instalation of thermostat

Maintenance advice to keep your Spider in shape.
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dmwhiteoak
Posts: 1088
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:12 pm
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 spider
Location: White Oak Tx

instalation of thermostat

Post by dmwhiteoak »

I have reason to believe the po installed the themostat wrong. Without going into a long drawn out story,could someone tell me the correct position. Two of the openings are through flowing, the other opening you can see the top of the thermostat itself. From what I can tell from my manuals the opening that the thermo is visible from goes toward the pump. That is not how it installed. After I turned it around I dont believe it is opening.The engine temp went to 220 and the fan never came on.The lower radiator hose never heated up. Is this thermostat bad. After running All summer in triple didget heat the car never got hot. The reason Im messing with it is because I have no water flow to my heater core.took both hoses off with car running and 190deg and just a dribble from both hoses. Temp of dribble ,117 deg. I said no long story , sorry.
Dennis Modisette

1972 124 Spider
2003 Chevrolet Z71
2007 GMC Yucon
azygoustoyou

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by azygoustoyou »

Here is the answer. Look at the bottom note.
http://www.international-auto.com/fiat- ... in-cam.cfm
:P
Here is a good link for you to use if you need other answers.
http://www.international-auto.com/tech-bulletins.cfm
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azruss
Posts: 3659
Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 12:24 pm
Your car is a: 80 Fiat 2000 FI

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by azruss »

I angsted over this issue myself, as the exterior stadt doesnt really give you the answer. one of my books showed a good diagram of the coolant flow and it shows the valve to be in the bottom radiator hose line. This makes sense as it allows the water pump to circulate coolant thru the motor with the valve closed. when the valve opens, then coolant flows thru the radiator. If you have the valve in the water pump line, then you have no flow anywhere until the valve opens. As mentioned the problem with these is the valve is in the cold water line and thus can be slow to get warmed up. Drilling a small hole in the valve allows a little flow and eliminates any air pocket below the valve.
dmwhiteoak
Posts: 1088
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:12 pm
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 spider
Location: White Oak Tx

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by dmwhiteoak »

Both of my manuals show the valve ( best I can tell) in the line to the water pump as does the diagrem from IAP supplied by Brian. Now I could be reading it wrong.The valve was in the hose to the bottom of rad before I changed it but I was getting absolutely no flow to the heater core , just a dribble from both hoses .Thats what got me looking at this. I burped the system the way the manual stated many times but I never had a overheating issue, until I changed flow through stat.I have also inserted a flushing T in the hose from the head to the core and filled with coolant. The burping procedure in my manual is slightly different than that of IAP's so when I get home in the morning I will follow that one. Should I put the stat back in line with the bottom hose?
Dennis Modisette

1972 124 Spider
2003 Chevrolet Z71
2007 GMC Yucon
dmwhiteoak
Posts: 1088
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:12 pm
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 spider
Location: White Oak Tx

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by dmwhiteoak »

sorry, that was Brady ,dont know where I got Brian from.
Dennis Modisette

1972 124 Spider
2003 Chevrolet Z71
2007 GMC Yucon
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azruss
Posts: 3659
Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 12:24 pm
Your car is a: 80 Fiat 2000 FI

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by azruss »

I found this flow chart in my Autobooks 925; 124 sport, Spyder, 1600, 1800,1966-73. I have 4 other sources and none of them show a flow chart. Mine is oriented like this. from looking at my pictures, the original when i got the car was oriented like this as well. still not sure why you need the small hole as the heat plug is in the upper flow stream.

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rlux4
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Posts: 4211
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:32 pm
Your car is a: 1982 2000 Spider
Location: Granite Falls, Wa

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by rlux4 »

Russ, it's not that you need the hole, it just makes it easier to purge air trapped between the bottom of the radiator and the stat. As coolant is added, the first place it goes is out the bottom of the radiator and into the hose and up towards the stat. The air in the hose forced up and has no way to escape, being trapped by the closed stat. If there's enough air at that point it would inhibit the stat from opening during warm up. The hole allows any air that's there to rise to the top of the system and escape, and coolant to dribble down further ensuring that this air is displaced. I thought I'd give this idea a try once after having a devil of a time burping my system when I changed my stat. During this time I replaced my wife's stat on her Dodge Caravan and it had a hole in it from the factory. It got me to thinking why it would be there and the answer was to help in purging air. I gave it a try on the Spider and it worked like a charm. Later I found out that IAP has it on their website in the tech section.
Ron
Ron Luxmore
rlux2n2@gmail.com
'82 2000 Spider: after 26 years between Spiders.
dmwhiteoak
Posts: 1088
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:12 pm
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 spider
Location: White Oak Tx

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by dmwhiteoak »

So with looking at the flow chart the stat does go in the lower radiator hose. After a short nap I will change it back,burp the system,and look for other reasons I have no flow to the heater core. Thanks for the help .
Dennis Modisette

1972 124 Spider
2003 Chevrolet Z71
2007 GMC Yucon
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azruss
Posts: 3659
Joined: Sun May 30, 2010 12:24 pm
Your car is a: 80 Fiat 2000 FI

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by azruss »

the orientation of the stadt should not effect water flow to the heater. the heater lead pipe connects between the water pump and the stadt, so you should get flow thru the heater whether the stadt is open or closed.
vandor
Posts: 3996
Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 1:23 pm
Your car is a: 1971 124 Spider
Location: Texas, USA

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by vandor »

dmwhiteoak wrote:I have reason to believe the po installed the themostat wrong. Without going into a long drawn out story,could someone tell me the correct position.
True for all external t-stats: The outlet you cannot blow through goes to the bottom radiator hose.
Csaba
'71 124 Spider, much modified
'17 124 Abarth, silver
http://italiancarclub.com/csaba/
Co-owner of the best dang Fiat parts place in town
dmwhiteoak
Posts: 1088
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:12 pm
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 spider
Location: White Oak Tx

Re: instalation of thermostat

Post by dmwhiteoak »

PROBLEM SOLVED: Installed new thermostat with stat in line with lower radiator hose . The problem with circulation was plugged piping to the heater core . thanks for the help .
Dennis Modisette

1972 124 Spider
2003 Chevrolet Z71
2007 GMC Yucon
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