bleeding cooling system on a 1.6

[Adam]

hey... right i'm a bit confused at the moment and dont really know what to do... i flushed my cooling system out the other day on my bravo 1.6 mk1 and now the heaters dont work and it's sitting at a slightly higher temp when running

even though it's not overheating obviously i want to sort it so was just wondering wheather anyone has any advise i have bled it twice now and it's still not doing anything.... can only find 2 bleed screws one behind the engine and one at the top of the radiator this all there is?? have waited till there is nothing but water coming out and screwed them back in.

also the readiator seems to be crackling and popping alot whilst running and if it's sat ticking over with the filler cap off you can see air bubbling through... not alot but every now and again it will bubble

i know my thermostat is about knackered becausre when i was flushing it i didn't need to remover it and it stilll came straight through whilst cold so its not jamming or anything but it should be the opppostie of this promlem surely??

it's starting to annoy me now because there seems to be no way to get it right and can't really afford to send it off to a garage to get it done- anyone got any ideas??

cheers
adam

 

[Tom]

http://www.fiatboo.co.uk/fix-a-bravo.htm#engine

Thermostats have a certain amount of bypass otherwise the water around them would never get hot.

 

[Adam]

what do you mean by that?? it might not be knackered if it's permenantly lettting water through?? and yes i've looked at that and will try bleeding it again with the engine on tomorow because the haynes manual i got tells you to leave it off so like i've said it's been bled twice now but obvioulsy when it's been cold and without the pump running...

cheers
adam

 

[Buzz]

it should let a little through, yeah. Its like a butterfly so it doesn't seal shut. When you say hotter, is it sitting above the ideal temperature (the halfway mark)?
It could be that you've not got the right mix of water:coolant/antifreeze. Less than 50% water maks it thermaly inefficient. Also, is there enough coolant/water mix in the system?

Buzz
The champion of the Bravo 1.4
& now ex owner of a Bravo 1.8

 

[Tom]

Unless your engine is actually over/under cooling then the thermostat is working near enough correctly.

The bleeding guide works well, I should know, I wrote it

 

[Adam]

yes temp wise it is sitting higher than halfway it's on about 3/4 but it's 100% water at the moment will put some coolent in when it's sorted but ther dosn't seem much point at the moment cos most of what i put in ends up on the floor!

also it seems to get very hot when the cap is on the radiator and the heaters still dont work...

adam

 

[Tom]

You still need to bleed it properly.

Put some antifreeze in pretty quick, it doesn't do a great deal to aid cooling but it stops the water rotting your radiator. Also only use antifreeze designed for aluminium radiators, the red stuff, NOT the blue.

 

[adam]

i have bled it now with the engine running and still no joy i really dont know what to do with it

adam

 

[Tom]

You are bleeding it with the heater on HOT?

 

[Adam]

yes i bled it with the heater on.... and it broke down yesterday on me.... not from getting to hot the temp gauge was on normal i'd just come off on a slip road and as soon as the revs dropped it went completely tried turning it back on but it just "whired" at me as if it had no battery so had to get it towed and put it on charge all last night thinking that could be whats wrong with it and this morning still no luck i really have no idea what could be wrong with it??

adam