Engine running very cool

[Moss Trooper]

Hi Folks,

Pretty new to the forum but not to engines, but my problem has me stumped!!

I have a Fiat Ducato Holdsworth Fanfare HTL 1989 with a two litre engine. Took it out over the weekend for the first time and noticed that the engine is running very cool. The first thing I thought of was thermostat but this is working OK in a pan of hot water. I will say that it has a brand new radiator and I'm wondering if this is over cooling the system.

The other problem is it's very thirst on petrol, just wondering if this is due to the over cooling; so the engine isn't getting to its optimum temperature.

Any ideas or comments

Thanks in advance.

Ian P

PS. I have the idea of blanking off part of the radiatore! Good idea or bad idea?

 

[Randonneur]

With a new radiator being fitted it's possible there may be air in the cooling system and this could be giving your temperature gauge a false reading.

If it's a mark 1 fiat ducato then it's the same as the talbot express and the peugeot J5, and the heater matrix is the highest point in the cooling system. It is possible that, when the new rad was fitted the engine was refilled with coolant but it was'nt pumped up to the heater radiator, therefore leaving air in the system which could be giving your temp gauge a false reading.

When I did mine, ( talbot express 2.5D ), I bled the cooling system by putting the heater control lever all the way over to hot then running the engine with the radiator cap off the expansion tank until all the air had been purged from the system. You know it's been purged when the heater blows hot like it should do. N B : Don't put the rad cap back on until the engine has cooled down.

As for running rich, I have no experience of the petrol variants of these vans but if it has an auto choke I would imagine it may be sticking if it has'nt been used for a long time.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Dave.

 

[Moss Trooper]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the info on the cooling, I will give it a try and let you know the outcome.

Ian P

 

[Deleted member 8180]

Cool running is usually the result of mixture too rich (excess fuel evaporating in the cylinders) - could also explain excessive fuel consumption. Can also be caused by having a Jamaican bobsleigh team on board.

 

[Kontiki]

Are you sure it is running too cool & not a faulty temperature gauge or the sensor. I used to have a 1987 Kontiki on the 2 litre petrol engine. It was pretty useless, no power & very thirsty (I think it was around 20 to the gallon but that was when petrol was a reasonable price )