Hi All

I am hoping someone help with advice with my problem would be appreciated

Thanks

Shuggy

When the car is hot, stop the engine and open the bonnet.

Look for the two hoses / pipes that go through the back of the engine compartment into the car. Are the both hot?

If they are then the most likely cause is that one of the control motors / flaps in the heater unit had failed or stuck closed.

If you have climate control is it both side of the car that are cold?

I had exactly the same issue when I first got mine - someone here told me my thermostat was dead, and they were dead right.

If your thermostat is working, then from when you start the engine the temperature should rise steadily, and in 10 minutes the needle should be vertical (90 degrees I think). It should then stay there, however you drive.

If yours is like mine was, then the needle hardly ever rises above nothing, except if you're driving it hard at fairly low speed (less wind chill), when it gets a bit warmer. This is because the thermostat is flat-out cooling the engine constantly.

It's a fair job to do, but DIYable. You need to drain the radiator to do it, and need lots of jubilee clips to replace the crimp-on factory fitted ones.

You'll also find the engine sounds nicer once it gets hot - the rattly noise goes away, and you'll also get better MPG. And the heater will work.

Weather permitting I'll be having a bash at mine tomorrow. It looks quite awkward to get to and the battery will have to come out for me to have any chance of getting access to the bolts.

Weather and being able to find a suitable quantity and variety of jubilee clips permitting that is. Sometimes I really would like to meet the people responsible for some of the things in the engine bay....

Halfords do singles and a multipack for 7.99#

Larger ones would work but have a big tongue showing

Ziggy

Yes both sides are cold

My money is on the thermostat :thumbup:

The gauge goes to the middle as norm at start but when accelerating it goes up the red warning comes when slow down then down a gear it goes back to the middle I am baffled ?

I appreciate all the replies will help to get it sorted I hope my third Fiat never had this before oh well thanks for all the advice


Shuggy

Possibly a problem with the water pump?

Ziggy122 said:

Larger ones would work but have a big tongue showing

Click to expand...

Possibly not - there is a curvature to the underside of the screw bit that's roughly the size of pipe it's designed for. If you're a long way from its intended size then it will either be too curved or too flat and may not seal.

Having said that, and to contradict myself, I got one smallish size and used them for all mine. For one bigger one I used two end-to-end and it sealed fine. The rubber has a certain amount of "squidge" to cope with the wrong curvature - to a degree.

I used one box of ten. Can't remember the size. Screwfix, Toolstation or a plumber's supplier may be cheaper than a car parts shop. Unless it's Plumb Center, in which case they're a rip-off for everything.

shuggy4400 said:

The gauge goes to the middle as norm at start but when accelerating it goes up the red warning comes when slow down then down a gear it goes back to the middle I am baffled ?

I appreciate all the replies will help to get it sorted I hope my third Fiat never had this before oh well thanks for all the advice


Shuggy

Click to expand...

Your thermostat is most likely stuck on CLOSED position if your temp goes that high and your heater is cold. Mine was stuck on open when I bought the car and it wasn't the only one, so they do fail. You should check and fix the problem right away if you don't want to damage your engine.

Back in the olden days I believe changing a thermostat was little more complicated than changing a lightbulb.

I did change my own on the Croma, but it's a stupid job. The thermostat "assembly" you have to buy looks like an octopus with all its legs chopped off. Your job is to surgically attach all its legs (of various types and sizes) using jubilee clips.

Drain the coolant before, and refill after and bleed out the air. The bleeding (or bleedin') procedure is in detail in eLearn. Basically you run it until it's hot and top up a few times.