pleinichen
New member
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2007
- Messages
- 13
- Points
- 4
Hi Guys,
The latest update on my JTD - any suggestions are more than welcome:
Firstly, my car is a 2001 X Marea SX Weekend 105 JTD with 104,500 miles on the clock b ut has been well serviced.
Having read all the threads with interest about the various cooling system issues these cars are prone to, i've got a slightly strange quirk on mine (I know its Italian and that's why we love 'em!).
The car was running a little sluggish, temp gauge was irratic to say the least (seemed to change rapidly once the engine heated up and went up and down for no apparant reason!), sometimes going right up into the red but not seeming to be overheating.
The other noticable fault was the "auto" setting on the interior heater seemed to be more like a "random" setting, with the temperature wildly changing from too hot to cold with not change to the controls.
So, to be on the safe side, it went to a local independant garage owned by a family friend (so i know he's always honest with me).
A compression test was done, and thankfully, no signs of any headgasket failure. The thermostat was replace (brand new item from local Fiat dealers) and the temperature sender was also replaced with new. An oil and filter change was also done at the same time (seemed sensible to do whilst it was there anyway).
On my first proper run (about 40 miles of motorway to work) today, the temperature gauge went off the top of the scale by the time i arrived at work (past the red and as far as the needle can travel). When i stopped and checked the car, the engine was not seeming to run hot, there was no sign of steam, the water looks fine (no leaks, no drop in level). The interior temperature seems to be much more stable now but the temp gauge is concerning.
It is also worth noting that the gauge "flickers" up and down randomly and on occasion will go from red to central (normal) mark for a couple of seconds then back again - ie. not a steady increase like it's overheating.
My thoughts are that is must either be the gauge itself not processing the signal form the thermostat / sender correctly or that it's some sort of issue with the water pump not circulating the water. I have only had the car a couple of months and there is nothing in the history to show the cambelt / waterpump being done but the belt certainly looks to be recent.
Is is possible for the water pump to fail in a "freewheeling" state rather than to seize and snap the belt? If so, would this cause the faults above?
I'm stuck for cash and don't want to have to spend out on a water pump / cambelt change if i can possible avoid it or if there is something cheaper and easier to try first (hence the thermostat / sender change).
Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
The latest update on my JTD - any suggestions are more than welcome:
Firstly, my car is a 2001 X Marea SX Weekend 105 JTD with 104,500 miles on the clock b ut has been well serviced.
Having read all the threads with interest about the various cooling system issues these cars are prone to, i've got a slightly strange quirk on mine (I know its Italian and that's why we love 'em!).
The car was running a little sluggish, temp gauge was irratic to say the least (seemed to change rapidly once the engine heated up and went up and down for no apparant reason!), sometimes going right up into the red but not seeming to be overheating.
The other noticable fault was the "auto" setting on the interior heater seemed to be more like a "random" setting, with the temperature wildly changing from too hot to cold with not change to the controls.
So, to be on the safe side, it went to a local independant garage owned by a family friend (so i know he's always honest with me).
A compression test was done, and thankfully, no signs of any headgasket failure. The thermostat was replace (brand new item from local Fiat dealers) and the temperature sender was also replaced with new. An oil and filter change was also done at the same time (seemed sensible to do whilst it was there anyway).
On my first proper run (about 40 miles of motorway to work) today, the temperature gauge went off the top of the scale by the time i arrived at work (past the red and as far as the needle can travel). When i stopped and checked the car, the engine was not seeming to run hot, there was no sign of steam, the water looks fine (no leaks, no drop in level). The interior temperature seems to be much more stable now but the temp gauge is concerning.
It is also worth noting that the gauge "flickers" up and down randomly and on occasion will go from red to central (normal) mark for a couple of seconds then back again - ie. not a steady increase like it's overheating.
My thoughts are that is must either be the gauge itself not processing the signal form the thermostat / sender correctly or that it's some sort of issue with the water pump not circulating the water. I have only had the car a couple of months and there is nothing in the history to show the cambelt / waterpump being done but the belt certainly looks to be recent.
Is is possible for the water pump to fail in a "freewheeling" state rather than to seize and snap the belt? If so, would this cause the faults above?
I'm stuck for cash and don't want to have to spend out on a water pump / cambelt change if i can possible avoid it or if there is something cheaper and easier to try first (hence the thermostat / sender change).
Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.