What temperature????

[dmwhiteoak]

Don't give up on your spider. It will be well worth the effort to get it right.

[Dianespider]

I do not know if the thermostat is correct since I have not found anything to tell me exactly how it is installed. I used a picture from the IAP video and put it in the way I saw it in the picture. Not giving up YET, but pretty close....... I have worked on it every evening for the past two weeks and have seen very few results, so I am getting a bit discouraged.

[dmwhiteoak]

Where snouts are you located ? Maybe we can send help.

[Dianespider]

I took a picture from IAPs site and used it as a guide........here are some pictures of mine........ Go to this site url

https://sites.google.com/site/glorydayz ... er-project

[courtenay]

Hard to tell from the pictures. Easiest way to tell if it's opening is to feel the lower rad hose when the car is hot. If the hose is cool, then the tstat isn't opening and may be installed wrong. One way to figure out how to connect the hoses is to blow into each opening. The one you can't blow through connects to the lower rad hose.
As others have said, however, 210 isn't bad if you're stopped or in slow traffic - as long as your fan is running. That's quite common with my car. It shoudn't happen at normal driving speeds, though - should be around190.

[4uall]

not sure if you checked out my post or not however, you may want to look at your internal thermostat


Why she was overheating by itzebtze, on Flickr

[4uall]

Cooling Circuit Diagram by itzebtze, on Flickr

[4uall]

Bleeding a Fiat Spider by itzebtze, on Flickr

[Dianespider]

COOL, the diagram helps a lot, and did not check the internal Tstat yet but will shortly. Thanks so much for the help, I really do want to keep the Spider, it is a blast to drive.............

[Dianespider]

OK, took the housing off for the internal tstat and there is not one installed, as I remember the removal of this in most american made cars will let water circulate too fast to cool off............ am I correct?????????

[rlux4]

Yes. It causes the coolant to pass through the radiator too quickly for enough heat transfer. I found out on my trip to Orgon 08 that without the stat the engine would maintain temp until any strain was put on the system as in going up hill or stopped at idle.
Ron

[Dianespider]

Well.........back to the discussion board............. the only thermostat I could find was a 195 Degree and it did exactly the same thing.......once the temp rises to above 210 degrees it just keeps on climbing and will not cool back off. I felt the bottom hose on radiator and could tell when the external Tstat opened up which was at about 195 or so......... I am at a loss here, never had one I could not figure out how to cool.................

[spidernut]

If the lower radiator hose starts off cold, holds at the cold temperature until the thermostat opens up, then becomes warm quickly as the thermostat opens, your thermostat isn't the issue.

A couple things to check:

1. Does water flow freely through the radiator? It might need be obstructed and need to be rodded or re-cored. It is not expensive to have it rodded and re-soldered. Re-coring can be a bit pricey. Any radiator shop should be able to check it out and tell you if that's the problem.
2. You could have a bad/corroded or obstructed water pump that isn't flowing the water rapidly enough through the system. The pump itself is inexpensive, replacing it is a bit of a pain.

Other things that could have a very minor influence would be:
- Bad radiator cap
- Plugged heater core. Are you getting heat when the engine is warmed up? That usually won't cause an overheating problem since you can bypass the heater core entirely with no negative affect.
- Are the hoses routed correctly? Take pictures of all the hoses and how they're routed an post them on the forum.

If you're positive that you got all of the air pockets out of the cooling system, I'd surmise it would be the radiator or water pump.

Once you get this resolved, you'll be more knowledgeable than most people! Think of it as a great education in auto restoration. I'm sure this isn't fun for you, but think of it as a positive learning experience.

[Baz]

I had temp concerns in my 77, (2ltr) new gauge, rad sensor, tested everything, bled everything, still ran at 190-195 and fan came on around 210.

I had my exhaust headers ceramic coated and never had another problem. The temp in the engine well dropped considerably and I would estimate regualr running at around 170-175 and at the lights top at about 190...fan hardly ever comes on...it does work.


Baz

[Dianespider]

Thanks for all the advise ....... went to a cooler thermostat, put a restrictor plate in place of the internal Tstat , and went to a 14 inch pusher fan and the temp never gets over 180 now.........Appreciate all the help....