Technical No heating

[drandjelovic]

Hi all,

I’ve had a Fiat Panda 2006 (1.2 automatic no air con) for a few years now. A couple of months ago, when the cold started I noticed that it stopped blowing hot air (fan works fine).

I read other posts to bleed any air through the screw at the top of the pipe leading into the cabin. I drove the car for about 25-30min (not too cold today, about 3 C*) and when I parked I slowly opened the screw with a cloth. There was a bit of hissing and bubbles, very little red liquid came out and then nothing. I opened the screw all the way, but no further liquid came out.

Not sure if I am doing anything wrong or why there is no hot air.

Thanks you!

 

[koalar]

If it's blowing luke warm air when the outside temperature is cold, is the temperature gauge reaching half way

Or is it blowing stone cold, if it blowing stone cold don't drive the car until it's sorted

What's the coolant level like

 

[drandjelovic]

If it's blowing luke warm air when the outside temperature is cold, is the temperature gauge reaching half way

Or is it blowing stone cold, if it blowing stone cold don't drive the car until it's sorted

What's the coolant level like

I checked the coolant and it was actually below ‘min’. I topped it up and now heating works! I did not expect coolant to be an issue, as I had a service couple of months ago. Will monitor level in the next few days to see if it goes down (leak) or not.

I drove the car for about 20mins and the temperature did not go above 1/4. Should that worry me? Before topping up the coolant, temperature would get to 1/2 in 10mins at colder weather…

 

[koalar]

I checked the coolant and it was actually below ‘min’. I topped it up and now heating works! I did not expect coolant to be an issue, as I had a service couple of months ago. Will monitor level in the next few days to see if it goes down (leak) or not.

I drove the car for about 20mins and the temperature did not go above 1/4. Should that worry me? Before topping up the coolant, temperature would get to 1/2 in 10mins at colder weather…

Fingers crossed you will get away with it, but running low on coolant, enough to not circulate properly can lead to other problems, so keep a very close eye on it, probably best before every journey to start with

You need to check the top hose to see if there's coolant leaking past the thermostat

common problem with thermostate | FIAT Panda (Mk3)

when the weather get cold we get loads of cooling issues heaters only blowing warm P0115 error radiator fans coming on fast. gauge dropping down occationly. gauge only going up 1/4 way 90% are down to a missing rubber gasket inside the thermostat. Because the thermostat is opening and...

www.fiatforum.com

 

[Quantum Fireball]

I drove the car for about 20mins and the temperature did not go above 1/4. Should that worry me? Before topping up the coolant, temperature would get to 1/2 in 10mins at colder weather…

If you leave it idling for a few minutes, does it get up to temp? Thermostat may need replacing. Though I'd be concerned there's a leak somewhere too...

 

[drandjelovic]

Yesterday, after about 20min drive (local school run) it got to 3/8 on the temperature.

Yeah, I will monitor the level over the next few days.

 

[DaveMcT]

Low coolant will quickly blow the cylinder head gasket.

Check the steel pipe that runs across the front of engine behind the exhaust catalyst. Rust is a common source of leaks.

 

[koalar]

Yesterday, after about 20min drive (local school run) it got to 3/8 on the temperature.

Yeah, I will monitor the level over the next few days.

Should easy get to halfway, check as per link I posted above, it's very likely the thermostat is leaking, the cost of replacement is soon recuperated in reduced fuel