Changed: '81 restoration

[toplessexpat]

Keep an eye on it.

- It's likely that the fan not working caused it to overheat and you lost coolant either out of the top of the radiator (check your gap seals right still) or the overflow bottle.

- It's possible that there's a small leak in the radiator that's squirting hot water over the fan.

Sort out the first point, and keep an eye out for the second. If your coolant keeps dropping (even if it's not overheating) you've got a leak somewhere

[dbr]

Thanks for the tips. I checked the coolant level and it hadn't gone down since I refilled it so I was hoping I didn't have a leak. I sprayed the "fins" of the radiator just in case any residue of the coolant should still be there. I idled it for about 10min and took it out for a drive with the fan manually on and no smoke!

I did have a couple of questions though. I have never driven a fiat spider so am not sure what the dashboard is reading is good. While it is idling it reads 10 RPM and if I idle it for about 10 min. the temp goes up to a little under 190 with fan on. This didn't seem good to me. Although on the drive it didn't pass 195.

The car seems to want to go into 3rd gear at around 25mph. Isn't this low?

Thanks, and here's to all fiat drivers!

[81SPIDERMATT]

The car seems to want to go into 3rd gear at around 25mph. Isn't this low?

not sure what you mean by this .... ???? is it by ear that you say this ... little high revving engine takes a bit getting used to .... what does the tachometer say ??

I will let others comment on the temp but sounds about right to me .... one thing though .... you should read up on filling the coolant .... the radiator cap is not the highest point in the system and fiats don't like air in the coolant system ...

car is looking great

[toplessexpat]

fiats don't like air in the coolant systemcar is looking great

x 100

There's two/three techniques (search "filling coolant" or similar on here). Basically one option is to jack up the front (or find a really steep hill, but a jack is easier ) and use the radiator cap + alot of "burping". Another is to disconnect one of the hoses and use it like a spout. My personal favorite is to install a T piece in the heater hose where it comes out of the top of the back of the head - it's the high point in the circuit, takes 2 mins to install, and works very well.

On the "driving"... as Matt says, the high revving engine can take a little getting used to.... I've not really thought about the revs I'm doing when I change, I'll make some notes this weekend!

[dbr]

Thanks all.

Before I refilled the coolant I read up on it and asked around and came up with the following plan. Tell me if this sounds like a good one. I put the car on a slant in the driveway. It wasn't too much of a slant but still. I then opened the radiator valve and started filling through a funnell attached at the T in the heater hose. Once the coolant started to overflow the radiator cap I then closed it and continued filling. Once the coolant had backed up I let the funnel remain full for about 15min. to let any airbubbles out. After 15 min I took it out and closed the T. I will continue keeping an I on the coolant level and temp. guage.

Sorry should have clarified. The tachometer reads a little over 20 at 25mph and in 2nd gear, it also sounds like it is revving a lot. So I jump into 3rd gear and the tachometer reads 15 and the revving leaves. I will try higher speeds today and see what happens then.

[81SPIDERMATT]

filling routine sounds good ..... you are leaving a lot of rpms unused if you are shifting at 20 .... I usually wont redline first gear but second and third are approaching 50 .... sounds like you need to take the car out and play a little harder .... as stated it takes some getting used to as it is not like whatever other car you drive ... I drive mine hard and it loves it ... and by hard I mean push that pedal on the right down and have some fun ....

[toplessexpat]

Yep - these engines were made to rev..... No need to redline it, but playing around 5000 rpm is just fine.

On filling the coolant... They key is to be filling from the top and squeezing out air pockets as you go. Provided the angle you've parked it at means the radiator cap is at the very highest point of the circuit you should be good to go. Also, makes sure the heater temperature lever is open.... Otherwise you'll have an air pocket in there.

[dbr]

So I was looking at the wiring today and realized several things. First what seems to be conection number 35 (Near relay) with 8 cavaties isn't plugged in. Nor is the other side there. Here is a picture (If I am wrong please let me know). This would make sense since from connection 35 alot of the misc. items wire in such as courtesy light, electric windows, cigarette lighter, etc…. The windows that I have now are manual but the old wires are still there. There is no sign of a cigarette lighter or courtesy light. I think that the warning lights for the seatbelts and handbrake are wired through the cigarette lighter and that would explain why they aren't working. Because of all this I ran into some questions.

It looks like I will have to rewire C35. But before I start I was wondering if anyone could tell me what came with the 1981 Fiat spider. Like did it come with the cigarette lighter if so where did it go? Even a picture of an interior of a 1981 spider would be very helpful. The PO redid alot of wiring for the radio and consoles/door items and so now I don't know what was there to begin with. Anything is greatly appreciated!

Does the seatbelt's switch attach to the the seatbelt itself. The seatbelts that I have now are on there own without any wire. My quess is that the handbrake switch attaches to the handbrake itself. But once again where? It's not there anymore.

I also have several dead-ending wires. I have been looking at the wiring diagrams but haven't been able to come up with solutions for these. Under the dash I have a 1 cavity brown/blue and 1 cavity Lt. blue/white and two of 1 cavity black/red. The black/red are joined together. Here are some pics. Behind the map pockets I have on the driver side a black/violet and gray/black. On the passenger's side I have a violet and gray. Any ideas?
I am sorry for the length in questions. But if anyone has any idea on any of them I am greatly appreciated.

Oh and here is a sunny picture of the car!

[RRoller123]

I will try to help as much as I can; I have an 80, and assume it is the same as an 81 but I can't be entirely sure. The handbrake switch does sit under the arm, it is a pushbutton type and is actuated when the arm is pulled up.

Cigarette lighter, yes was standard as far as I know.

The wires to the map pockets are likely for speakers, the colors you mention are common for speaker wiring.

Here is my 80 interior, below the radio left to right, are cigarette lighter, map light, hazard switch. The black rectangles with chrome borders on each side of the radio are plugs for the locations where power window switches would be, if fitted.

[wizard124]

dbr:
I chased these loose wires a few weeks ago. This is what I came up with. BTW, my C35 male end was missing also.

The double red/black connectors are for a power antenna switch. They run from the "I" fuse and are always hot. One single red/black runs to the C35. That output connects to the courtesy light.

My '80 also has the wires running to the doors for electric windows also. But, I have manual windows. The cars must have been pre-wired for that option. Most of the output from that C35 is for power windows.

The black/violet wires shown in the C35 connector are the door jamb grounds. I don't have the original radio console either so I didn't have any courtesy lights. This is what I did:

I carefully removed the spade connector for the door jamb ground from the C35. I used the red/black POS lead. I ran an LED light string under the dash. Now, opening either door I get this


EUREKA! Consulting my Electrical Manual, the blue/red (you called it brown/blue) and lt blue/white would connect to the output side of the power antenna switch (if you had one).

The map pocket wires you describe are speaker wires.

The cigar lighter gets its positive from a red wire out of C36 (from inline fuse behind fuse block). The ground runs through C36 to the G3 cluster (under dash above ignition switch).

[Ptoneill]

I like the interior lights I was thinking I'd like to do the same...thanks for posting this!

[dbr]

Thanks for the picture RRoller123. I can now rewire the center console.

That is a great idea wizard124. Never thought of that before. Might do that instead.

What wire should I use to rewire the center console?

[toplessexpat]

Hi -

I'm assuming that you've looked at http://www.artigue.com/fiatcontent/Wiring_1980_1982.pdf

C35 (on Page 2) is for the power windows. C36 on page 1 covers the cig lighter - but doesn't have that violet wire.

A

Edit: Ok, I've just noticed on Brad's diagrams there's a C36 later on that's feeding the radio etc. Is that perhaps the missing connection?

[dbr]

Sorry I should have been more clear. I was wondering what wire gauge I should use.

The connection I am missing is the male half of C35. I am starting to think that there never was a male connection since there were never an power window switches.
But now I am a little confused on the cigarette lighter. Page 1 of the diagram shows red and black wires, page 2 black and white/black wires, page 3 yellow/black and two black wires. Which ones really were used. Autoricambi sells the cigarette lighter but it only has two connections. My quess is that I use the red for power and black for the ground but what about the yellow/black? The black wire then connects to the radio which then connects to the courtesy light. Page 10 shows the courtesy light.

Sorry for any confusion. I will try to make a little more sense of it and then see if it work.

[toplessexpat]

I would go find the inline fuse that runs the cigarette lighter..... that should run to one of those single gang plugs.

I'd also break out the multimeter and see which of those single gangs are:

a) a ground
b) always on 12v
c) ignition switched 12v
d) door switch switched 12v. I suspect some of them are to drive your interior light switch .... which should have (I think) a Red/Black (same circuit as the power antenna), a Black/Violet (from the door switch), and a black (which runs through the radio, power windows etc)......

.... really delve into Brad's diagrams though.

A