Alfa Pages

[ChrisC]

10 minutes to travel 1/4 mile in town due to festival goers here in Shepton resulted in my sprint getting a little warm. Just before reaching work I had the little red light come on, temp reading a bit under 100.

It seems ok, but its spat out a bit of coolant here, cant see any leakage from under the engine, it looks it came from behind the n/s wheelarch. Has it just steamed up a bit and chucked it out an overflow?

Perhaps a thicker radiator core would be in order.. and a shiney new leccy fan
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Alfa Sprint QV - Gone to a better home and in happier health for it
Silver Lancia Beta HPE Volumex - under restoration

[john 33_16v]

Hi,

Overflow comes out behind ns driveshaft, so should be ok.

Did you put your heater on? In an emergency overheating looming situation, whack the heater on full blast to pull out some heat. You will sweat like Michael Jackson on verdict day, but could save a headgasket blow etc etc.

John
_________________
If it aint broke, fiddle with it until it is!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
93 33 16v Mirtle Met
08 Fiat Grande Punto Exotica Red
90 Yamaha FZR600 Genesis- Silky white/red/blue

[ChrisC]

yup, ive only ever owned one car that didnt heat up in traffic, so the heater trick is well known to me.
_________________
Alfa Sprint QV - Gone to a better home and in happier health for it
Silver Lancia Beta HPE Volumex - under restoration

[87sprint]

just a thought but...
are you sure alll the rest of your cooling system is in good nick - waterpump, thermostats, fan, hoses etc? its just that when everything works as it should the worst that should happen is the fan turning on and the temp leveling off - if it doesnt it would sound like theyre may be more to it. my sprint will sit in traffic in 30 plus degree and as long as the fan comes on its fine....

[me]

not logged in, but its me.. I dont think the cooling fan is coming on. Im going to check it out tomorrow because its absolutely pissing it down here. Sounds like god doesnt like the glasto hippies! its all going off right over worthy farm, lots of fork lightning etc.

Maybe its a good thing i decided not to go this year.

[GaryUK]

If the fans are running when it gets hot then chuck a bit of Barrs Stopleak Tablet into the cooling system and see if this sorts out the failing HG otherwise get the Radiator fan/sensor sorted.

[ChrisC]

who said anything about a failing head gasket? nothing to support that conclusion. I also wouldnt be putting in anything to gunk up the cooling sytem if it was.
_________________
Alfa Sprint QV - Gone to a better home and in happier health for it
Silver Lancia Beta HPE Volumex - under restoration

[Pipster]

I'm planning to fit two ventilators on my radiator on 33 16v. One was not quite sufficient even for 1.5 i.e. with AC. Now i'm constantly runing on 90+ °C when driving in town.

[Bellamachinna]

Hi...
My 16v also runs very hot. My temp. gauge sometimes indicates 110º.(sitting in traffic)
My water pump is new, the fan thermal switch is new, the thermostat is also new...
I use Paraflu in the cooling system, and after a major flushing, there are no traces of brown gunk in the expasion reservoir.
I never understanded why, the fan only cames on at 110º .
During the summer, i´ve fitted a manual switch to turn on the fan, when it reaches the 80/90º, but its anoying because i´ve got to be constantly looking at the gauge...
I dont think that this is normal, because i had several 33`s (mostly series 2), that the fan would turn on at 80º.
Somebody told me that series 3 16v run a bit hotter to improve combustion process, and emissions...But my car is not eqquiped with cat.
Also, my car doesnt maintain the temperature...
When i get some clear road ahead, the temp gauge starts dropping and during winter it goes down till 40º (during summer this is not so evident-it wil drop but only to 60º-at night).
This are 2 different problems.
-Fan only cames on at 110º (possible cause-fan thermal switch)
-Unable to maintain temperature at sustained speeds (possible cause-thermostat)
I`ve changed this lot, a while back with original Alfa parts, but nothing worked...
What do you think that this can be?
All the best
P.Camilo
_________________
All'interno della mia macchina, vi sedete, tenete sopra e CHIUDETE IN SU...

[gritsop]

Hi,

I can only conclude that your radiator may be clogged and insufficient coolant is cooled down by dynamic air.

Just an idea.

Regards
_________________
Thanassis Gritsopoulos
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE
2001 Alfa 147 1.6 Distinctive

http://www.alfa-restoration.co.uk
Parts Shop: www.alfa-restoration.co.uk/shop

[Ben_nz]

My 33 used to stay at around 80 until the mechanic thought this fan switch was faulty (turning fan off/on/off/on too frequently). He replaced it at no charge when he did the engine, and now the car gets up to nearly 100 in traffic before the fan comes on.
Once I get moving again, it'll cool down to 80 degrees.

I've recently seen an adjustable fan switch for sale in a car accessories shop - it has a temp probe which you put inside your radiator hose where the hose clamps to the radiator. That would be a good way to get some control over the cooling system.

[Bellamachinna]

Hi...
I also think that fan is suposed to turn on at around 80º. In my previous series 2, as soon as the needle in the gauge, got past the 80º mark, the fan started working.
This happened in 4 different 33`s (one 1.3s , one 1.7Q.V. and two 1.5TI).
One of these 1.5 was latter converted to 1.7 16v, but as i retained the fan thermal switch, the fan keept working at around 80º.
Also, i can´t have a clogged radiator. If i had the temperature would never stop increasing...
But as soon as i get less traffic, and speed encreases the temperature drops considerably. (with exterior temp. at around 30ºcels. the gauge gets to 70º-During the night, that gets even cooler-50º/60º).
Once, i even laughted at this. Before a trip by motorway of around 200Km, and after warming up the car (temp gauge was 70º, when started moving), when entered the motorway, and increased speed, i give a look at the gauge... . CAR WAS COOL (40º)
AHAHAHAHA bloody AH
Someone already sugested that i should change the fan thermal switch, to one from a Renault 4 GTL, that is suposed to turn on the fan a bit sonner, but i got serious reservations about this.
Basically i needed a car that runned a bit cooler in traffic and hotter in freeway.
Best Regards
P.Camilo
_________________
All'interno della mia macchina, vi sedete, tenete sopra e CHIUDETE IN SU...

[tvatavuk]

Hi,
AFAIK when temp drops that rapidly on highway it is 100% sign that thermostat isn't closing all the way as it should be.
Also 16v engines have thermoswitch that should turn on at 92 deg C, and off at 86(87)C.
_________________
Tino Vatavuk
Little black dress which replaced Alfa Romeo 33 S 16v Permanent 4 GMo

[Bellamachinna]

Yes, that was my guessing also. .
But after changing the thermostat, for a new one, that didn´t solve the problem...
The car always did this, when i bought it...
Suddenly the temperature, started increasing till 120º, and once i got the gauge warning light on, i understanded that something was very wrong.
I changed the thermostat, and the fan thermal switch, and flushed the system, but when testing the car, the temperature still went to the top... .
With the engine hot, my radiator was cool.-So i wasnt having any circulation at all. Took the water pump out, and discovered that, although
it looked alright, the inner plastic blades (that swirl the liquid), weren´t turning when i rotate the pump shaft. A new one was fitted, but the temperature remained going very hot in traffic (110º) and very cool on
highway....
For now, i´ve got an provisory solution. I´ve fitted a switch to turn the fan on manually. When it goes beyond 80º/90º i turn it on.
Not the best solution, but it works.
All the best.
P.Camilo
_________________
All'interno della mia macchina, vi sedete, tenete sopra e CHIUDETE IN SU...