Still overheating...could this be anything besides thermo

[beachspider]

I had a shop install one of Mark's fine radiators, new water pump, new thermo, new timing belt. (Thanks, Mark.) Looks good in the but car, fan working but still not cooling properly. My mechanic swears head gasket is fine. Car runs smooth and no sign of contamination in the oil. I have also installed Vick's burp kit and followed their instructions repeatedly. When the car is running the lower radiator hose stays cold. Once I shut off the car, the upper part of that hose gets warmer. At this point, could it be anything but the thermostat?

[azruss]

If the lower rad hose stays cold, the stadt isnt opening. This usually mean you have an air bubble on the low side that is preventing proper heat transfer. Did you drill a weep hole in the stadt. Do you have the minimum fluid level in the overflow tank. I raise the nose of the car when i am filling for the first time. Also message the hoses to get all the burps out. I do this before I top off thru the heater hose flush tee.

[beachspider]

Haven't drilled the hole...I've seen conflicting opinions on that but have been squeezing those hoses a lot.

[manoa matt]

To get the air bubble out of the lower rad hose, loosen the clamp and wedge a flat blade screwdiver between the hose and stat to break the seal, then retighten. Secondly, is the thermostat installed correctly? The one leg that is machined should go towards the water pump.

[4uall]

I have never raised my car, nor have I installed a T kit etc. To each their own I guess.

http://forum.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtop ... on#p151872



FYI

[RRoller123]

I follow 4Uall's posted procedure, but I do raise the front, just to be sure the air gets out of the top water manifold. I don't have the T either, and no problems.

Pete

[So Cal Mark]

remove the stat and heat it with a hair drier, that way you can see if it opens

[RRoller123]

Good idea. And if you have/get one of those inexpensive plumber's thermometers at HD, you can check the action of the t-stat on the stove pretty easily too, and get a numeric result of its accuracy.

Pete

[azruss]

you can push the valve open with your fingers. I find many of them are "sticky" and dont slide well...enough to keep them from opening or closing properly. i put a very light coating of anti-sieze on the valve stem to help the cause. I drove a spider as a daily driver for 23 years and burped the system the old school way. With the current car, I drilled the weep hole and added the heater line filler. Burping was a slam-dunk. Wish i knew about these tricks years ago.

[majicwrench]

Interesting, I have never drilled my stat or installed a T. Methinks if you are have issues bleeding it, something else is less than perfect, but what do I know.
Thowing t stat in pan of boiling water, as shown, is sure fire test.
Keith

[beachspider]

Plopped thermostat in boiling pot, it's consistently opening up around 205 to 210 degrees so I guess that's my problem. Would it be a bad idea to somehow disable the thermostat until I can get another one? If that's ok to do, how best to accomplish? Thanks for all the sound advice.

[beachspider]

My other thought: what if I were to somehow disable this thermostat and temporarily install a thermostat in the head? Thinking I could get one of these locally while waiting for a new stat.

[So Cal Mark]

does it open completely or partially?

[beachspider]

It just begins to open at 205 (first bubble seen when submerged in boiling water), I think it's fully open at 220 or so but not entirely sure. What do they look like when open fully?
Thanks, Tim

[RRoller123]

If my memory serves me correctly I think these are supposed to start opening around 180?