Hi i was wondering if someone can guide me to a solution to my problem, just before new year i was getting steam coming from radiator also wasn't getting any heat in the cabin, the inlet pipe to the radiator from the thermostat would be red hot but the outlet pipe is stone cold, so i replaced the thermostat myself as thought it had kicked the bucket, after doing so it was still the same except from getting heat in the cabin now, still it didn't seem to be circulating through the radiator, bled the rad numerous times and just water came out no air, even kept it open for a bit to try draw the heat through but didn't work, got told radiator might be blocked so put some speedflush in it, but before that i blew through the inlet pipe but struggled to get right through but after the flush it was clear as a whistle, so put back together and filled up n bled etc but still the circulation problem still exists, but what i did notice was that after a good run both pipes going to rad would be real hard as if too much pressure and also outlet pipe still cold, so yesterday with the system cold i disconnected the pipe from the thermostat to see if there was coolant coming through by gently squeezing the outlet pipe of the rad and sure enough it was full, didn't come pouring out as i still had the cap on the bottle but as soon as i took cap off the coolant started flowing out the pipe, so its had a new thermostat, system flushed, bled numerous times, is there any chance it could be the water pump or could it just need pressure bled, as i don't want the head gasket to go

Remove the top and bottom hose from the radiator and use a hose pipe to flush clean water through it to test if there is a blockage.

I done that a few times after i'd used the holts speedflush and the water is flowing through freely, also when i was filling i filled through the inlet pipe, that way i knew the rad had water in it also it was going into the system so connected inlet pipe back onto the thermostat and filled it slowly then from the bottle and bled the system, its getting rather annoying now though

My guess is the water pump impeller has fallen off the drive shaft and now needs replacing. The water pump is normally changed at the same time as the cam belt, if yours wasn't then this is a real possibility.

lol thats what i was thinking but is it possible as i had timing belt and water pump replaced in oct 2010, the garage that fitted it told me the water pumps are usually bullet proof, but i'm having my doubts, if it it the water pump don't know where i'd stand as surely there should be some kind o warrenty on the pump

This thread is worth reading because the water pumps are not bullet proof and there is a technique to bleeding the cooling system to remove air blocks.
https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/249019-overheating-jtd-1-9-a.html

If they really did replace the water pump in October last year there is no way it would have failed in such a short time.

I'm not saying they didn't change it, but because they think they're bomb proof, can I suggest you double check they did by removing the belt covers and taking a look at what should be a shinny new water pump. You can then eliminate it from your list of possible causes.

i was a bit anooyed with the garage that done the work to be honest as i'd booked the car in to get the timing belt kit plus water pump replaced as it hadn't been changed and the car had done 94000 miles and its 53plate, plus its mot was due sogot them to do everything, but on the day they done it, they done my mot first then afterwards done the timing belt etc, which i thought should've been done firstly incase the old belt snapped during mot, i'll have a look and see, is the belt cover easily removed with the least disruption possible?

The proceedure for replacing the water pump is almost the same as replacing the cam belt, thats why they are normally done at the same time.

There is a guide in the guides section for changing the cam belt. It should give you a good idea of what is required to view the pump.
https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo-guides/204297-fiat-stilo-jtd-cambelt-change.html

cheers i'll have a go at finding out

The fact you're saying pipes to and from the radiator are hard, suggesting the pump is working hard and pressurising against a dead stop and you say the radiator top hose is red hot then, if you're sure the radiator flow through is ok, it sounds as if you have a blockage between the radiator bottom pipe (return) to the water pump. This is the pipe that is cold and therefore has no flow

Feel the radiator from top to bottom. Really hot at the top and freezing at the bottom means poor flow though radiator so if the rad is clear then the rad outlet isn't

Deckchair5 said:

The fact you're saying pipes to and from the radiator are hard, suggesting the pump is working hard and pressurising against a dead stop

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Wouldn't the pipes be hard due to the pressure created by the steam in the over heated system?

fifeplumber57 said:

steam coming from radiator

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Even if you manually block either pipe by clamping them closed the pump does not produce enough pressure to make the pipes hard.

I'm thinking that you can compress gas in a flexi coolant pipe if you squeeze enough but fluid under pressure just won't compress so easily

The fact there have been a few blockages already in the system by the sound of it points to crud in the system and it always goes to the least accessible point, usually down the bottom
Purely guesswork though

I think I might disconnect the bottom rad hose at the engine and back flush down the pipe from there. Looking for it to pour out of the engine, that would clear out the heater matrix too which has had flow problems

Hi.
Sorry, my money would be on head gasket because both the rad pipes are pressurising.
I think in your position I would try it without the thermostat, just check that none of the rad pipes have collapsed when hot, although that a long shot.

Both radiator pipes to and from engine would be hot with head gasket gone as long as there's water in them. There's not many symptoms there of a head gasket problem that I'd expect, eg
coolant reservoir overflowing, boiling over
loss of coolant
heater going hot/cold
gurgling of overheated coolant/air in heater pipes
engine temp going into red or down to zero
white steam out exhaust

It just seems to be a flow problem through the radiator circuit. I'd attach a hose pipe and back flush from that trouble point as that's easy and will do no harm

i'm prob being stupid but if there was any signs of head gasket gone, wouldn't the coolant be discoloured with oil contamination, thats if am guessing the gasket is to keep oil and water separated? theres no white gunky stuff in the oil cap either (forgive me i'm only a plumber not a mechanic lol), also what i noticed today is from cold the temp needle starts going up after just about 1 mile and followed by sitting at normal position after about another mile, i'm not noticing any change in performance either, but got to love the heating in the cab, it's the hottest its ever been, think i'll strip front end down (getting dab hand at it from when changing bulbs lol) and take radiator out instead o farting about going through hoses etc

fifeplumber57 said:

i'm prob being stupid but if there was any signs of head gasket gone, wouldn't the coolant be discoloured with oil contamination, thats if am guessing the gasket is to keep oil and water separated? theres no white gunky stuff in the oil cap either (forgive me i'm only a plumber not a mechanic lol)

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I'm no mechanic either but oil and coolant don't normally mix and less you have a severely blown gasket. The usual result of a blown head gasket is the pressure from the cylinders gets forced passed the gasket into the cooling system. This results in the cooling system being pressurised forcing water/steam back into the cylinders and out the weak points in the cooling system. Steam out of the exhaust, loss of power and over heating is the result.

My money is still on a water pump problem.

To me if both top and bottom hoses are getting very hard it would suggest a slight blow between a cylinder and a water jacket.
It is possibly the rad as you say, but I haven’t come across a blocked rad in a modern car before.
Whilst I would agree there are usually other signs with head gasket I have seen it a couple of times when the only symptom is as described.
If it is only a slight blow it will only let by a little on the combustion stroke (the most pressure) it will get rapidly worse and the symptoms you describe will then start to appear.
Was your anti-freeze O.K?
What is the temperature gauge doing?
I would firstly remove the thermostat completely it can then be discounted as a problem.
When the engine is warm get someone to give it a rev while you watch the reservoir, is the water level dropping and then rising again as the revs die back.
With the engine cold remove the cap from the reservoir and start the engine (make sure the engine is completely cold otherwise you could be scolded) let it run for a couple of minutes.
Are there any bubbles in the water when you rev it, can you smell/see exhaust coming from the reservoir.

Well it's a plumbing problem ha!
You know what plumbers do when the radiator flow isn't so good, power flushing

Could be the pump as Shady says but with a new pump in there it's difficult to imagine what could have happened in such a short time. If the heater is working well like you say then I'm thinking the pump must be working fine. It would soon overheat in this warmer weather with no pump working

Engine coolant system can be murder sometimes, I hate messing about with scalding hot water. Have to wait for the thing to cool down before you can work on it and then wait for it to get hot to test it, it takes forever. Had a high mileage Renault in with a flow problem, the heater would work but when you put the heater blower on it would go cold in no time. Poor flow again. Heater matrix was clogged up with sludge, severely restricting the flow and back flushing was the answer with that one but you do have to send the water the opposite way to normal flow to clear it

If you know the radiator is clear then it's pointless taking it out. You need to check and clear the line from the pump to the radiator bottom connection

I’m doubtful it’s the pump, the hard hoses means too much pressure.
I hate plumbing!

Tell me about it! Ive just finished installing a new central heating system here

Might sound daft but it's been known to happen, I wonder if there is a possibility that the pipes may have been reinstalled the wrong way around so flow is return at the radiator when it was worked on recently. Don't know if that's possible on a JTD Stilo

To have a really hot heater but always cold radiator means there's coolant flow but not where you need it to be. It's going to overheat as the weather gets warmer