Lancia Beta Forum

Hi Guys my Beta saloon seems to run with the needle halfway between the mid mark and the red mark when driving. However when in traffic it goes right up to the red and sits ever so closely under it. At this point the fan cuts in but doesn't really move the temp back down unless I drive off.

Thermostat looks ok. System flushed and new coolant recently. Suspecting the fan. Just wondering what my options are to get the car running cooler? Sometimes when it runs hot it seems to develop a hic/misfire so it obviously doesn't like being too hot!

Any ideas much appreciated. Other than this I am really enjoying the car.

Cheers
Sean

If the fan comes on OK, stays on and cuts out again I'd suspect a faulty temperature sender (on top of cylinder head between the spark plugs) or even a dodgy gauge. If the fan stays on and fails to cool things down it could be something more serious, such as a leaking head gasket?

If the fan comes on then it doesn't sound like a problem with that as such, unless it is running slowly (worn motor or bearings, possibly a poor earth slowing it down??). Or missing a blade?

Hmm the head had crossed my mind. As a precaution when I did the coolant flush I put some steel seal in the system which claims to stop head gasket leaks.

Curiously though sometimes with the ignition off the temp gauge doesn't always go back down to min, sometimes it only drops to halfway. Does that point to a problem with the gauge or sender?

Cheers
Sean

Yes, looks like the guage could be sticking. As above the decider on this is if the fan cuts out ok.

How old is the radiator core?. Flushing the system will not always clear a blocked rod or remove the accumulated gunk that can build up. If the rad is sufficiently blocked it can give symptom's such as you are experiencing. Re-rodding a rad is not terribly expensive though. There are simple and cheap tools that test for combustion gas in your coolant, between $30-$50 will get you a kit and that will let you know if your head gasket has failed non invasively.

This sounds remarkably similar to my issue, see http://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2360.0 (http://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2360.0)

In the end mine was not actually running hot, it was just reading hot. I've not replaced the temp sender yet I just take it's readings with a pinch of salt.

Hi guys I checked the car by driving a few miles. Temp stayed somewhere between 180 and red. When I got back I let the car idle. Temp went to just under red then fan cut in for a couple of minutes and then went off. The temp at this point a tad cooler than before the fan cut in.

So the fan is cutting in and going off. And there is no steam coming from anywhere that would indicate overheating.

Is it likely to be a faulty gauge reading then? I'm hoping so. Does the gauge normally stay at about 180 on these cars?

Curiously when I turned the engine off.....

The temp still reads 180

The speedo reads 10mph

The fuel and oil pressure are  where they should be

The revs are at about 5.

Not sure if this is just a quirk and maybe a common thing?

In my experience the gauges vary fairly significantly across cars. My current gauge sits in the lower half when driving then goes pretty high in traffic on a hot day before the fan cuts in (enough to worry me; on my last car it cut in at 3/4 on the gauge). Looks like a sticky gauge. Everything should go to zero when you switch off. The speedo has a stopper at 10mph.

I think your engine is sound though.

The fan sensor deteriorates over the years and cuts in at higher and higher temps, well worth changing it if it's old

Had my classic friendly auto electrician check all the gauges and fan and everything is fine and dandy, all working ok. Engine all ok so nothing to worry about....thanks for the help guys. Fan is cutting in and out as it should and engine is at correct temp....

Cheers
Sean