Strange situation with my car... it hasn't been running on the road for a while except for the MOT in January... but I'd noticed that it wouldn't get up to temperature in the winter. This was the same thing I'd seen before when the thermostat failed, so eventually I got a genuine Fiat one and fitted it yesterday.

But that is now the 4th stat the car has had... the original I changed when I flushed a load of rusty gunk out a few years ago, I put in a genuine Fiat one that time too. But that gave up after a couple of years ago, so I put in a decent aftermarket on, and that's the one that has just quit again.

My main problem is the coolant, I planned to refill with the old stuff (Comma XStream G48) as it should have been OK for another year or so, but then I decided to get some new instead. Everywhere says that the car takes 6 litres, I had some left over from before so I bought 5 litres of premixed G48 from Halfords. But when I carefully refilled it (engine running, heater on, bleeding through the tubes) I could only get about 4 litres in, and that is with the expansion tank overfilled to just below the neck instead of further down the side.

I then measured how much came out when I drained it, and it was just over 3 litres!! So overall this seems to be the amount I can correctly get in, which means that either a load of water (1 / 2 / 3 litres ?) didn't come out, or the figure of 6 litres is completely wrong. I must say that it seems high to me for a small, modern engine that warms up quite quickly.

Does anyone have any knowledge or ideas as to why the coolant quantities don't add up?

Not sure on the coolant quantity, is a bit odd!!

But maybe able to help with the thermostat problem, from recent experience.

On my Punto mk1 I had an issue with it not getting to temp, and then when it did the fan didn't work!! After checking the fan and changing the thermostat, and fan switch which made no difference.

It turned out to be a faulty engine management temp sensor, on the exhaust manifold. Mine was blue, but they are sometimes green.

Not sure if the 1.2 16v has those, but could be worth a look?

I changed the thermostat and it warms up quick as you like now. Weird that the car seems to use make them go wrong so often!

Genuine Fiat stat was £26 !!!

Paraflu G11 ( green/blue) is original coolant type.
It's OK to use Paraflu UP ( Ultra Protection) G12 ( pink)

Never heard of G48...:shrug:

Valeo and Vernet are O(riginal) E(quipment), but Gates is a good brand too for thermostats.

www.mister-auto.co.uk

Comma G48 is a modern green/blue antifreeze with longer life compared to basic blue.

I just found my receipt for the previous thermostat... £10.60 exactly 3 years ago. The make was BGA, a UK aftermarket supplier. It looks identical and did the job fine for a while....

I had the same issues recently and so i fitted an aftermarket JTD thermost, pain in the arse to fit, you have to take off the whole EGR coolant system, and it costs 60euros to boot, your 26 quid sounds nice.

I've been using the G48 in my mk1 Punto, and touch wood I've been happy with it.

Is a bit odd with yours, fingers crossed it will be okay now though!

Is that the blue 6 speed Punto you had a few years ago? The rare 55 EL ?