I did the Punto Grande thermostat today and stopped halfway through to research the hose clips I discovered. But there's nothing on here so I thought I should add my findings.
The reason for doing it is the traditional Fiat problem of tired thermostat springs which allow a constant trickle of water and preventing it holding the correct temperature.
The two types of clip you will find are Visa E and Clip E made by a French company Caillau. Except the bleed hose to the Coolant reservoir also has a plastic 'Quick Fit' closer to the thermostat. This is held in place by a blue U shaped plastic clip. You lift this clip and the hose falls off BUT the clip breaks because it is brittle with age. Fortunately, you can do away with this whole plastic assembly and put the rubber hose straight on to the metal outlet once you have removed its Clip E fitting to get back to the bare hose.
Below are some pictures to help. First, the main top hose is held on by the Visa E clamp. It's a throw away item and you just need to lever off the C shaped nipple. If you can see it, the nipple is designed to slide off sideways but any levering will get it loose.
The other two hoses have the Clip E clamp. There is a tool for neatly crimping it on and off. A bit like a pair of pincers. I've never been dexterous enough to work them. So again just lever at the fixing until it's loose enough to pull away.
My work sequence was this...
1) Remove the air cleaner and push to one side.
2) Unclamp the two coil pack connectors.
3) Remove the 4 10mm nuts holding the coil in place and remove it.
4) undo the 4 Phillips screws holding the mounting plate and wriggle it sideways and upwards to enable access.
The above allows a much better view of the hoses and fixings but now the actual removal.
5) Put a plastic bag over the bell housing to stop ingress of coolant.
6) Puts a large tray under the bell housing.
7) Remove the blue C shaped clip on the vent pipe and watch as it shatters.
8) Pull off the pipe and drain water to tray below.
9) Remove the vent pipe Clip E clamp to get back to a bare hose.
10) Now tackle the Top Hose Visa E clip and eventually remove hose.
11) Remove the 2 10mm bolts to the thermostat and remove. This might need a copper mallet to persuade it off.
12) With everything loose you can now get at the rear most pipe and tackle its Clip E clamp in a better and more accessible way.
Clean the mounting face and reverse the process using nice stainless steel Jubilee Clips.
Once you finished you should think about bleeding the system. I couldn't find a way of getting at the radiator bleed screw on the right hand upper face. Fiat have decided not to give you an access hole from the slam panel. So I didn't. I lost very little water and having stopped and started 5 times there does not appear to be any air in the system. But I will check daily for the next week.
The reason for doing it is the traditional Fiat problem of tired thermostat springs which allow a constant trickle of water and preventing it holding the correct temperature.
The two types of clip you will find are Visa E and Clip E made by a French company Caillau. Except the bleed hose to the Coolant reservoir also has a plastic 'Quick Fit' closer to the thermostat. This is held in place by a blue U shaped plastic clip. You lift this clip and the hose falls off BUT the clip breaks because it is brittle with age. Fortunately, you can do away with this whole plastic assembly and put the rubber hose straight on to the metal outlet once you have removed its Clip E fitting to get back to the bare hose.
Below are some pictures to help. First, the main top hose is held on by the Visa E clamp. It's a throw away item and you just need to lever off the C shaped nipple. If you can see it, the nipple is designed to slide off sideways but any levering will get it loose.
The other two hoses have the Clip E clamp. There is a tool for neatly crimping it on and off. A bit like a pair of pincers. I've never been dexterous enough to work them. So again just lever at the fixing until it's loose enough to pull away.
My work sequence was this...
1) Remove the air cleaner and push to one side.
2) Unclamp the two coil pack connectors.
3) Remove the 4 10mm nuts holding the coil in place and remove it.
4) undo the 4 Phillips screws holding the mounting plate and wriggle it sideways and upwards to enable access.
The above allows a much better view of the hoses and fixings but now the actual removal.
5) Put a plastic bag over the bell housing to stop ingress of coolant.
6) Puts a large tray under the bell housing.
7) Remove the blue C shaped clip on the vent pipe and watch as it shatters.
8) Pull off the pipe and drain water to tray below.
9) Remove the vent pipe Clip E clamp to get back to a bare hose.
10) Now tackle the Top Hose Visa E clip and eventually remove hose.
11) Remove the 2 10mm bolts to the thermostat and remove. This might need a copper mallet to persuade it off.
12) With everything loose you can now get at the rear most pipe and tackle its Clip E clamp in a better and more accessible way.
Clean the mounting face and reverse the process using nice stainless steel Jubilee Clips.
Once you finished you should think about bleeding the system. I couldn't find a way of getting at the radiator bleed screw on the right hand upper face. Fiat have decided not to give you an access hole from the slam panel. So I didn't. I lost very little water and having stopped and started 5 times there does not appear to be any air in the system. But I will check daily for the next week.
