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Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:45 am
by jimmycakes401
Do you think I can use a 90 degree elbow to bypass my heater core or should I make a 180 pipe? I'm just going to solder up some .75" copper for now until I save up enough for a core. Maybe in a month or two. I have a birthday coming up. : )

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:07 am
by 124JOE
i never bypassed a core
but if you can make a 180 go for it

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:34 am
by jimmycakes401
I'm only bypassing for now because mine is leaking and I can't afford a new one. I want to get my spider on the road. If I didn't want to get this thing running so soon I'd wait for the core. Hopefully in the next two months I'll install a new one.

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 1:22 pm
by jimmycakes401
Just started it again. The house on top of my throttle body started leaking coolant. It was not doing that the other day. Any ideas?

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 2:00 pm
by RRoller123
Throttle plate heater. You can bypass it.

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 2:14 pm
by jimmycakes401
LOL! Cut it out! I'm not going to bypass everything! HA!

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 2:15 pm
by jimmycakes401
Is there a gasket in there that can fail?

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 2:36 pm
by jimmycakes401
Looks like I'm idling half way between 10 and 15 on the tach. That sound about right? Or do I need some adjustment?

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 2:42 pm
by jimmycakes401
I just realized. I don't think my radiator fan kicked on.... Hmmm.... I should test it some how. I did need to rewire it because the PO broke off one of the tabs. Could I have wired it backwards? Prettys sure I went by the existing tab.

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:57 pm
by 124JOE
yes theres a gasket up there
do you have a volt tester?
test for pos at the fan if yes then run a ground and it should start
just be carefull it can chop a finger

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:10 pm
by jimmycakes401
Run a ground?

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:15 pm
by 124JOE
its a neg switch
when it sences heat it connects a ground
it should have positive all the time
i think

yes run a ground wire to test

i have a snap on tester that tells me pos or neg
but a test light "hooked uo to ground" will light when on a positive.

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:45 pm
by jimmycakes401
Okay. I think I get it. Will do.

Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 8:38 am
by jimmycakes401
Here's my engine running yesterday. I need to buy more coolant. It didn't fill all the way. I also have to burp it properly. I think I'm going to drain the system back out and drill a hole in the thermostat. I forgot to do that. Still heating up between 190 and red. I'll test out the fan and everything this week. Clean the grounds, fuses, etc...

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Re: 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 - What am I doing!? LOL!!

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 9:15 am
by RRoller123
Yes, the fan itself has constant power through the light blue wire (from fuse 10), even when the ignition is off. The black fan wire goes to the switch at the bottom of the radiator, which closes the circuit to ground when the radiator gets hot enough (like around 195F on my car) and allows the fan to run until it cools. Out of that switch, the other black wire goes to an intermediate connector and then up to the ground pod on the drivers side fender. The intermediate connector and the ground pod are where the problem probably lies. Mine were well corroded. But this is odd: Even after fixing it all, the fan wouldn't come on without the overide (mine had one wired in by PO) until I properly burped the cooling system. It seems that there can be an air pocket trapped down there that keeps the switch from seeing actual temperature. Its not intuitive, but that is what the evidence points to.

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