Radiator Hose T's Terminated? Should I Care?

[supplyguy]

On my '71 the top radiator hose adjoining the external thermostat has the T severed and blocked that I see on other Fiat photos here seems to split and join another T down below on the right side of the engine (water pump?). I just have a direct connection from the pump to the radiator. Should I care?

[Weelan]

I think I understand that your thermostat is skipped? Pics would help. If there's no thermostat, the other T like thing to the right, I was just talking to TX82FIAT about that last night and we were wondering the same thing. Seems like it would just always pump through the radiator.

[htchevyii]

Early cars didn't have the extra hose and had a in head thermostat under the water neck. I've seen people make their own by blocking off the pass side hose. The later style, while uglier is supposed to work better.

[Turjeman]

Hello,

For what i know, Fiat has allways had problems with the Thermostat.
Many drivers, skiped the thermostat.
as for your question- No, you shuldent care.
The car fule consamption is a bit higher as long it is not idle temp.

My car dosent have it as well.

[supplyguy]

How do I post pix? I see instructions for adding photobucket URL's but I also see many embedded photos in others' postings. When I click Img above I get this: (img)(/img) thing.

[RRoller123]

First put the photos up on Photobucket. Then when you are in the Fiatspider forum, click the "img" button and you will get the "img" message that you mention.

Now, go back into Photobucket, hover the cursor over the picture you want and a drop down menu will appear, click on the "direct link" and it will give a "copied" message.

Go back to our forum and put the cursor in between the 2 "img" notes and click "paste" and the weblink for the picture will appear. Make sure that it pastes directly in between the 2 "img" notes.

When you post the message in the forum the picture will be wherever you placed that "img" message.

Remember that there is a file size limit to the pictures so you may need to downsize the photo with image software to get it to fit. To make them smaller, I just email the pic to myself in AOL and choose the "optimized" version when prompted, and they all fit perfectly.

Good luck, you will get it, just keep trying. It is quite cumbersome.

[kmead]

Yes you do want to get it back to its correct state.

Not having a thermostat is not a good thing. The car will operate most efficiently when it is operating at close to 180-190°. By efficient I mean not just fuel economy but also power output.

The thermostat is not a problem or problematic on a Fiat anymore than it is on any other car, most issues are with properly bleeding the system to get all of the air out.

The early cars did have an in head mounted thermostat with a single outlet from the head that leads into the radiator. These are found on 1438 and some early 1608 engines. I can't speak to which is actually better as mine which is a 1438 has no issues and is pretty easy to bleed. There is one extra hose when using the external thermostat but beyond that its a pretty painless set up.

The one thing I would strongly recommend adding is a flushing T at the top of the heater supply hose (just above where it comes out of the head and then dives down to the heater core). This should be at the highest point of the hose and therefor the system. Filling the system through the T can be a bit tedious but it will guarantee a complete and proper bleed of all the air in the system regardless of what thermostat you have.

All of the vendors can help you with the correct hoses, a new T if you need one and a new thermostat. I would go with the one that is intended for the year of your car (which is the external).

When you get the parts check back as the external thermostat can be a bit confusing to install.

[supplyguy]

Okay - Attempt#1

[htchevyii]

The PO has either eliminated the stat or put one in between the head and the water outlet (that's where they were on the early cars). You should remove the housing from the head and make sure there isnt a old style stat there.