Hot 'cento

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Hot 'cento

Spliglet52

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Hi all,

After some advice... We bought a seicento a couple of weekends ago and it suddenly got hot today. Oil is clean, water is clean. The fan doesnt blow hot either. Could the two be connected? Would it be a water pump problem or similar?

Thanks in advance,

J
 
Hi all,

After some advice... We bought a seicento a couple of weekends ago and it suddenly got hot today. Oil is clean, water is clean. The fan doesnt blow hot either. Could the two be connected? Would it be a water pump problem or similar?

Thanks in advance,

J
Much more info needed about exactly under what conditions it happened but could be as simple as radiator fan not cutting in? As you say the water is "clean" I assume there's also plenty of it? "Fan doesn't blow hot"? can I assume you mean the heater fan inside the car and not the rad fan? If so it's indicative of an air lock in the heater circuit (which can be bled at the bleeder screw in the pipe going to the heater matrix) but could also point to a blockage, likely in the matrix itself. All guesses though without more info or seeing the car.

Not good though. As is well known the head gaskets don't like the heat! still, unless you really cook it silly, at least the head gasket is an easy one to do!
 
Thanks for your help. It happened driving down the road. The fan was running, yes. There was plenty of water and the oil is not creamy, so I'm hopeful we will have no head gasket challenges. The header matrix does not get hot. How do I bleed that? I see there is a bleed screw under the windscreen, do I just open that until water comes out?

My brother took the thermostat out at the weekend and we are fitting a temperature gauge this week so we can monitor it.

I notice also that my thread shouldn't be here, it should be in the cento section. How do I move it?

New to all this... Now about to search for a Haynes manual!

Thanks!

J
 
Thanks for your help. It happened driving down the road. The fan was running, yes. There was plenty of water and the oil is not creamy, so I'm hopeful we will have no head gasket challenges. The header matrix does not get hot. How do I bleed that? I see there is a bleed screw under the windscreen, do I just open that until water comes out?

My brother took the thermostat out at the weekend and we are fitting a temperature gauge this week so we can monitor it.

I notice also that my thread shouldn't be here, it should be in the cento section. How do I move it?

New to all this... Now about to search for a Haynes manual!

Thanks!

J
I'm actually more familiar with Pandas and Puntos which I think are very similar to yours. So, when the engine is cold the thermostat should be closed and will stop water circulating through the radiator but not the heater matrix. Therefore if you run the engine and open that bleed screw on the heater hose you should find any air trapped in the heater system will be chased out past the screw as bubbles and, as the engine warms up, the hose will get hot long before the radiator hoses. (Assuming the heater matrix is not blocked of course!) You may need to top up the header tank as you go. If you take the cap off when the engine is cold you can do this but don't take the cap off a fully hot system as it might explode in your face and burn you badly!

I see you say your brother has taken the thermostat out? On the Punto/Panda (8 valve engines) the thermostat is an integral part of the housing so you can't really do that without getting "violent". Anyway, if you do manage to do it then be aware that the engine management will be optimised to run at "hot" temperatures (around 90/95 °C) so fuel mixture etc will be incorrect and may cause an MOT/road side emissions check failure and you'll waste fuel if you run without a thermostat.

You say you're "new to all this" do you mean the Forum or working on your car? If the former then welcome and I'm sure we'll all help when we can. If the latter then welcome to the world of permanently grubby fingernails! I hope you enjoy the experience but do think long and hard before "diving in" and take care. Cars can seriously damage your health!

All the best and keep us informed about how it's going
Jock.
 
Hi,

The thermostat came out of the housing easily, so the idea was to remove it and see if still boils over. If it does then it wasn't that! I've had alfas that didn;t get hot before and it was always that. If it fixes it then I'll get a new one. I drove it for 40 minutes this morning and it didn't boil over so I'm hopeful!

I've read on the guide to fitting your own temperature gauge just bought the kit and going to give it a go.

I've had a go at bleeding the heater matrix and a little air came out but not a lot so we'll see how it goes. I only did it when cold don't worry!

I'm new to fiddling with cars, I've always used garages or my dad, but this thing is pretty straight forward. Its a shame they didn;t make a Haynes Manual for it.

Thanks for your help!

J
 
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