My 75 runs great and at speed sits just below 190 deg. temp wise. Once I pull to a stop light though it rises in temp faily quickly. Within 4 minutes of sitting it jumps to 3/4 of the dial or right between 190 and 260. That seems way to fast to me. Now then my fan pops on right about midway at that point say 225. Should my engine stay cooler longer at a light or idleing per se. I just had my radiator rebuilt, temp. fan switch replaced. Let me know what your cars do idling.
Thanks
Gettin Hot in Houston!!!!
Cool.....ing question
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mbouse
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TJC
Re: Cool.....ing question
Also, don't necessarily believe the absolute number on the Veglia gauges. They're only good for reference only.
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manoa matt
- Posts: 3442
- Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:28 pm
- Your car is a: 1978 Fiat 124 Spider 1800
- Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Re: Cool.....ing question
Its time to invest in a non contact laser/infrared thermometer. It will give you accurate readings on the head temp near the sensors, the rad temp at the inlet and outlet hoses, the temp at the thermostat, and the temp near the fan switch. Once you get all those readings you can tell exactly whats going on and what elements in the system are working properly.
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blanchardkeith
Re: Cool.....ing question
What about the temperature of the elect. connection to the cooling fan. that connection gets very hot as well....
Thanks for all the info.
K
Thanks for all the info.
K
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So Cal Mark
Re: Cool.....ing question
hot contacts mean high resistance; check that connector for loose or corroded contacts
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HAWKER
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:44 pm
- Your car is a: 1982 FIAT SPIDER 2000
Re: Cool.....ing question
I had the same problem in my 82 Pininfarina. The cooling system has an ongoing problem of not getting all the air out or the system when the coolant mixture is added. The techie tell of a technique to make shure that the radiator fill port is above the top of the enging when adding coolant. Whatever, the problem is that your radiator is not getting an onging supply of hotwater from the thermostat. Either the Thermostat is not opening enough or there is an air pocket in the engine cooling jacket that gets to the waterpump and that stalls the flow of water through the enging and back to the radiator. My engine has a head seal leak allowing the pistons to pump air and a little oil back into the coolant. When I shut down the car after an overheat session; I could see oil floating on top of the water in the overflow chamber. I am in the process of changing the engine seals. Hopefully, this will heal the cooling problem. The air bubble problem was real for me, unfortuneately, the engine was making the bubbles. Most of the time it is just trapped air that can be handled by raising the radiator stem above the engine by the use of lifts. Open the heater core valve and take your time. You might need to check your thermostat. There are several techniques in the maintenance manual. I almost went for drilling a small hole in the thermostat diaphram to let hot water leak through to the other side of the valve to facilitate opening it. I was desperat. Good Luck, and you are right, she should not be running that hot without the fan tripping on sooner. Cautiously, feel the bottom hose feed to the radiator when the engine starts to overheat and if it is cold... the thermostat has not opened yet. This is my best shot for relief. I totally understand your frustration. You can fix it!
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alexGS
Re: Cool.....ing question
Thanks for the excellent input there, Hawker, many great points. It makes sense that where there are persistent air bubbles, the engine must be producing them!
A final possiblility I guess is that the water pump itself could have a loose or corroded impeller and therefore not move enough coolant around the engine at idle speeds.
As for filling the system, I remember some occasions on various other cars where the heater valve had been stuck and that made the job of bleeding the system very difficult. So, I usually start by making sure the heater really is 'on' and I test the flow through the heater with a garden hose.
There's only thing I can't work out about your post. You had cooling system problems on a 1982 Spider. According to posts I've read elsewhere on this forum, that simply isn't possible. 1982 Spiders never have any problems at all
A final possiblility I guess is that the water pump itself could have a loose or corroded impeller and therefore not move enough coolant around the engine at idle speeds.
As for filling the system, I remember some occasions on various other cars where the heater valve had been stuck and that made the job of bleeding the system very difficult. So, I usually start by making sure the heater really is 'on' and I test the flow through the heater with a garden hose.
There's only thing I can't work out about your post. You had cooling system problems on a 1982 Spider. According to posts I've read elsewhere on this forum, that simply isn't possible. 1982 Spiders never have any problems at all
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rlux4
- Patron 2022
- Posts: 4211
- Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:32 pm
- Your car is a: 1982 2000 Spider
- Location: Granite Falls, Wa
Re: Cool.....ing question
Excellent Alex! In the true spirit of FiatSpider.com. 
It's not true though that nothing ever goes wrong with a 82, it could happen. It's usually the owner who will take a simple problem and make it complicated (and expensive) though. Case in point, my experience with overheating that was caused by the little gasket on the heater tube attached to the water pump. I managed to turn that into about two weeks and about fifteen hundred dollars.
Ron
It's not true though that nothing ever goes wrong with a 82, it could happen. It's usually the owner who will take a simple problem and make it complicated (and expensive) though. Case in point, my experience with overheating that was caused by the little gasket on the heater tube attached to the water pump. I managed to turn that into about two weeks and about fifteen hundred dollars.
Ron
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jfrawley
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:00 pm
- Your car is a: 1982 Spider
Re: Cool.....ing question
I had the same basic issue, so one radiator, water pump, thermostat, hoses, temp sensors, etc later.....same issue. I bought an infrared thermometer and the readings looked normal so I felt a little better. Next I bought a new gauge, and the issue is gone. It must have been a gauge from an earlier model, because it certainly couldn't have been on my '82 to begin with.
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alexGS
Re: Cool.....ing question
I wondered how long it would be before you spotted my message, Ron 
You guys are great!
If it makes anyone feel any better, my 2001 FIAT had the problem of the gauge over-reading for the previous lady owner. She paid out for new thermostat, radiator, water pump (which led to a cambelt change), and eventually it was tied down to a software problem in the instrument cluster computer - a 5-minute 'update' cured it. After I bought the car, the instrument panel failed completely and I couldn't resuscitate it - US$800 later, it has a new instrument panel which only took six weeks to arrive from Italy and two hours to 'code' to the engine ECU and body computer. During those six weeks, I was driving with no speedometer, no odometer, no fuel gauge, no flashing light when the turn signals were on, etc. Nothing.
I love the separate gauges of the Spider. Can you imagine them all failing at once?
I have, though, managed to turn worn-out brake pads into a two-week operation involving replacement of all parts except for the brake pedal and servo. I think that's just par for the course when you start working on something that's 31 years old. In some ways, isn't that more satisfying than what I described above for the eight-year-old FIAT?
You guys are great!
If it makes anyone feel any better, my 2001 FIAT had the problem of the gauge over-reading for the previous lady owner. She paid out for new thermostat, radiator, water pump (which led to a cambelt change), and eventually it was tied down to a software problem in the instrument cluster computer - a 5-minute 'update' cured it. After I bought the car, the instrument panel failed completely and I couldn't resuscitate it - US$800 later, it has a new instrument panel which only took six weeks to arrive from Italy and two hours to 'code' to the engine ECU and body computer. During those six weeks, I was driving with no speedometer, no odometer, no fuel gauge, no flashing light when the turn signals were on, etc. Nothing.
I love the separate gauges of the Spider. Can you imagine them all failing at once?
I have, though, managed to turn worn-out brake pads into a two-week operation involving replacement of all parts except for the brake pedal and servo. I think that's just par for the course when you start working on something that's 31 years old. In some ways, isn't that more satisfying than what I described above for the eight-year-old FIAT?
Last edited by alexGS on Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:28 am, edited 2 times in total.
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alexGS
Re: Cool.....ing question
(sorry, I accidentally quoted myself and can't delete the message - still learning around here )
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mbouse
Re: Cool.....ing question
alexGS wrote: According to posts I've read elsewhere on this forum, that simply isn't possible. 1982 Spiders never have any problems at all
ACK!