General Well the spending has started!

[Myusername]

The piggy bank has been raided and a new thermostat has been ordered, much needed in the colder weather.

I followed the advice on here and ordered it from Shop4parts, but since they charged an outrageous £7.15 carriage for an £11 item?, they are unlikely to see my custom again - I'll just stick to eBay and eurocarparts.

Could someone please tell me the correct coolant to top up the system with?

Many thanks ?

 

[jrkitching]

Could someone please tell me the correct coolant to top up the system with?

Fiat might say to use only Paraflu UP, but any pink OAT coolant should be just fine.

For anyone else reading this who hasn't done this job yet, if you syphon out the coolant and use a clean container, you can just put it back in at the end. You only need to drop the level below the thermostat housing. Of course, if the coolant has been in there for 4 years or more, you might want to take this opportunity to change the lot.

 

[varesecrazy]

I followed the advice on here and ordered it from Shop4parts,they charged an outrageous £7.15 carriage for an £11 item

Could someone please tell me the correct coolant to top up the system with?

Many thanks ?

How much did you save with the voucher?

It usually covers my postage.. but I think I saw they only provided 'freepost' when over @£40 at the till


Changing the stat:

A poundland turkey baster.. or a Hydrometer will easily remove the 1 litre of coolant

Remove battery.. unbolt thermostat

Remove hose clips ( have new ones ready )

Wriggle stat free from hoses

Scrape the mounting face clean from old sealant and gasket

Reassemble

Read one of the many threads about coolant on the FIRE motors

 

[Myusername]

How much did you save with the voucher?

It usually covers my postage.. but I think I saw they only provided 'freepost' when over @£40 at the till


Changing the stat:

A poundland turkey baster.. or a Hydrometer will easily remove the 1 litre of coolant

Remove battery.. unbolt thermostat

Remove hose clips ( have new ones ready )

Wriggle stat free from hoses

Scrape the mounting face clean from old sealant and gasket

Reassemble

Read one of the many threads about coolant on the FIRE motors

Voucher? What voucher??

Oh, and will the radio need a code if I disconnect the battery?

 

[jrkitching]

will the radio need a code if I disconnect the battery?

Normally no; the radio code is also stored in non-volatile memory in the body computer.

 

[varesecrazy]

Radio code:

The cars system should recognise its own original battery..so not ask for a CODE

we fitted an upgraded FIAT CD Player.. after a while it 'adopted it'.. stopped asking for the CODE


The FIAT FORUM offer a member discount at
S4P.. it tends to cover my postage on what I buy

Last time if was front dampers and springs + droplinks

I tried ordering a month ago but my oil wasnt in stock

I have also bought thermostats from
AAP Oldham via ebay as part of 'headgasket repair packages'

They were fine.. caution..some sellers dont supply the gasket..


thankfully my 5 current FIATS dont include any FIRE motors..so no cambelt+ waterpump lifespan concerns for me

(Other than a VW Ive recently bought)

 

[koalar]

you need the code only if an original cassette play
or
the radio has been replaced


Original CD player is fine to disconnect the battery without the code

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Shop4parts - one of my favourite suppliers - clearly state that all orders over £25 are free shipping https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/ (scroll down their home page a little) so I never place an order for less than that. As with most, if you've got to pay shipping it's often cheaper to just buy from your local motor trade factor. Then, if you make a small donation to the forum https://www.fiatforum.com/donations.php (and it only needs to be very small, but appreciated if it's a "decent" amount) you can avail yourself of some extra discount and it all becomes quite economic.

 

[koalar]

the panda runs fine on any coolant thats designed for aluminium engines

mixing coolant types can be very bad

you can't tell what coolant is in there by colour

fluorescent Green, Blue, pink and so on aren't 100% and you dont know if its already got an incorrect mixture in there


Silicate hybrid organic acid technology can be left in longer although initially costs more. If you plan to keep the car for over 3 year its the way to go.


Dont run plain water to flush the system. Some parts will corrode quite quickly with plain steam hitting them.

 

[DaveMcT]

I flush mine with water from the dehumidifier as the air is filtered and it produces distilled water. Never had a problem. I NEVER use tap water because where I grew up a kettle would have flakes of scale falling off the element within a week. I now live in a (very) soft water area but apply the same rules.

Shop 4 Parts are my GO TO suppliers they always have OEM quality parts at fair prices. However, you have to check. Their current prices for clutch hydraulics are silly money.
As for the 'stat' a bottle of coolant (or any other consumable) would have pushed the cost over £25 so no delivery charge.

 

[DaveMcT]

Jock and I were clogging up the thermoses thread so Ive moved my last message to here

Absolutely Dave, always do a price search but watch that you are comparing like for like in terms of quality? S4p's price today on that master cylinder? https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=..._Panda_II_(04_to_09)_1.2_8v_Clutch_Hydraulics Although they seem to be out of stock on the cheapest option (LUK) but they are doing the genuine FCA one for a few pence under £140.

When we sorted out my boy's clutch problems (joint effort between me and Kenny Harrison's garage) he, Kenny, got a slave for it from the local factor for "peanuts" which subsequently I bled a couple of time before getting a "perfect" pedal. This cylinder looked identical to the original although I didn't see the box it came in and can't remember the brand. It is still functioning fine after about 2 years in service.

So, Always check around, but that's just a common sense approach.

I got a sealed clutch master cylinder assembly from eBay for the 100HP for about £75. But when the 1.2/60 needed doing, they were more than double the cost (£175 IIRC). I did some parts vendor searching and found the Borg & Beck master cyl for about £55. It's a solid casting rather than steel fabricated and fitted just fine. I had to bleed the system but that's easy enough. I think S4P are missing a trick not stocking alternative hydraulic parts because right now their prices for these particular parts are just silly.

This is for the Multijet but they are all the same even on the 500 and Ford Ka. £46.26 plus delivery of £8.50 which is about what I paid including delivery.
https://www.autodoc.co.uk/abs/14366705