General Section for Tempra's

[Ziomike]

Can we see a section for Tempra's or have they been lumped in with Tipo's. We have 2 Tempra's estates and 1 Tipo 5 door.
Currently have a blown head gasket on the Tempra diesel and want to get some advice from the forum, but where to post?
This has been a long on-going saga with the diesel, this will be it's 3rd head gasket, seems to be related to the cooling system. The previous 2 have been garage fixed but I'm not coughing up £1500 again (last time the head had split as well).
Is the top rad hose supposed to be boiling hot and the bottom stone cold or is the rad just efficient ?.

Ziomike

 

[ben]

your wish....

ben

bravo 1.6sx
looks: momo twin 17" alloys, debadged, smoked headlights, black side repeaters, smoked rear clusters, midnight window tint
feels: apex 40mm lower springs, apex sports shock's, k&n 57i induction
sounds: pioneer deh-7400mp, pioneer tse-6995 (rear)

 

[Ziomike]

Quick response or what - many thanks Ben....

As in my first post I have a Kreg Tempra 1.9 diesel with blown head gasket for the 3rd time. Usually seems to happen after a cooling system problem.
1st time the bottom rad hose came off at 70,000ml after the clip broke (possible over pressure ?). Pump bearings colapsed about 5,000 later, rad went about 5,000 more.
2nd time the head split 20,000ml later as as result of the 1st time - apparently (I know it overheated badly).
3rd time (last night) head gasket went, clouds of smoke and lumpy running, steam from the header tank. About 2 months ago the top rad hose split, from the rad back for 9", caught the problem immediatly and towed home, replace all hoses, hopefully no overheating. Was alright up till last night, now the gasket's gone. currently sitting at about 95,000ml.

Previous time the car has been repaired by a local garage but i'm unwilling to fork out the £1500 they charged, so i'm going to DIY. Well capable, have rebuilt engines in the past, and I'm in engineering, not afraid of getting down and dirty. I've just replaced the front struts as the lower spring cup rotted through, so I'd like to keep the old dear a bit longer, besides whicj I need her for towing the trailer, the second Tempra dos'nt have a tow hitch.

So anybody had this sort of thing with a Tempra?, any look out for's?, gotchas. I've heard the head bolts (inside rocker housing) need special tooling, those outside are ordinary bolts. Anybody know the torque setting ?.

The list of things i've had go wrong with this car is endless, yet we still love it (affectionatly called the "tractor"), silly me went and bought another Kreg 1.6 petrol Tempra as well.

Incidentally the power steering on the diesel is very heavy, the petrol is a light as a feather, can't just be the weight of that dielsel lump can it?. Having had it from new I suppose we've not noticed if the power steering efficiency has dropped off.

Another one for you - the heater "gurgles", water levels are upto mark and the cooling system has an auto bleed to the header tank, but ever since the 1st gasket problem it's "gurgled", heater still chucks out tons of heat though.

Any advice much appeciated.
Ziomike.

 

[deezel]

Pipes should be hot top and bottom. Sounds as if the thermostat is stuck shut.or pressure from the engine blocking the circulation of water ie head gasket leak.If you renew the head gasket the head itself must be skimmed to ensure a lasting job.The firm that do the job should supply you with the appropriate thickness of gasket for the rebuild. Ihad the torque settings for the head somewhere Iwill send them when I find them.A torx bit is neede to undo the head bolts.
DEEZEL

 

[Ziomike]

Deezel, Hi

The head gasket has gone there was back pressure in the header tank with the cap off bubbles were coming back up into the tank, I'm in the process of replacing it. The thermostat was replaced about 3 months ago with a new fiat part.
When I have the head off I am going to check the water pathways just to see if there is any blockage.
Torque setting would help if you can find it, I'v new bolts on order.
Do you know what the proceedure is to check for correct alignment / timing when replacing the timing belt ?

Many thanks.

 

[deezel]

The figures I have for the head are as follows
stage1- tighten down to 50NM
stage2- tighten down to 100NM
stage3- angle tighten 120 deg.
The outer bolts are 30 NM
I found that entering the outer bolts at the same time as the head bolts makes it easier.ie before tightening down. Tighten the head bolts in a circular sequence from the middle outwards.As if you aredrawing a spiral.
DEEZEL

 

[Ziomike]

Many thanks for that info Deezel, not even Fiat have come back to me yet.

 

[Ziomike]

Deezel, Do you know the alignment of the pump / crankshaft / camshaft timing marks. From what I can see they should all be vertical at no1 tdc. Yes ?

 

[deezel]

For the ordinary diesel YES.There is a groove on both the pump and camshaft wheels which line up with a cutout or stamped arrow on the backplate of the timing cover.As far as the crank is concerned I use the mark on the flywheel which can be seen when you remove the oblong cover from the top of the clutch bellhousing. There is a notch in the opening nearest the engine.Line up the line on the flywheel with this and you are on TDC No. 1. You may have to clean up the rim of the flywheel to see the line.
Cheers DEEZEL

 

[mrsmop]

anyone know of a decent body kit for the tempra
[?]