Sudden overheating

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steve1
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2018 10:58 pm
Your car is a: 1980 124 Spider

Sudden overheating

Postby steve1 » Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:42 pm

I have a 1980 spider and just started having overheating issues - I have driven the car occasionally thru the winter and did not have any issues with the car running hot. I have not done any work on the cooling system. The engine timing was adjusted by a mechanic to get the emissions to pass. The past 2 days the temp gauge gets close to red - I had to pull over and wait for the car to cool down. I verified the fan comes on when shorting the wires and the fan did come on the first day the car ran hot when I pulled into the drive and turned off the car. I tried to burp the radiator (took about 20 minutes to get close to 190 degrees) and got a few small bubbles if I bounced the front end but the antifreeze kept overflowing the radiator. Does this sound like a air block or something else?

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Odoyle
Posts: 440
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:06 pm
Your car is a: 1983 Pinafarina Spider
Location: CA

Re: Sudden overheating

Postby Odoyle » Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:07 pm

Could be the ignition is too far advanced, causing pinging. Guy Croft talks about this being a common causes of head gasket failure (specifically on newly rebuilt engines). You can buy a timing light from harbor freight and check to see if the distributor is at 10°.

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courtenay
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Posts: 1321
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2009 11:41 pm
Your car is a: 1980 Spider 2000
Location: Courtenay, BC, Canada

Re: Sudden overheating

Postby courtenay » Fri Apr 13, 2018 11:06 am

Could be the temperature sensor that pegs the needle is faulty. There are two sensors in the centre section of the block (between the spark plugs). The one nearest the front of the block pegs the needle the one nearest the firewall measures the temperature of the engine coolant. Disconnect the front one and go for a drive and see what the temperature gauge does.
Bruce Shearer
'80 Spider Fi
'10 Volvo XC70
'06 GMC 1 Ton PU
'72 Spider a long, long time ago

Nut124
Posts: 748
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2017 6:39 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider 1800

Re: Sudden overheating

Postby Nut124 » Fri Apr 13, 2018 2:48 pm

If it started to happen right after your mechanic adjusted timing, then I would suspect the timing is off and causing the heat.


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