overheating problem

[mac]

Has anyone had this problem?

My series 1 coupe has a near new thermostat, newly reconditioned radiator and yet without warning, the temperature gauge shoots up and I find a lot of coolant has been passed out the overflow pipe.

I can be driving up and down hills, driving at a good speed and the temperature remains normal and later I can be driving at around 50mph on the flat and suddenly the problem occurs.

There are no leaks around the water pump, so I am at a loss to trace the problem – any ideas/ help appreciated!

[Ed Levin]

when the 'newly reconditioned' radiator was reinstalled, are you sure all the air was purged from the system? have you tested the thermostat? did you have a similar problem before you did the radiator and T-stat work?

[Michael Beattie]

Best thing to do is to make sure the front of the car is raised when putting in the coolant, either with a jack or ramps etc.

[Stephan Protzen]

I would suspect either air as Ed suggested or the radiator cap it's self. Was the radiator neck worked on?
The distance from the top of the filler neck to where the rubber seats needs to be fairly exact. I ordered a new cap and it did not fit correctly alowing coolant to escape through the overflow. There are pressure testers for both the system and the cap, or you could just try a different cap.

[william]

I had never ever had any problems with air when filling up a drained system. Just because there is no expansion tank it is so simple. Just pour water in till about one inch from the top.
I had a problem which describes like yours. It turned out that impeller of the (reconditioned) waterpump was not always turning when the waterpump shaft was. It was sometimes slipping. Possible as there are no splines or conical seat. Just clamping power of the jam nut. Taking the small cover off the pump and retightening the nut cured the problem.

[John Simister]

I fear it might be a head gasket failure. Any sign of water in the oil, such as a creamy residue under the oil filler cap?

John Simister

[Huib Geurink]

Above mentioned possibilities are very valid. The joker however is the fact that it overheats occasionally, not all the time. As William says it might be a loose impeller.

I had a similar problem once on a customer's coupe. Sometimes it lost coolant but not always. It turned out to be an almost completely blocked radiator. So, the question is: what do you mean by reconditioned radiator? In my book a reconditioned radiator means a new matrix.

William mentions that he never has a problem when filling up. This could very well be the case. Be careful though.Some Fulvia's never have a problem, some always have a problem and some have a problem occasionally. It is best to always be carefull when filling up. What I do on cars known to have a problem is to take the water temp sensor out when filling up.

When filling up make sure the heater cock is open and run the engine a few minutes with the rad cap off. The return of the heater goes to the bottom of the radiator. This is smart. It allows air to escape to the top of the rad and out off the system. For some reason this only works with the cap off.

[mac]

Thank you John. I can't see any contaminants in the oil, however I ran the overflow pipe into a plastic bottle and found the coolant had gone into the bottle. So hopefully it's not the gasket.

[mac]

Thank you William - I will try it!

[mac]

The neck of the radiator cap seems ok and the new cap also seems to fit ok - but it's worth trying another one. Thank you Stephan.