2013 Fiat 500 Pop with WATER NOISE BEHIND THE DASHBOARD

[RichardTowers75]

Hello everyone,
I am new here so first of all I would like to say hi to all of you and introduce myself.
My name is Ric, I am in Australia and recently bought a 2013 Fiat 500 Pop.

I am really scared about a weird noise behind the dashboard. It sounds like moving water and it seems to be heard pretty randomly.

I have read some old posts from 2006. However, I have not found any recent issue with a 2013 car.
Can anyone help me with some input on what to do? I am concerned about having trouble with the engine and the gasket thing that I have read on past threads.

Thanks a lot and drive safely

 

[Ralf S.]

The gurgling could air in the system - the heater is the highest point in the system so will collect any air. The noise is the system purging itself.. so don't over-worry just yet. It's kind of normal.

But.. you shouldn't get the noise (or it should disappear and not return).

So.. check the cooling system. The coolant level should be sitting on or near the "MAX" mark on the header tank, when the engine is cold.

Also check the radiator for air. You can bleed it (there should be a bleed screw at the back near the headlamp). When it's cold.. unscrew the screw slowly until air or coolant comes out. When coolant comes out.. you're done. Screw it back in. Don't take it all the way out otherwise coolant will **** out and you'll be trying to screw that screw back in.... comedy moment to avoid.

Once bled, top up the coolant header tank (up to MAX) and then drive it around... The level will drop a bit (purging) but then stay where it is and with no more gurgling.

After a week.. repeat the above. There should be no air in the rad'.. or at least veeeeery little. If you have a lot of air.. and it keeps coming back, then that indicates a head gasket failure... but that's hopefully not the problem. Give it a good bleed first and see how it goes.

Ralf S.

 

[Noxide]

How odd, mine started the same last week!

Will follow the above! Does yours get louder if you put your foot down?

 

[RichardTowers75]

The gurgling could air in the system - the heater is the highest point in the system so will collect any air. The noise is the system purging itself.. so don't over-worry just yet. It's kind of normal.

But.. you shouldn't get the noise (or it should disappear and not return).

So.. check the cooling system. The coolant level should be sitting on or near the "MAX" mark on the header tank, when the engine is cold.

Also check the radiator for air. You can bleed it (there should be a bleed screw at the back near the headlamp). When it's cold.. unscrew the screw slowly until air or coolant comes out. When coolant comes out.. you're done. Screw it back in. Don't take it all the way out otherwise coolant will **** out and you'll be trying to screw that screw back in.... comedy moment to avoid.

Once bled, top up the coolant header tank (up to MAX) and then drive it around... The level will drop a bit (purging) but then stay where it is and with no more gurgling.

After a week.. repeat the above. There should be no air in the rad'.. or at least veeeeery little. If you have a lot of air.. and it keeps coming back, then that indicates a head gasket failure... but that's hopefully not the problem. Give it a good bleed first and see how it goes.

Ralf S.

Thanks a lot for your input Ralf. I will do this asap. Regards

 

[RichardTowers75]

How odd, mine started the same last week!

Will follow the above! Does yours get louder if you put your foot down?

I would say is heard more often and for longer periodos of time as the engine's temp rises.

 

[Ralf S.]

Aye.. the thermostat might be controlling the flow through the heater until the coolant is warm. It wants enough heat for the engine before it worries whether you're cold or not..


Ralf S

 

[Noxide]

I let all the air out today and topped my water up. There was a stack of trapped air in that system!

Will see if it fixes it tomorrow!

 

[varesecrazy]

begs the question.. where / why..??
unless it's had a dodgy cambelt change , there should be no reason for so little coolant in the system.

 

[Noxide]

begs the question.. where / why..??
unless it's had a dodgy cambelt change , there should be no reason for so little coolant in the system.

Well, I'm not sure. But mine had a proper decent service - new everything, all hoses disconnected, etc. so I'm wondering whether that let some air in or something!
It wasn't even that low though weirdly.

 

[Noxide]

Aaaaand the water sound has gone! I'm not sure if I heard a teeny tiny gurgle but probably imagining it because I got so used to it.

Or at least it seems to have. *touches wood*

 

[Ralf S.]

Good good... but check for air in the system (with cold everything) in a few days time, just to make sure the air is gone/not coming back. There should be none or almost none.

I'd guess whoever serviced it filled the system too quickly and got an airlock in the engine block. The system will purge air out of the block .. but only when the engine is running - since it's the water pump that moves the coolant around - so you always need to run the engine for a few minutes and then check /adjust the level after you've done a coolant change.

If they used new Jubilee clips instead of the standard Fiat clips, check the tightness of those after a week or two.. you can't tighten those up too much with plastic hoses... so they can loosen up a bit with the engine's vibration.

I usually take some instant gasket (Blue Hylomar or that rubbery silicone stuff) and wedge a bit into the thread where it passes through the clip's screw. It stops it loosening off over time.

Ralf S.

 

[Noxide]

Good good... but check for air in the system (with cold everything) in a few days time, just to make sure the air is gone/not coming back. There should be none or almost none.

It's all good still, so I've got fingers crossed. I'm tentatively listening for it!

Fingers crossed though!

 

[Ralf S.]

It's all good still, so I've got fingers crossed. I'm tentatively listening for it!

Fingers crossed though!

The easiest way to check it to unscrew the bleed screw slowly.. coolant should start coming out rather than air (listen for any hissing). Then your rad' is air-free.

The rest of the system is able to purge itself.


Ralf S.

 

[Noxide]

I would say is heard more often and for longer periodos of time as the engine's temp rises.

begs the question.. where / why..??
unless it's had a dodgy cambelt change , there should be no reason for so little coolant in the system.

Good good... but check for air in the system (with cold everything) in a few days time, just to make sure the air is gone/not coming back. There should be none or almost none.

I thought I'd quote all because I think the source became obvious to me yesterday.

Trundling along, spot the temp gauge shoot up, suddenly white smoke out bonnet, and the car had dumped all it's coolant into the road. Turns out that the pipe and connector that leads into the thermostat had sheared clean off where it's meant to screw in! Couldn't see the fault until the battery was taken out at the roadside. Was a fairly simple fix but an absolute bugger.

Got a new one, cost about £16. The bloke at Fiat straight away worked out what it was when I called. Car looks to be running beautifully now. Reckon air had been seeping in for some time and coolant escaping looking at the condition of it all.

 

[varesecrazy]

I thought I'd quote all because I think the source became obvious to me yesterday.

Trundling along, spot the temp gauge shoot up, suddenly white smoke out bonnet, and the car had dumped all it's coolant into the road. Turns out that the pipe and connector that leads into the thermostat had sheared clean off where it's meant to screw in! Couldn't see the fault until the battery was taken out at the roadside. Was a fairly simple fix but an absolute bugger.

Got a new one, cost about £16. The bloke at Fiat straight away worked out what it was when I called. Car looks to be running beautifully now. Reckon air had been seeping in for some time and coolant escaping looking at the condition of it all.

common fault I believe, :bang:

it's a plastic union that stresses and fails:yuck:

a plastic pipe coming from the thermostat housing,
been a few threads about it over the years.

so what exactly did you replace?, as £16 from FIAT normally buys you a "wheel nut"

and people who've had the housing failure quote new housings with an @ £80 figure..??

 

[Noxide]

common fault I believe, :bang:

it's a plastic union that stresses and fails:yuck:

a plastic pipe coming from the thermostat housing,
been a few threads about it over the years.

so what exactly did you replace?, as £16 from FIAT normally buys you a "wheel nut"

and people who've had the housing failure quote new housings with an @ £80 figure..??

Yep that's the part.

Bought new thermostat housing and the little plastic bit that screws the housing into tube. £32 from Fiat, £16 from Euro Car Parts (both had it in stock!) - fitted and installed at the roadside so labour costs £0 - and a bit more for some new coolant seeing as all of mine had now run several 100 meters.