Technical Heating is too weak

[Daffodil15]

I have had exactly the same problem. Took car to garage as heater blowing cold. Freezing cold! There was very little anti freeze left in the container by the radiator. Once topped up heating came back to normal. Just have to keep an eye on it to make sure it does not have a leak.

 

[varesecrazy]

I have had exactly the same problem. Took car to garage as heater blowing cold. Freezing cold! There was very little anti freeze left in the container by the radiator. Once topped up heating came back to normal. Just have to keep an eye on it to make sure it does not have a leak.

Had it kept its level until recently?

 

[ruinin]

I have to go to my mechanic to have my spark plugs changed so he will check the heating, too. My hood doesn't close properly, it takes me about 12 times before it closes properly so I am trying to avoid opening the hood. Bonnet? Never remember which is American, and which British. But thanks for intructions about the heating.

 

[DaveMcT]

You MUST make sure the coolant level is correct. These engines (like most today) will not tolerate low coolant. Leave it too long and soon enough you will hear a gurgling noise followed by the engine stopped with blown cylinder head gasket.

Make sure coolant is at the correct level in the reservoir by the radiator. Use a torch to see the fluid level. If it's dirty top up with water and get it changed by the mechanic as adding the wrong type is not a good idea.

If you open the bonnet (I'm English) and look at the top right below the vertical panel, you will see a 1 inch (25mm) dia rubber hose going to the cabin (heater hose). It has a little thumb screw on the top. With engine cold slackening that should release a drop of coolant. If its dry you need to top up the coolant AND find why the engine is losing it. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN. Its only plastic.

Leave it and you will be in for a much bigger bill.

 

[ruinin]

You MUST make sure the coolant level is correct. These engines (like most today) will not tolerate low coolant. Leave it too long and soon enough you will hear a gurgling noise followed by the engine stopped with blown cylinder head gasket.

Make sure coolant is at the correct level in the reservoir by the radiator. Use a torch to see the fluid level. If it's dirty top up with water and get it changed by the mechanic as adding the wrong type is not a good idea.

If you open the bonnet (I'm English) and look at the top right below the vertical panel, you will see a 1 inch (25mm) dia rubber hose going to the cabin (heater hose). It has a little thumb screw on the top. With engine cold slackening that should release a drop of coolant. If its dry you need to top up the coolant AND find why the engine is losing it. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN. Its only plastic.

Leave it and you will be in for a much bigger bill.

Oh well, only bad news. I went to the mechanic today, he checked the heating, how it stops heating when the engine is at idle, then told me it is normal and that when the engine is in higher revs, the heating starts working again. Then he checked the coolant and said that it is OK. Then he checked some other things, changed spark plugs, and only after changing the spark plugs declared that the coolant is getting lost as the engine is working. He said there must be an air bubble trapped under the head gasket. He refilled the tank with coolant -water plus some antifreeze. Now I have proper heating again, but I don't know how long it will take before I lose coolant again. He suggests that I have the issue solves as soon as possible otherwise my engine may start overheating.

How can he be so sure there is air trapped just under the head gasket? Could it be somewhere else? And he said he would have to remove stuff and change the sealing and change oil and altogether it would all cost about equivalent of 200 British pounds. Of course, I don't want to ruin anything but I don't know if I can trust this guy. He seems very honest and never charges me any silly money and always does just what is necessary. But if he understands the problem I don't know.

 

[koalar]

Take the coolant cap off. Shine a torch into the bottle. Is there oil sitting on the top.

Start the engine.

Do the coolant hoses go rock hard.

Stop the engine again before the coolant gets hot.

Smell the coolant. Does it smell of petrol

If all three are no. Then there is a good chance its nothing more than a simple leak.

Just a matter of tracing it. Damp carpet passenger side would be heater matrix


Inspect the front of the radiator, hoses and steel pipe next.

 

[ruinin]

Take the coolant cap off. Shine a torch into the bottle. Is there oil sitting on the top.

Start the engine.

Do the coolant hoses go rock hard.

Stop the engine again before the coolant gets hot.

Smell the coolant. Does it smell of petrol

If all three are no. Then there is a good chance its nothing more than a simple leak.

Just a matter of tracing it. Damp carpet passenger side would be heater matrix


Inspect the front of the radiator, hoses and steel pipe next.

So to sum up, there is no oil on the top in the coolant bottle.
After starting the engine the hoses are still soft.
The coolant, when the engine is working??? doesn't smell like petrol.

I still don't know how to check the proper level of coolant. It is difficult to see any line or mark and the level of coolant is also difficult to see. I will try again. But are there any marks where the coolant level should be? And if it is low again, how do I add coolant? Only a mechanic can do it?

 

[ruinin]

And is it OK to open or leave the bottle for coolant open while the engine is running? It is about the smelling petrol while the engine is running. I would have to leave the bottle open all the time.

 

[ruinin]

So making progress.

I have just checked the situation with coolant and bottle and min and max marks. The marks Min and Max are huge. But there is absolutely no way to see where the coolant level is. The bottle is low and not clear, kind of yellowish but won't let the coolant color through. So no idea where the coolant is. I used my mobile phone flashlight to see into the bottle. Not much to see. Let alone whether there is oil... I basically see nothing. So maybe I have to use a stick and see how deep I have to reach to find the level of coolant in the bottle.

 

[koalar]

Go to your local home and bargains, buy the COB inspection lamp/torch for £2 or £3 place on the side and easy see the level

Looks a bit like this

 

[ruinin]

What if I just keep an eye on the amount of coolant for a few weeks and if it keeps its level, I can just forget the whole thing?

A fiat enthusiast also told me, that there is a device that detects C0 2 in the cooling system. If there is some CO2, there is a trouble. If not, it is a minor issue. Most well equipped garages should have this device.

 

[koalar]

Just find and fix the leak before it does became a problem. Far simpler than over complicating the problem.


Yes you can do a sniff test.

 

[ruinin]

The leak could be just coolant evaporating as nobody refilled the bottle for several years. Whenever I asked a mechanic, is the coolant OK, not necessary to refill? I always got "It's ok, don't worry." So maybe it has started to evaporate recently, in recent years. A bit by bit until the heating stopped working properly.

 

[koalar]

Thought you had lost coolant twice ?


If coolant been below the level of the heater matrix It will need bleeding from both bleed screws. One on the heater pipe the other on the radiator. If its run low I would guess there Is at least a litre of air in the top of the radiator.


Yes its a closed system and shouldn't loose enough between coolant changes.



If the coolant hasn't been changed for many years it will loose its anti corrosive properties and need changing any how.



Ounce bleed you will need to keep a close eye on its level. If its not loosing any the obviously nothing else needs to be done.

 

[ruinin]

Thought you had lost coolant twice ?


If coolant been below the level of the heater matrix It will need bleeding from both bleed screws. One on the heater pipe the other on the radiator. If its run low I would guess there Is at least a litre of air in the top of the radiator.


Yes its a closed system and shouldn't loose enough between coolant changes.



If the coolant hasn't been changed for many years it will loose its anti corrosive properties and need changing any how.



Ounce bleed you will need to keep a close eye on its level. If its not loosing any the obviously nothing else needs to be done.

I think it is getting pretty complicated now. Why not just find a decent garage and let them check the whole thing and suggest solution? I was unlucky that my favorite mechanics in their small garages didn't tell me that is necessary to change the coolant at least once in two years. Now when they don't have adequate tools to diagnose the problem, they come up with expensive ideas.

 

[DaveMcT]

If you do not know the age of your coolant you should change it. End of.

OAT is specced for the Panda but it cant be mixed with glycol coolant. You can't trust what's in there, so drain the old stuff at the radiator bottom hose. Fill with demineralised water and run a few miles then drain and fill with new coolant.

Each time it has to be fully bled of trapped air or you'll get problems. A half decent air bubble in the engine risks damage to the cylinder head.

If you are not confident get mechanic to do the job. It's a lot less money than a damaged engine.

The test for hydrocarbons in coolant is here. Positive indicates cylinder head gasket or other damage allowing exhaust gases into coolant.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BT-3-COMB...979883&hash=item41c72ebe9c:g:MuUAAOSwLEtYi8Gi

 

[ruinin]

So update after a while. About a month ago I had a garage change the coolant and also the thermostat. For a few weeks everything worked fine, the heating, the engine getting to the right temperature in the right time, coolant not disappearing. But after a few weeks, four or so, driven about 1000 km, the coolant is one mark under the minimum mark. So it is leaking somewhere. I need to make a trip 800 km round trip next weekend so I am not sure if I can manage to get the leak sorted out before the trip. Can I just add some paraflu coolant to the tank so it is somewhere near the max mark? I suppose after this it will take a few weeks before I lose the coolant under the min mark again and it is not so expensive to add a litre or so of paraflu for once. Not sure if it is OK to add just paraflu or water or the right mix of both.

 

[A3jeroen]

Maybe there was still some air trapped after the coolantchange?

gr J

 

[ruinin]

Maybe there was still some air trapped after the coolantchange?

gr J

I don't know if they were supposed to get rid of extra air or did not do the job properly. But I hope for the time being I could just add coolant to the tank or water but not sure what exactly.

 

[A3jeroen]

I'd premix (50/50 IIRC) or buy ready mixed and fill her up.
Do not overfill. Min cold is good. Max cold and it'll spit it out through the overflow when warming up.

gr J