S1 Cooling (not!)

[Don M]

Hi.

My recently purchased S1 (late) is having cooling problems.
1. I notice there are mounting bolts for two fans, but there is only one fitted. Is one missing? If yes, any info about sourcing one?
2. I have been told that there is a bleed bolt in the top of the radiator, accessible with the bonnet up. I can't see any access to the radiator from the top. What am I missing?

Cheers,

Don

[Doug Tye]

Hi Don

My car sounds fairly similar to yours regarding the bleed bolt. There should be a hole about 1 inch in diameter close to the near side bonnet hinge where you should be able to see an allen key type of bolt. If not, it looks as though a piece of welding has been done and covered the hole (as I have found out in my car).
As for the fan, I think only one was fitted as standard even though there is provision for 2. I am almost certain that a Fiat X/19 radiator and fan are the same. So it is possible to fit a second fan to provide some extra cooling if this concerns you.
So far I have not had an issue with the car overheating even though I cannot bleed all the air out of the system. All I do is to slightly raise the back of the car and then refill the cooling system. Then I run the car with the expansion cap off for about a minute. So far it has not overheated even though the car can be idling for quite sometime and the temperature guage does go up, but only till the fan cuts in then it steadys. Other reasons for overheating are blocked radiator cores (even if it looks OK from the outside)
I hope this has helped you a little.

Doug

[Don M]

Thanks Doug, appreciate the response.

Can you tell me exactly where the bleed hole is? Near side I guess is RH side to you.
Is it on the top or the back? On mine there's no access to the top, and there's definitely no bleed screw on the back of the radiator.

Raising the back makes sense to me if there's no bleed screw.

Pic of my car is at http://www.xpro.com.au/Private/MonteCarlo.htm

I have a query on another topic, but I'll post again.

Cheers,

Don

[leo]

Hello Don,
The hole for access to the bleed valve is about 3cm in diameter, within the luggage area and immediately behind the hinge (left hand side of car when sitting in it). Looking vertically in, the allen headed "tap" is easily visible.
btw the "nearside" is always the left even for lhd cars/carriages. Doug is Australia so his car is rhd same as ours (and very nice too!).
I'm afraid that the coolant circulation in a Montecarlo is still a mystery to me but a trick that I use when filling other cars is to squeeze the top hose when the engine is running to help dislodge any air pockets.

Leo

[claude]

hi don

if your engine is running too hold, you thermostat my be working not correctly.
if you don't have enough glycoshell ( or similar) all aluminium parts ( like the thermostat) will corrode what will cause the thermostat to lock.

cheers claude