered the problem by getting at it while it was still hot (just!) and I could physically turn the vanes while holding the pulley flange.
First job on the Centos was to fit metal-vaned water pumps...

Does make you wonder just how many of these terrific little cars fell prey to such a poor design!



Here you go Mick :)

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/334185-panda-overheating.html?p=3326302[/QUOTE]

The post I was referring to would be more likely back in 2009 I reckon... (y)
 
It could be a split/leaking reservoir. There's a return hose on top which is visible.. but a bigger hose underneath that feeds the system. If you take the reservoir out, then you'll be able to inspect it, and the hose.

I doubt it's the head gasket, since the coolant is escaping.. but obviously continuing to use the car without coolant/oveheating could make the gasket fail, so avoid using the car for now.

If the reservoir/hose looks okay, then check the water pump (easier to get access to it with these out of the way). If it's leaking coolant around the pump then the problem is a failing pump.

If you can't find a leak anywhere and the wet around the reservoir turns out to be "filling spillage" then have a look at the bottom of the radiator, to make sure that's bone dry. Any leakage there could be a split radiator.

While you're underneath.. have a look at the coolant pipes from the water pump, since on the 1100cc motors these are steel and can rust. 899 might have something similar.

If the car heats up immediately, and all else has failed, then the last thing to look at is the thermostat, although that would make it overheat then that would make it lose coolant... your car sounds like it's losing coolant and then overheating as a result.


Ralf S.
 
This is the thread where I finally sorted the Panda overheating issues:

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/218997-tis-season.html

...this after being advised by my local garage that head gasket had gone, and being assured by them that there was nothing wrong with the water pump.

They then suggested a cracked head, so I sourced a CLX head (no fuel pump mounting hence the fitting of an old SU electric pump [which is good when you run out of fuel as it lets you know :D])

Ah, I miss my Lucy though... I wonder if she's still out there..?

Good luck anyway - hope you get sorted.
 
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