Technical Thermostat replacement - use the Fiat part

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Technical Thermostat replacement - use the Fiat part

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Jan 1, 2007
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Bangor, County Down
Just replaced the original thermostat on my 1.4 Stilo. Used a Vernet (French) equivalent but discovered it leaked at the gasket because the edges of the bolt holes on the engine side of the housing sat proud of the flange. Therefore it was not possible to tighten the whole flange against the gasket. Belatedly looked at the original part and found it was perfectly flat around the bolt holes. My advice is to use the Fiat part for this job.
 
The screws will be fully threaded, since they don't pass through another assembly, just the thermostat's locating flange.

The flange is about 8mm thick... (from memory) so with a 1-2mm washer in there as well the first 10mm of the screw is not doing anything.

So the screw is going to be about 25mm .. no more than 30mm... in M6 flavor.



Ralf S.
 
A few more thoughts on thermostat replacement. It seems to be a very simple job on the 1.4 engine, but only if done with care and the right product. Unless the two mating faces are perfectly clean the new thermo will leak. This means getting all old gasket material off the engine side first and making sure there are no proud spots on the new thermostat flange. A smear of silicone sealer on both sides of the new gasket should help. Tighten the two bolts to 10Nm and all may be OK unless the new thermostat is duff and opens too soon, making the engine run cool. This is my problem at the moment with a MAPCO replacement thermostat, even though it says it opens at 87 degrees C. Next week I will try another make: FACET, made in Italy and will report on it. Should have got the Fiat part but can't find one on the web and my dealer is not convenient.
 
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Well, success at last. Following above procedure I fitted a Facet 7.8187 thermostat to my 1.4 and all is now well. No leak and engine temperature as it should be (temp gauge needle central in dial). The part is well made and the factory website is very interesting, with some history of the site and the small town in northern Italy where it is situated.
http://www.facet.eu/
 
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