Never had a temperature problem with my Bravo until today. Got caught in traffic and I noticed that my temp was just above normal (half way) few minutes later its right up to red, then back down but still hotter than normal. So the symptoms are: temp is ok until just above normal then the needle goes crazy, its all over the place, I watched it and it jumps a dot in a split second then down again then shoots back upto the red! I cant work it out, speed doesnt really help either, and fan normally comes on at half way, it still does this to a point but it seems to stay off until its in the red!
Looked at the coolant and its fine, bleed the system until all screws are leaking coolant. Hasnt helped at all, sat on drive and all was fine until it hit normal temp, then the needle shoots all over the place, but seams to like the red the most.
Any ideas? Thanks

Have you bled/replace the cooling system recently? Did you have the heaters on and engine on at time of renewal?

What happens when your at the point of the dials jumping high and then you switch your internal heating max and fan speed 4?

Nope havent touched it. It got a serviced in September but it was all peachy. Not sure if the heaters were on when he changed it but I bled it with the engine running and heaters on max.
Im not sure to be honest havent tested to the red point yet with heaters on, what should happen?
Only things changed latly are new gsr induction kit, re-map and engine flushed.

the erratic gauge behaviour is due to the fact that the gauge holds at half way for a range of temperatues, and then has greatly increased sensitivity after that. the gauge does not operate in a linear fashion compared to temperature. cars that have gauges that do (like my 156) tend to cause alarm with owners because the gauge is constantly moving all over the place.

why did it overheat? at this time of year you suddently notice a faulty rad fan, its a common fault usually caused by a rusty relay on the front of the battery tray. i'd check that first. did you hear your fan working?

Thanks jug yeah I heard it come on but it had no patern to when it came on, sometimes at halfway sometimes at hot.
Just had a drive at it sat at halfway all the time, so when I got home sat on the drive for a bit and it twiched its way to one dot under red, fan didnt come on at all this time. I turned engine off and immediately back on and gauge was at half way agen. Im confussled?!

Sounds like it could also be a faulty gauge next time it does that give the dash a bang and see if the needle returns to its normal position it is a fairly common problem on the bravo's

yeah defo try the fist banging solution, its a common problem.

:yeahthat: And if you get bored of punching it try the solution of cleaning the connections. Try the link: http://www.bravo-guide.co.uk/photogal/guidepics/jumpingtempdial_2.pdf

Thanks for the link BRAVARulez but I dont think that the dial connection is at fault as it doesnt move when I hit the dash! Im really out of ideas on this one, was in traffic again today and the fan now only comes on when it hits the red dot, then the temp goes down to close to normall but in no time its back up. Bled the system, coolant is ok, I just dont know what to do. When the gsr kit went in some wires my have been disturbed, Ive made sure all connections under bonnet are ok, and looked at relays but unsure what to do with them! Im out of money so Im screwed! Is there anyone near Maidenhead whos willing to have a look?

sorry mate its too far for me to drive.

Damn thats a shame, your the don at fiats! Just one other thought, I flushed the engine with engine flush and drove to london (30 miles away) with it in, this is when all my problems started, would this cause over heating?

jami said:

Damn thats a shame, your the don at fiats! Just one other thought, I flushed the engine with engine flush and drove to london (30 miles away) with it in, this is when all my problems started, would this cause over heating?

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No

bandido41 said:

No

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Haha good stuff, thanks

I would say its possible to have caused problems. It only takes 5mins with the engine running to loosen and remove grubby deposits within the engine. You could of easily blocked something up.

OR

Are you talking coolant/radiator flush?

jami said:

Damn thats a shame, your the don at fiats! Just one other thought, I flushed the engine with engine flush and drove to london (30 miles away) with it in, this is when all my problems started, would this cause over heating?

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you drove with engine flush in! holy $hit thats really really bad, so bad i would sell it before it dies. the engine flush greatly reduces the viscosity of the oil, leading to a big loss of oil presure, leading to circulation problems and bearing damage and overheating. that is why it says you must not drive on the side of the can/bottle.

A very well respected member on here told me to do it, I wont say the name as thats out of order, but every one knows him.

Come on name and shame. It wont be the first bad piece of advice given to someone on here.

Member name begins with O and ends in L

jami said:

A very well respected member on here told me to do it, I wont say the name as thats out of order, but every one knows him.

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are you sure you didnt misread one of my previous posts? i always tell people to add 2 cans of engine flush and hold it at high idle for 15mins (it works wonders) or take it for a "quick drive around the block". i've never said anyone should leave it in and go on a journey, but i guess you could have misinterpreted one of my previous posts?

if you think it was me you can say it, i dont mind.

EDIT: duh! i dont begin with O. i'll let myself out.

was your oil warning light not illuminated during the journey to tell you that you had low oil pressure?

if it wasnt then you may have avoided serious damage, although the parrafin content of engine flush is a real enemy of your engine when under load.

if you cant hear any knocking from the engine its a good sign. continued overheating isnt a good sign, but that may stop once you change the oil.

look at it this way, you'll have a bloody clean engine if it doesnt die.