[lohithrao]

Jayant, Surya thanks for the inputs, i need to get the radiator cleaned.

meanwhile i dont think i mentioned what was the issue with the "temperature raising", the relay seemed to have some issue from which the fan used to switch off soon or it used to take long to start.

[lohithrao]

On a perfect sunny day with slow moving traffic and with "AC" on the needle gets to 70% mark easily

Weird part is when the car is on the move the needle is at 30% but as the speed reduces or when it is in single digit speed within no time it crosses 50% and starts heading towards 70% and in same way the moment we start doing some speed the needle gets back below 50% mark..

Now what can be the issue?

- Is there a issue with the thermostat
- Is the fan speed not enough, this issue was thier even with the old fan
- Radiator pores are blocked?

When i spoke with the SA he told lets get the radiator cleaned, i mean a procedure where they apply some chemical which cleans the pores/holes which might do the trick.

So what you guys think? i really want to get this issue sorted out soon!

[lohithrao]

Now on the AC, i believe the "AC filter is not cleaned at all eh! this filter is is somewhere under the dash board and removing it and fitting it back is going to be a long process so i guess its never cleaned?

this way for sure the AC performance will suffer, anyone has any idea on this and does it make sense to get it cleaned? at *** or at local AC mechs?

meanwhile am attaching the pictures of the lower arm and the bill...

[lohithrao]

Waiting to hear some suggestions.. Surya , Jayant any pointers?

Originally Posted by lohithrao

On a perfect sunny day with slow moving traffic and with "AC" on the needle gets to 70% mark easily

Weird part is when the car is on the move the needle is at 30% but as the speed reduces or when it is in single digit speed within no time it crosses 50% and starts heading towards 70% and in same way the moment we start doing some speed the needle gets back below 50% mark..

Now what can be the issue?

- Is there a issue with the thermostat
- Is the fan speed not enough, this issue was thier even with the old fan
- Radiator pores are blocked?

When i spoke with the SA he told lets get the radiator cleaned, i mean a procedure where they apply some chemical which cleans the pores/holes which might do the trick.

So what you guys think? i really want to get this issue sorted out soon!

[JVH]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

On a perfect sunny day with slow moving traffic and with "AC" on the needle gets to 70% mark easily

Now what can be the issue?

- Is there a issue with the thermostat
- Is the fan speed not enough, this issue was thier even with the old fan
- Radiator pores are blocked?

Me thinks, either Thermostat valve is blocked or radiator pores are blocked. If fan was the culprit, the cause would have been identified during your fan job itself.

Am assuming, you got the radiator cleaned through compressed air and water spray?

Originally Posted by lohithrao

When i spoke with the SA he told lets get the radiator cleaned, i mean a procedure where they apply some chemical which cleans the pores/holes which might do the trick.

So what you guys think? i really want to get this issue sorted out soon!

Do check the thermostat valve position and then proceed with the above job. Haven't personally experienced this type of cleaning though.

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Now on the AC, i believe the "AC filter is not cleaned at all eh! this filter is is somewhere under the dash board and removing it and fitting it back is going to be a long process so i guess its never cleaned?

this way for sure the AC performance will suffer, anyone has any idea on this and does it make sense to get it cleaned? at *** or at local AC mechs?

meanwhile am attaching the pictures of the lower arm and the bill...

No idea about how much the performance suffers but it sure is a hellish job. My mech and the AC mechanic both shyed away when we were discussing about the filter for the reasons you mentioned regarding the dashboard.

Is this a concern for preventive maintenance or the performance is seriously affected?

[lohithrao]

Jayant, AC seems to be ok but considering the time and dust factor am very sure we will have it work much better.

remember reading Samurais pot on how his GV's ac stopped cooling and once the filter was cleaned it was back to normal and it seems that in every service they clean the filter and here the filter might have not got cleaned at all since the car was bought and i am surprised the ac still functions considering the dust it takes???

SA at TASS dint shy away but suggested me to leave the car when i have some time, of-course the local mechs will shy away as it would take a lot of time

What a great design

[planet_rocker]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Jayant, AC seems to be ok but considering the time and dust factor am very sure we will have it work much better.

Do check out DIY air pollen filter cleaning / changing in the fiat forum. How to replace the antipolen filter - The FIAT Forum

Originally Posted by lohithrao

What a great design

read my signature.

Originally Posted by JVH

Me thinks, either Thermostat valve is blocked or radiator pores are blocked. If fan was the culprit, the cause would have been identified during your fan job itself.

True - still think it is something else?

Lohith - did you do the mock testing of the fan - at which point the fan switches on when the car is hot at idle?

Originally Posted by JVH

Am assuming, you got the radiator cleaned through compressed air and water spray?

compressed air and then water spray.

Originally Posted by JVH

No idea about how much the performance suffers but it sure is a hellish job. My mech and the AC mechanic both shyed away when we were discussing about the filter for the reasons you mentioned regarding the dashboard.

Is this a concern for preventive maintenance or the performance is seriously affected?

dash board need not be opened for AC filter cleaning/changing - check the link.

Originally Posted by lohithrao

On a perfect sunny day with slow moving traffic and with "AC" on the needle gets to 70% mark easily

Weird part is when the car is on the move the needle is at 30% but as the speed reduces or when it is in single digit speed within no time it crosses 50% and starts heading towards 70% and in same way the moment we start doing some speed the needle gets back below 50% mark..

- Is there a issue with the thermostat
- Is the fan speed not enough, this issue was thier even with the old fan
- Radiator pores are blocked?

while on the move / highway drive - air cools the engine - but in stop go traffic - the fan reduces the engine / coolant temperature. visually check for coolant leaks.

check out the fiat forum for some related issues like this one: Technical: Palio 1.6 overheating - Page 2 - The FIAT Forum

a friend / gtx owner in Kolkata - on AC problem

According to Altaf it was a blown out O ring in the main discharge pipe. It was fixed and then pressure/vacum tested ok and then gas charged with original dupoint gas.

[JVH]

To check if Thermostat valve is the culprit, dip the thermostat in the boiling water of about 85 - 90 degrees. If the valve is opening, no issue with it.

Did you clean the radiator compressed air or water spray? Normally this the culprit for the kind of symptoms you are facing.

Regarding Air filter, make sure it'll be done by professionals. Opening the dashboard and fixing it again for a Palio/Adventure is a lot of pain. Plz get this job done only if you feel it is absolutely necessary.

Else new problems crop up...rattles

Edit - Just saw Surya's post and the link. Looks too simple to be true. Has anyone here tried that?

P.S - Lohith, Venkatesh was mentioning about a Caliper pin. Didn't ring any bell but just sent a message to check if the pin thing is done.

[lohithrao]

hmmm i guess will have to try these stuffs will update you guys...

Jayant, yes the "caliper" pin was missing when i picked the car and i got a pin done at lathe but since it does not have the rubber bush it makes noise on rough roads so i called Venkatesh but havent heard from him yet...

[JVH]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Jayant, yes the "caliper" pin was missing when i picked the car and i got a pin done at lathe but since it does not have the rubber bush it makes noise on rough roads so i called Venkatesh but havent heard from him yet...

Actually, he did mention that he forgot about it and asked me to check with you. Why don't you call him? He is a busy man now

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

compressed air and then water spray.

Yes, thats what I meant. BTW, what's the sudden new signature? Felt all along or something new?

[lohithrao]

Its almsot 11years since i was introduced to the motors and since then i learnt that no matter what category the vehicles falls into its always better to know a bit about it and incase of an issue troubleshoot yourself as it most likely save you from a lot of trouble...

Venkatesh suggested me to open the coolant(radiator) lid when in the morning and see if some air/gas escapes once the lidis opened and if tat happens then i need to worry about the head gasket and related issues...

so since i had not used the car yesterday, i checked in the evening and luckily that dint happen...

but i learnt the coolant level has dropped, i have done about mere 200kms post service and was shocked to see the level drop...people know that couple of months back during my trip to Bangalore the coolant had leaked completly resulting in overheating. post that i had asked the "Automatrix" guys to fix the issue and the car and i was in same assumption and even during the service i had instructed them to check.

Now this blew my lid off and first thing i did is to call the SA and BLAST him, he knew that they have screwed up and asked me to get the car today,so have given the car and hoping this time they will fix it...

have asked them to:

- find and fix the coolant leak.
- Radiator flush
- ofourse check th heating issue thoroughly

Again i dont think this is a complex issue but thanks to the bad troubleshooting and the responsibility of "Automatrix" this issue is dragged!

[JVH]

I do not think it is as major as a gasket leak issue. The symptoms of overheating point either towards radiator clogging or thermostat clogging.

Did you also ask them to check the thermostat?

[lohithrao]

Jayant, thats a good point will ask him to.

Yes when Venkatesh told that i was a bit jiffy but when i called the Vijay(Concorde) he said it is something to do with Radiator...

[lohithrao]

My Advy is back from "Sasural", yes TASS. hehe almost a week @ TASS and the SA was no hurry this time, thanks to the "gyan" what i had showered.

What i like about the SA's in TASS atleast the once i dealt with, you get a very prompt update...

This time the SA had made up his mind to iron out the issue and even i was in no hurry, but i had clearly asked him to flush the radiator...

now he keeps this for last and starts looking everywhere, day1,2, and i call and ask him and he is still looking for issue elsewhere. i asked him to pull out the radiator though it was a time consuming job....and bingo thier is a leak in the radiator...

What caused the leak? couple of months back i was ina mood for experiment and i had taken a adventurous way to fix the "radiator fan", this was due to that! the moron mech who fitted it had not given washers so that the distance between fan and radiator is maintained but he seemed to have just wanted to get done with the job and fixed the fan w/o washer which resulted in this!

ADVICE* please get the job done by a mech who know his job and more importantly a mech who knows the car make/model well.. else

Also it seems thier was another leak which was fixed too, got the car today and the damage to the pocket is 1400bucks in which almost 1k is for labor/repair of the radiator....

Now waiting to test the car, hope i dont see the needle crossing 50% mark ever!

[planet_rocker]

good to hear that the problem is solved and it doesn't crop up.

did the fan actually hit the radiator somehow?