Re: 164 overheated!!

[Jerry Ecklund <jre2100@domain.elided>]

Does the car put out white smoke or a steamy looking
exhaust?  This would indicate head gasket problems. 
There are cases where the head gasket leaks water but
doesn't include the oil passages.  Therefore the
coolant wouldn't be milky or frothy.  There's also the
possibility the plastic coolant bottle has cracked. 
This happened to mine finally indicating why I had to
add water occasionally.  They crack on the rear side
and the water runs down the firewall.  This can only
be seen if you unbolt the bottle to inspect the rear
side.  I didn't have much water running onto my garage
floor and would never have noticed the crack if I
hadn't removed the bottle to work on the brake master
cylinder.  I think the water was sitting on the
subframe until the car was driven, then ran off when
the car was moving and wouldn't be noticable.  Water
being caught by the subframe could be hiding other
leaks as well, water pump, bad coolant pressure cap,
thermostat, etc.  The thermosats are a weak spot but
in my experience they usually get stuck open rather
than closed.  I've experienced this on both my 164's
as well as every Fiat and Lancia I've owned.  I'd only
take a 164 to a mechanic that's very familiar with
Alfas since there are known weak components across the
164 range and they are often not obvious to unfamiliar
eye.

Good luck,
Jerry Ecklund, San Francisco
'91 164S


Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 06:34:09 -0700
From: "Glenn Wasserman" <glennwa@domain.elided>
Subject: 164 overheated!!

I am having a problem with my '94 164Q. For the first
time, the car
overheated yesterday morning. I was not a hot day.

The previous day I had smelled coolant after getting
stuck in traffic,
and I made a note to watch the temp gauge carefully
next time I drove
it. Sure enough, the next morning the light went on
and I pulled over
immediately. Luckily I made it to a parking lot where
I could look the
car over easily.

The coolant had bubbled over, but not much - there was
a little sprayed
on the airflow meter, but not a big mess.
Interestingly though, the
overflow tank was completely empty. I ended up pouring
in about a 
gallon
and a half of a 50/50 coolant/water mix.

Is it possible the low coolant level caused the car to
overheat?

I guess the bigger question then becomes, where did
all the coolant go?
There must be a leak somewhere, hence the smell. I
didn't see it
anywhere, and oddly, no drops on my driveway (although
this morning,
after all this, I saw a few drops - can't be from the
A/C because I
haven't used that in a while). I think I would have
noticed over the
last couple of weeks if the car were leaking coolant
onto the driveway.

No milkshake in the oil, thankfully...

Can anyone give me any clues on where to look? I will
be bringing the
car into my mechanic ASAP but it may take a couple of
days to be able 
to
get the car over there.

Thanks,
- -Glenn

'94 164Q (hot-tempered)
'93 Spider Veloce (cool as a cucumber)
Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals.
http://personals.yahoo.com

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