Coolant Loss

[Parisien]

Recovery to the nearest garage, your intended destination or home


This is gotta be it Matt!!!!


P

 

[RSM Masser]

The moral of the story here is

PAY INSURANCE FOR A RISK FREE LIFE!!!!

However on the other hand after 20 years plus of driving and never being a member of the AA, Green Flag or anybody else, I spent £170 on a recovery last week, cant remember the time before that but was certainly more than 3 years ago .........................
Who is the winner?
Mind you - wish I had paid last Friday - the smug looks, comments from passers by, travelling nose to tail, at snail pace, as my pride and joy sat steaming by the roadside on the A4 just up from the Chiswick roundabout....

"Nice car mate - is it broken?"
"Should have bought a BMW / Audi / Porsche / anything German"
"Thats going to be expensive"

etc... etc

 

[rs48635]

Cheers Frank, Ill have a look into that.

It does appear though not to include recovery back to the UK.

Ahem

* Recovery to the nearest garage, your intended destination or home

 

[rs48635]

Also beware spare wheel clause.......

The vehicle you are travelling in must carry a serviceable spare tyre and wheel, and a key that will let us
remove a wheel secured by wheel nuts for the vehicle

 

[Parisien]

Rob, I dont have a spare, the company above recovered me to home last year


P

 

[rs48635]

Rob, I dont have a spare, the company above recovered me to home last year


P

Thought they would. Guees this aims to catch prople driving round with no spare or a duff one. Most of ours don't have a spare or even room for one.

 

[RSM Masser]

Well the replacement part arrived £8 from euro spares,plus 2 clips to take order over the tenner, plus delivery (recorded post) and finally vat - total cost just short of £20.

Not too difficult to fit - more awkward than difficult and a lot of patience required - howeverI still seem to have a problem.

The engine warms up nicely, thermostat opens - temp guage goes just past vertical beore the fans come on, at which point the temp falls rapidly back to normal.

My question is - what tells the fans to come on? seems likely that this sensor is operating a bit on the high side allowing the engine to get too hot before the fans run, unless I have a dreaded head gasket failure. I have checked the oil (no milky deposits) no eveidence of oil in water, lots of condensation out of the exhaust - but it is about 6 degrees outside! I hope its not the head gasket so trying to convince myself due to its cost!

 

[Parisien]

Not an issue I'd heard about, head gasket wise. No air lock in system? May well be the sensor giving up too...how many miles on it, year?


P

 

[RSM Masser]

Only 52000 miles, 2001 year, must admit I did a bit of research and head gaskets are not too common a problem - I have bled the system a few times, not sure I have all the air out - she is due a service but I've delayed this as we are moving house this weekend and I just wanted to be able to move the car (we are only moving 2 miles up the road) not to mention I want to see my new nieghbours faces as the V8 burbles away on the drive

 

[2b1ask1]

Don't know the 3200 for sure but usually the fans are triggered by an electronic thermocouple switch about half way up the radiator. My guess is it would be a standard Fiat/Alfa switch so get your one out and take it to Euro car parts or other motor factors and let them check the numbers. It's another drain down though!

 

[conaero]

It will be the same as the Alfa 156/GTV/147/GT system as it uses the same sensors.

There is a thermo sensor on the block somewhere which will trigger through a really. On the Alfas, these problems are caused usually by the fan resistor (which it appears you have replaced) and the relay, which is my bet.

I am not that up on the 3200 anymore but recon thats your problem, and as its so inexpensive, is the likely thing to replace.

Most Alfa owners drive round with a few spare relays in the glove box.

 

[conaero]

Here you go this might help:

B and C in item 1 are the cooling fan relays for fans 1 and 2 and check the fan fuses, I and J in item 1.

 

[rs48635]

It will be the same as the Alfa 156/GTV/147/GT system as it uses the same sensors.

There is a thermo sensor on the block somewhere which will trigger through a really. On the Alfas, these problems are caused usually by the fan resistor (which it appears you have replaced) and the relay, which is my bet.

I am not that up on the 3200 anymore but recon thats your problem, and as its so inexpensive, is the likely thing to replace.

Most Alfa owners drive round with a few spare relays in the glove box.

Good call.
Also the cooling is in two stages.
Check you get one fan cutting in first.
Only get both fans on when its really hot.

Maybe one of the fans / connections / relays is dodgy?

 

[RSM Masser]

Excellant advise - thanks to all - I will let my wife un pack all the boxes whilst I tinker in the garage with spanners!

 

[conaero]

I have spoken to Mike Roberts on your behalf and here is how the 3200 cylinders line up, number 4 is nearest the driver:

4* 5
3* 6
2* 7
1* 8

Front


So your failed No. 3 is third back on the left side as viewed from the front.

 

[RSM Masser]

Good call.
Also the cooling is in two stages.
Check you get one fan cutting in first.
Only get both fans on when its really hot.

Maybe one of the fans / connections / relays is dodgy?

Both fans kick in at once - they contra rotate as well - I had an issue when refitting after changing rad last year, one was sucking the other blowing - they should both draw air IN from outside the car

 

[conaero]

You can pull the relay and hot-wire the connectors to jump the fans on. Heres how its done on an Alfa, probably that exact same relay:

 

[RSM Masser]

Still getting a few problems - the fans definately come on and keep the engine at about 80 degres (slightly left of vertical on the temp guage) but as soon as they stop the temp creeps up if standing in traffic - even on these cold days, so I either have a dodgy thermostat, although that was replaced less than a year ago, not allowing enough water to the radiators, or a faulty fan sender unit - not necessariy the temp sender but the gizmo that tells the fans to run

 

[conaero]

Have you had the rad changed at all, it might be cruded up, just a thought.

 

[RSM Masser]

Radiator and thermostat both replaced last year
maybe its just me being paranoid when the temp gauge creeps past vertical before the fans kick in and it drops rapidly down to normal, my heart sank when it first blew the water pipe, the site of steam (which at first looked like smoke) billowing out of the bonnet vents is a wallet busting fright!