1998 Fiat Ducato running hot

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sun 8 Jul 2007 17:00
1998 Fiat Ducato running hot - matstro
Hi, I run a Ducato van 2.8D non turbo year 1998 with 105K on the clock. I've had the vehicle for 7 years and bought it with 55K on the clock.

It's now starting to run hot. If I drive at a steady 55mph the gauge stays well down. If I stick my foot down and do say 70mph, the temperature creeps up to about 90 on the gauge and steep hills etc also make it run much hotter. Whenever in traffic and if stationary, the gauge creeps up and the fan constantly cuts in and out after about 5 minutes. This never used to happen and it even happens in colder weather. I've never had the needle go the red cos the fan keeps it from doing so. The rad is missing quite a few sections of fins and the water level wont stay at maximum though it never drops below minimum. With the heater on, theres a smell of hot coolant in the cab.

Given that any water loss isn't ongoing (only goes down to minimum) what could be causing the running hot? Any ideas? Filling up water to the max doesnt make any difference to running temp - it still seems to run hot.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 8 Jul 2007 17:17
1998 Fiat Ducato running hot - Civic8
>>what could be causing the running hot?

Partial blockage of the rad will cause it,and you said fins are missing which would suggest rad needs replacing anyway,too much flexing on rad pipes may cause them to split.

Also sounds like you have a dripping matrix in heater
Reply | Report as offensive | Link