Technical Heaters not working?

[UnclaimedSock]

Hi all, this has probably been covered many times before but I can't seem to find anything matching my problem
Anyway, my heaters never seem to get hot even after a long drive yet my fan is pretty much on after a 5 minute drive maybe less?
Anyone have any ideas?
Cheers

 

[flisko]

where does your temperature gauge hang around while you are driving
did you check coolant level
could just be air inside cooling system or bad thermostat
radiator fan is on after 5 minute drive?

 

[UnclaimedSock]

Sorry should of mentioned I don't have a temp gauge its a 2001 punto
Coolant levels good
Was thinking of fitting a new stat and fresh coolant for the winter to be honest so it may just be air I'm not sure :S
And yes my fan seems to be on every time I park up and get out of my car wether it's just to the local shops or after a good run

 

[flisko]

guy i know had same issue, his fan would come on after few mins of driving, reason for that was closed thermostat
did a red temperature light came on?

 

[UnclaimedSock]

No the lights never come on

 

[Brendan W]

Do you hear a gurgling noise from the heater area on startup? If so you may have an airlock that will need bleeding out.
Could anyone have used Radweld or similar type leak fixer in the past? If so the heater matrix could be clogged.

If you mean the radiator fan is on most times you drive you may have a thermostat problem. Unless you are driving in stop go traffic the rad should be able to manage cooling by itself unless it has been clogged by Radweld.

 

[UnclaimedSock]

Can't hear any noises, not sure about any rad weld Iv only had the car a couple of months not really any history with it, and yes the fan comes on even when I'm not in traffic
Il try a new stat and coolant at the weekend and see if that sorts it

 

[flisko]

clogged heater matrix wouldnt turn on radiator fan while driving would it?
cheapest would be to try and bleeding it first
when radiator fan turns on, carefully grab top radiator hose, if it is cold and the bottom one hot your thermostat is closed

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk2-2b-guides/347158-coolant-renewal.html
https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk1-guides/43906-bleeding-cooling-system-8v-16v-petrol-engines.html
https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk1-guides/90237-bleeding-cooling-system-mk1-punto.html

 

[Brendan W]

clogged heater matrix wouldnt turn on radiator fan while driving would it?

Not of itself, but if the system generally is gunged up the stat can be as wide as a farm gate and the ecu will still be screaming for help to cool the thing down.

 

[a1ant]

Hi,

As flisko says, even if the heater matrix was blocked or blanked off, your car shouldn't be getting that hot that quickly. The no heater is a secondary issue to whatever the main cause is. Ie system needs bleeding etc.

You definitely have some sort of circulation issue, so checking the stat isnt stuck shut is worth considering. Although even if the stat was stuck shut, the heater matrix should still get hot.

Start with giving the system a good bleed as per the links flisko has posted.

If you have lots of air in the system, it can become "airlocked" where the coolant doesn't flow around the system and it will heat up quickly (like you are experiencing).

Failing that you will need to drain the system and start flushing it through to check for sludge/ blockages as Brendan suggests, or potentially a faulty/ failing pump.

Be careful driving the car in this condition, as it could lead to it overheating and HG failure.

Alan

 

[PuntoHowTo]

When did it last have a water pump? These are plastic and if original it's quite possible the impeller is/broken up and the coolant is simply not moving or not moving enough

This would be my gut feeling on the issue

 

[UnclaimedSock]

I think this weekend il replace the stat just for piece of mind and also to have some fresh coolant for the winter, il make sure to run the hosepipe through the system to clean it out first tho.

Iv only had the car a couple of months but only just recently wanted to use the heaters as the winters setting in so do all I know I could have been driving around with this problem since I bought it.

Iv covered a couple of thousand miles since I bought it so I thought if it's anything major the HG would have gone pop by now.

Apparently the previous owner had the cam belt and water pump done not long before I bought the car so I wouldn't have thought it would be that.

One last thing, it couldn't just be the HG that's causing it could it? Hope not

 

[fingers99]

Well, it could be. HG on the 8v engines is a peice of pee, though. Only sure fire way to tell is a compression test or a coolant pressurisation test.

I've had one car with missing thermostat, all the vanes off the water pump gone (my guess is someone started it with a frozen block!) a non functioning radiator fan and a blown head gasket.

 

[UnclaimedSock]

So you recon it's fooked?

I just can't get my head round why it's drives fine and has done since the day I got it, and that it doesn't over heat, and there no oil and water mixture?

 

[Brendan W]

I don't think Fingers is suggesting it's fooked. Your problem could be insufficient circulation for a number of reasons.
a) Airlocks
b) System gunged up with sediment or leak fixer
c) Thermostat not opening sufficiently
d) Pump not delivering enough because the impeller has been damaged.

Bleeding is worth a shot - can't do any harm.
The car could be fine for now. Back in the day they had no pumps and relied on the natural convection to circulate the coolant. So the car could be just on the edge. The fact that you are not losing coolant is a good sign.
There is an outside possibility that the headgsaket is gone and the coolant loss is exactly balanced by air/gas getting in. but that would be some balancing act. Generally the coolant level changes.

 

[UnclaimedSock]

Ah sorry miss read it
Iv ruled out the waterpump as I contacted the previous owner and they did have it done recently.
I'm definitely going to do the thermostat and flush the system this weekend and hopefully that sorts it, fingers crossed

As for the coolant level it's good and it's been good since I bought it as I check the levels every week

 

[Brendan W]

Try bleeding first - could save yourself a lot of hassle plus you eliminate one possible problem.

 

[UnclaimedSock]

Ok il try that tomorow, is there bleed taps on these puntos or do you just have to have it running with the expansion tank bottle off? Iv not done a punto before haha

 

[Brendan W]

There are two bleed screws, both plastic = breaks easy. The back one is on one of the hoses to the heater. The front one is on the top of the rad, right side as you face it most likely ( some older cars on the left)
Bleeding the punto can be tricky because there is no proper header tank so you improvise.
Car cold. Motor off. Fill the rad to the tip top of the filler neck with coolant. Open the back screw carefully and let the coolant run until there are no more sputtery bubbly bits. Keep an eye on the filler neck and top off as required. Close the back screw. Open the front bleed screw on the rad and drop the level back to Max or a little over.
If this fails I fill a 500 ml plastic drinks bottle with coolant and turn it upside down on the filler neck getting as good a seal as I can. Open the back screw and squeeze firmly to push the last of the air out the back bleeder.

 

[flisko]

Ok il try that tomorow, is there bleed taps on these puntos or do you just have to have it running with the expansion tank bottle off? Iv not done a punto before haha

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-mk2-2b-guides/347158-coolant-renewal.html