[Thad E Ginathom]

The Thad Inspection...

Very disappointed that you didn't have to actually use fire!

Pickle fork. Not sure if I have come across that before, although a very very dim brain cell thinks it might have seen one once . I imagine it works like putting a wedge under the bearing, either side of the shaft? Nice idea.

I added a set of box spanners to my collection this week. I had fitted a new kitchen mixer tap, and, although not that it matters, I wanted the single-lever centred, even thought the spout is to the side. That meant the bolt/stud was at the back and inaccessible to a spanner. I have a few old ones, but, of course, not the right size. Do you use them? Mostly, I guess you'd use sockets with an extension. But when there the nut is on a too-long stud or bolt, that is not possible.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Very disappointed that you didn't have to actually use fire!

Very sorry, next time we will try and really mangle the bearing before stopping and repairing it.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Pickle fork. Not sure if I have come across that before, although a very very dim brain cell thinks it might have seen one once . I imagine it works like putting a wedge under the bearing, either side of the shaft? Nice idea.

The original use for a pickle fork is to unseat ball and socket joints. Yes, it works likes a wedge. Like my tire levers, it gets used for all kinds of odd jobs, but rarely for its original intended use.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I added a set of box spanners to my collection this week. I had fitted a new kitchen mixer tap, and, although not that it matters, I wanted the single-lever centred, even thought the spout is to the side. That meant the bolt/stud was at the back and inaccessible to a spanner. I have a few old ones, but, of course, not the right size. Do you use them? Mostly, I guess you'd use sockets with an extension. But when there the nut is on a too-long stud or bolt, that is not possible.

I know how difficult it can be to get access to that nut. That’s why most manufacturers of these taps supply the appropriate wrench with the tap! Just a cheap one, but is gets the job done.

I have several, but here’s the thing, I have no clue where I put them. So ai doubt I will ever find them if I have to take those taps off again.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Follow up to my earlier posts on Peters' Lancia rear wheel bearing. As explained, we did not get very far because the replacement wheel bearing was the wrong one.

Just got these images from Peter. He received the correct wheel bearing assembly (with ABS set up) earlier this week and installed it yesterday.

All nice and shiny! Note also a new nut. It is recommended to change these nuts as you change the bearing.



After a bit of cleaning and polishing of the axle, the bearing went right on. I had left some of my tools with Peter in case he needed to hammer it back on. This sort of large socket is actually one of the spacers of one of my sets of ball joint removal tools. Peter did not need a hammer, just a couple of bangs with his hand palm was sufficient to seat the bearing properly.



Nut back on and tightened to maximum torque, which is way less than what it needs, but good enough to drive to Peter's friendly local garage, where it will be torqued to 320 Nm.



Calipers needed to be opened up a bit before remounting them, as is usual.



All done!

It's unlikely we will ever find out what happened to this new bearing and why it disintegrated within a couple of thousand kilometers. As I mentioned, we have two theories: a bad part (it has happened to us repeatedly over the last couple of years). Or the garage forgot to tighten it properly, as they might have thought we only replaced the left one.

Either way, the Lancia is back on the road again.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

I spend most of last Sunday with our good friends Alex and Bianca. Bianca owns a gorgeous creme Spider Coda Tronca and Alex used to own a 916 Spider with the famous Busson engine.

We met more than 25 years ago via the Alfa Romeo Spider Register. Soon we found ourselves in various boards and committees organising all kinds of stuff.

We have driven tens of thousands of kilometers all over Europe as part of our Register activities, but also been on many non-Register trips together as well. You will have seen them, in particular Bianca's Spider in some of my trip reports.

Biance is a very capable and handy person. As a professional seamstress, she runs her atelier, but is just as happy to take on all kinds of other jobs. I knew she was redoing all the chairs, panels and carpets in her Spider. Recently she finished the door cards, and they came out very, very nice indeed.

So I asked if she could help me do one of my doorcards. There are two problems with the doorcards on my Spider. It is very old and has become mouldy. But due to its age and the fact that I had to remove and reinstall them multiple times over the years, the holes in which the various plastic and metal clips securing the doorcard to the doorframe have become worn. Meaning it doesn't fit very snug any more. And it rattles.

You might be able to buy these panels new. But mine are upholstered in leather and that is an aftermarket modification. So I wanted to retain the leather and just replace the wooden crapped out panel!

Biance was more than happy to help me out. She also had all the necessary materials and tools in stock.

So around 1400 hours I arrived at their home and after a coffee we went upstairs to get going.



We took a bunch of images, with measurements. Just for reference as everything has to be taken off and subsequently mounted on a new piece of board.



This is what the old one looks like on the inside. I had scraped off most of the mould, but it was still pretty grim. We undid all the various bolts and nuts. Holding the door handle and various other bits in place.

Back of the panel


Outside of the panel, with the leather removed the foam becomes visible.



With everything removed, we used the old panel as a template. Drew lines on a new piece of wood (exact same thickness). Checked and double-checked each line and each bolt circle. There are a lot of those!!



Drawing done!



Bianca had this very fancy Dremel saw. It had belonged to her dad who was heavily into making RC-controlled (wooden) airplanes. Bianca shares his passion and has made these plans herself. So she knows how to work with wood!



Big rough cuts done.



Then it took some more time to cut out exactly along each line. Also, all the circles had to be drilled out. We had three different diameters depending on which hole where.



With the wooden panel all cut to measure, all the holes, correct diameter, and correct position, it was time to glue the foam backing onto the panel. Bianca used some special foam/wood spray on glue and pressed it on, smoothed it over, no bubbles!



Done!



Next, Bianca cut the excess foam off the side of the panel and opened up the various holes in the panel/foam.



Next, we had to put the leather and the various bits back on. That was quite a bit of a fiddly job. The leather must be stressed and placed across the new panel in such a way that all the various holes in the leather line up with those in the panel, and there should be sufficient material to slap around the back to tack it.



Bianca had experimented quite a bit with different grades of staples for her own doorcard panels. Because the wooden panel is quite thin (about 4mm) the staples need to be very short. But these panels are also incredibly hard, so you need short, hardened staples. Luckily, Bianca had a whole box of these left and the electrical stapler to go with it.



I did not keep track but rough guess, we put some 200 of these staples into the back of this panel to keep the leather nice and taut!

All done!



It took us a little over four hours. I am very happy Bianca helped me out on this job. I would consider myself handy, but I know my limitations. Working with wood, leather, scissors and so on is not my thing. As a little boy, toddler, really, I had to attend preschool. It was run by nuns as we were a roman catholic family. Even then, I drove Mother Superior crazy because I was the only 5-year-old kid who could not draw, fold paper, glue paper or use scissors. My mum was told in no uncertain terms that it would be best if she kept me at home so I could play with my cars or Lego. But typical crafting-type of jobs is not for me. I am totally useless at it.

As Clint said: Man got to know his limitations!

I am very pleased with the result. The complete doorcard is held in place with several bolts/screw, plastic clips and two different kinds of metal clips.

I have all of those in stock, except one. But I think I know who might have one or two for me.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Visit Techno Classic, the largest Classic Car show in Europe.

I have just returned from our annual trip to the Techno Classica in Essen, Germany, with Peter. For many years, if not decades, the Techno Classica was by far the largest Classic car show in Europe. There are a few other large Classic car shows, and the Techno Classica has shrunk a bit over the last few years. Still, it is always an interesting show. From next year onwards, it will be headed by a different organisation, and the format will be adjusted. Not sure what that will bring, we will see.

Peter and I must have visited this show probably at least a dozen times if not more. We used to drive to Essen and back again in one day. These days Peter lives further up North in the Netherlands, and we like to take things a little easier. So the last couple of years, Peter drives down to our place the night before and stays with us, the next day we drive to Essen, spend the day there and in the evening we spend in Essen having a drink and some nice food. I book us a simple hotel and we drive home the next day.

This year we added a bit to our usual program.
So Peter arrived early Thursday morning at our marina, and we spent a whole day sailing our yacht Sirion. Had a nice evening at our home, and we set off early Friday morning and reached Essen by about 10.00 o'clock.

We walked around the show till about 1600 hours. Always lots to see. I have posted a number of threads on previous Techno Classica events. It is massive. So I will only post a limited number of images of some special stuff we noticed.

When we talk about CVT on TeamBHP, you should know that the inventor was a Dutch guy! He invented it, and it was used on his other creation, the DAF.

Here is a very nice cutaway model of the CVT and the little two-stroke two-cylinder boxer engine of the first DAF models. Notice these days, they don't have belts anymore but a special sort of chains that can both pull and push!



By and large, Techno Classica caters for the more well-to-do Classic car enthusiast. You will be hard pressed to find a simple MG, or Morris. Most cars on display have a price tag of upwards of 100K Euro. Quite a few, well over one million euros

This one is just under half a million (Excluding VAT which is around 20%)



Don't ask us what this car (if you want to call this contraption a car) does at a classic car show? First time ever we got a chance to take a close-up look. And it does not impress. Poor quality materials, poor quality finish. American car building at its worst, and electric too! It doesn't get more pathetic than this. Even so, this monstrosity will set you back well over 200k Euro!





A bit of an overview:



Believe it or not, but these are newly built!! Check out this company:

https://www.belroseclassics.com





A true motoring icon, an original VW Golf GTI, mk1. They were asking Euro 17000. A new Ford Fiesta will cost more!



Another piece of Dutch motoring history: Spijker!





As some of you are aware, Peter about from being my best friend and spanner mate is also a professional classic car evaluator. That is what does for a living.

A couple of days ago, he got a call from a customer of his. This guy has a pretty sizable collection of classic cars. And he keeps buying and selling. He just bought another one, it would be on display at the Techno Classica, and could Peter do a valuation for the insurance? Sure, no problem.

It is an Osca. I had never heard of it. There are fewer then about a hundred of these cars. They tend to come up in classic car auctions now and then across the world. Depending on the exact type and condition, think 3-400K Euro.













The Citroen DS is a remarkable car. Still going strong as affordable, sort of, but practical classic car. This convertible version of the DS is much more rare. Especially this version, the Chapron.



It has a truly unique dashboard, knows as the Jagear Tableau and even the radio is completely customised to fit the dash!





Sort of an "extreme" cut away model!





As you might know, one of my favourite classics, which I am still hoping to own some day, is the Mercedes-Benz W113 Pagoda. We did not keep count, but we must have come across at least 25 of them. In a price range from 75K to 245K Euro!

Another favourite of mine (and I actually own a W123 sedan) the W123 long wheel base. Pretty rare these days!



At around 1600 hours we were done. There is only so much walking, talking and looking at classic cars one can do. So we drove to our nearby Hotel. right in the centre of Essen. The sun was out, so we had a drink at a terrace. In the evening, we headed over to our usual restaurant and ordered our favourite dish: Schnitzel!



I bought two items. Several years ago I bought one of these nodding doggies for on the parcel shelves of my W123. Very period as they say. Mine is an original MB accessories. I bought it online from the MB museum shop in Stuttgart.

I found a baby version, so now she has company.



Also, I bought another dozen gloves. I use various gloves and I like to keep my garage well stocked with them!



All in all, we had a splendid and very enjoyable two and a half days together. In a few weeks, I will meet up with Peter and our other Spider friends for our usual four-day trip to our friends in France!

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Earlier this week, I received three new pliers. I ordered them in the USA, and they were made in China. They are now used in the Netherlands!



They are specially made to help you undo electrical connectors as used on cars. Those of you who have ever tried to do an electrical connector in an engine bay will know how difficult it can be. Usually, you have to press in a little clip, whilst at the same time pulling at the connector. Often these connectors might not that easily accessible as well.





Works very well



I have also installed the windbreaker on the Spider once again. It’s that time of the year. In a few days' time we are going on our annual Spider drive to our friends Cees and Annelies and their B&B in Buxurulles, France. Mrs. D enjoys coming along in the Spider, but she prefers not to get too wind-swept. Hence the windbreaker on these long journeys.



This year, Peter has made an interesting route. We meet up in the very South of the Netherlands. We overnight at a local B&B, eat at an Italian restaurant opposite the road and set off for Le Paradis (https://leparadis.nl) early the next day. All small, windy, twisty roads!



Not quite sure, but this is likely to be the 6th- 7th time we are taking this annual trip with our Spider friends. This year, it will be four Spiders making the journey.

I still need to clean the Spider in the coming days. I always like to start of in a clean car at least.

I already cleaned out the boot. And found some tools (extenders) that I lost more than half a year ago. After working on the Jeep with spanner mate Peter I could not find these extenders. I checked with Peter. Occasionally, our tools get mixed up. I spend several hours looking for them. In the end I replaced them. But yesterday I found them. No idea how, but I found them inside a plastic carrier bag, tucked away in one of the boxes with parts I carry in the Spider boot.



So now I have some extra extenders.

Jeroen

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Earlier this week, I received three new pliers. ... ... ... They are specially made to help you undo electrical connectors as used on cars.

I love pliers! And, although I do very little work on cars, I have experienced the difficulties those horrible connectors. I'd guess, though, that one has to be quite gentle with the pliers?

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I love pliers! And, although I do very little work on cars, I have experienced the difficulties those horrible connectors. I'd guess, though, that one has to be quite gentle with the pliers?

Yes, especially on these old cars of mine. Plastic becomes more brittle over time, so you might end breaking them.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

We have just returned from our annual Spider drive to Le Paradis (https://leparadis.nl) in France. It's owned and run by our good friend Cees and Annelies. We met some 25 years ago through the Dutch Alfa Romeo Spider Register.

In fact, everybody involved in this annual Spider drive met through the Spider Register. We have all been board members or volunteers on various committees. Ever since Cees and Annelies moved to France and opened their B&B, we have been visiting them.

We usually set off on a Thursday and meet up in the southernmost part of the Netherlands. St Geertruid, a small village south of Maastricht. We have found a lovely B&B that can accommodate us and our Spiders.



Right opposite this B&B is an excellent Italian restaurant. Very appropriate for Spider drivers, of course.

On Friday morning, we set off and made our way to Le Paradis. We take only small and windy rural roads. It will take us the whole day to cover the distance, about 350 km.

Here we are;



Le Paradis is situated in Lorraine, which is near Verdun, Metz and Nancy. It is not very touristy, but it has lovely hills, woods and most importantly, plenty good driving roads for our Spiders.



Every day after breakfast we set off on various drives. On Saturday we decided to have a en route picnic. So Bianca and Marianne set off first to do the picknich shopping at a nearby supermarket.



All four Spiders parked for a coffee stop. There are not many open cafes in this part of France. So usually we bring our own tea and coffee in thermosflasks.





Not sure why there was a painting of a steam engine on this building, but there was!





We drove on for a few more hours. The route had been scouted earlier by Cees and Annelies. They had spotted a nice picnic spot as well, alongside a little stream of water. All drinks wine and beer are stricly non alcoholic as we have to drive for many more hours





We do a lot of driving and we stop at the odd little town. Towns are the best places to stop if you want to have tea, coffee or something to eat. Rural France is low on cafe and restaurant these days.







This is something I have shown before on other threads. We have them in the Netherlands too. It’s a little free library. The idea is you put a book in yourself and you take a book out to read.





Along our route out in the country, we pass endless little villages. Almost all village will have their own cemetery. Which parts of the world are always kept immaculate



On Sunday, we went to see several Brocante markets. We love Brocante. All these villages are completely dead seven days a week. There are cars parked, so people do live in these villages. But for some reason, very few people are outdoors. Till there is a Brocante!



Mrs D bought various items. Alex bought a lot of small Lego sets which he said cost a fraction of what they go for online these days!

I bought another vintage multimeter and some spanners.

We decided to drive to nearby Verdun for lunch.





This area of France so heavy and prolonged fighting in the first wold war. There are dozens of war cemetries around. Tens of thousands of soldiers from all nationalities are buried in these parts. There are reminders of the first world war everywhere.





And there is of course the river Maas! Nice river, makes it way into the Netherlands as well. I have sailed on the Maas often in our boat Sirion.



Only a few kilometers from Le Paradis is another war memorial. An American one, known as the Monster American Monument. I like visiting it. Its an impressive reminder of the attrocities of war. And you get a stunning view of this part of France as it is situated on a hill.







Of course, we did a bit of spannering along the way. One of my headlights stopped working. Not the fuse or the bulb, looks like I might have some mass or wiring problems. I will fix it once we get home.

Earlier (see a few post ago) Peter and I found a new oil pressure gauge for Bianca’s Spider. She brought it with her and together with Cees we set about replacing it. Only to find it wasn’t working at all. back to the drawing board.

Next to their daily drive (a Volvo) and thier Spider Coda Tronca, Cees and Annelies are also the proud owners of a 2CV. Which always requires a bit of inspection by Peter.



We have been coming here for the last 7-8 years or so. Peter and I have been twice a year now and then. When the two of us take our annual Spider drive across parts of Europe we often stop by Cees and Annelies as well. This year that will not happen as in September we are off to Ireland!!

On Monday morning everybody packs up and we drive home again. Very pleasant long weekend. Very relaxing, always endless banter as you get with life long friend.



Jeroen

[Jeroen]

During our Spider trip to France, we noticed my left headlight was not working anymore on low beam.

So we quickly checked the bulb and the fuse.



We quickly established it was neither the bulb nor the fuse. Cleaned all the fuses and fuse holders as they looked a bit corroded. But no, it seemed more like a wiring problem. I also noticed a peculiar situation. It appeared as if the horn and the low beam functions were both powering the same relay. Very odd, but if true, that would be a good point to start troubleshooting.

We also checked the voltage at the bulb connector. We measured 12V! We put the bulb back in and measured the voltage at the connector again. 0V!

So that means that we have voltage, but as soon as the circuit gets loaded (i.e. the bulb inserted into the connector), the voltage drops to 0v. This tends to be an excellent indication of having a high resistance somewhere in the circuit.

I could not be bothered fixing this in France. These sorts of electrical problems often take many hours to find, so I decided to have a go at it back home. We would not be driving during the evening/night, so not a problem.

Back home, the first thing I checked was in which wire the resistance occurred. Which is easy, because the mass wire goes directly from the connector to the headlight mounting ring. I measured, and it appeared fine.





But when I checked the positive wire for the low beam, I got a very different reading. Well over 200 ohms of resistance.



So far, I managed to pinpoint the problem to one particular wire in the low beam circuit. Note that these are H4 headlights, so high and low beam are in one light bulb, and there are three wires to the bulb connector. Mass, positive for low beam and positive for high beam.

Car electrical schemes can be a bit of a nightmare to read. So much information crammed into tiny diagrams. I am a member of an international (USA) Alfa Romeo Forum. One of the members took the trouble to colour in the various diagrams of Spiders. I got a set of these diagrams, had them printed on A3 size paper and had them plasticised. They are hanging in my workshop.



The wiring from the connectors runs to a connector on the back of the fuse box. Next comes the fuses, and subsequently the light stalk on the steering column.

Low and high beam wiring is wired into identical but separate connectors at the back of the fuse box. For good measure, I swapped the two connectors, just to observe what happened. Sure enough, the problem with the left low beam not working moved to the high beam position. And the high beam on both lights worked fine with the stalk in low beam position. So not a problem with the fuses, fuse box or stalk switch.

But what about this relay, I kept hearing clicking away every time I switched on the low beam. When going to high beam, the relay was de-energised. And what about the interference with the horn?

After some careful checking with my mechanical stethoscope, I concluded that the horn operated a different relay from the one I heard clicking when going to low beam. Because they are mounted very close together, it appeared as if the noise and the clicking feeling came from the same relay.

I pulled the relay, but the lights and everything keep working. It is an official Alfa Romeo Relais, but I could not find what it does! It is also not mentioned in the owner’s manual, all other relais are! So I suspect some sort of modification. But what puzzles me: why would it be energised on low beam only? The only thing I could imagine is that a low beam is required to operate the rear fog lights. But even without the relay, the rear fog lights still work. So the relay is a bit of a mystery, but for now I decided to just leave it and work on fixing the low beam problem.

I took the fusebox out as far as it would go, lots of wiring of course.





In all honesty, I am always a bit wary of messing around with wiring in old cars. Everything has become brittle with age. So you might fix one problem to introduce two new ones!

I checked the wire and the connectors several times. Pulled them off, re-installed them. Pulled and tugged on the wire and its attachment on both connectors. At one point, the left low beam lit up! But then it died again!

I decided to try and follow the wiring loom as best as I could and see if had been damaged anywhere. Took the complete headlight assembly and mount off.





I could not find anything obvious. But after all this fiddling, the net result was that the low beam was working once again!! I had just decided to just pull a new wire from the headlight connector to the fuse box. I put that wire in, but did not connect it yet. We will see how long the low beam keeps working!

I spent about 5-6 hours on this low-beam problem. Tracing electrical problems on a car can be very time-consuming. Fixing the actual problem is usually very easy.

So after all that time, I am still not a hundred percent sure what caused the low beam problem, but it appears fixed!



One other small job, I made a little air scoop for the air inlet. I noticed the engine was not heating up properly at low ambient temperatures. As it so happens, we had the same problem on Bianca’s Coda Tronca. There, the solution was easy, we put the air filter intake in its winter-position. Amazingly, that increased her coolant temperature by 10oC. That seems a lot, but I’m willing to give it a try before replacing the thermostat.



Test drive scheduled for today!!

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

During our trip to France, my box with spare parts broke. It is silly, but I get emotionally attached to these sorts of things. I have had this box in the back of my Spider for as long as I have had my Spider. I bought it specifically, knowing I would need to carry all kinds of spares with me.

In all honesty, I was surprised this bit, which ensures the top tray swivels back when you open the box, broke. This box is made of that special kind of plastic. Sort of soft, but even so, after 30 odd years it breaks. They don’t make stuff that lasts anymore!!



Luckily, a bit of JB weld saved the day once again!



Works fine, once again!

As I was doing some other jobs in my garage, I noticed that the trickle charger on the W123 battery had gone into error. I reset it. Checked the next day and found it wasn't charging properly.



I suspected the battery, so I broke out my special battery tester. You will have seen me use it earlier. Sure enough, this battery was toast!! It state of health was only 28%, and its cold start amp only 120A, whereas this is a 480Amp-rated battery.



Notice it still gives a healthy 12.75 V? That is why I keep saying, don’t rely on Volt/Multimeter for battery health testing. Get one of these simple, proper battery testers!



The car also still started fine, the first time, not a problem.

I drove over to my local battery/starter motor/alternator expert Ton. He stocks nearly all known car batteries. New one fitted right away



I am happy I found out before the battery would have left me stranded. I have some trips to Germany coming up this summer and I usually take the W123 for these. All ready to go!!

I wrote a little article on battery testing some time ago. You will see the W123 with the now-replaced battery. At the time, it’s State of Health showed 77% and its cold crank Amps 364. That was a year and a half ago.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post5689760 (DIY: Testing your car battery)

It does show how quickly a battery can deteriorate. This battery is now 10 years old. Obviously, this car does not get used much (about 3000km a year). But it is kept indoors with a trickle charger on it all the time.

Jeroen

[1.2GT3GT]

@Jeroen, thought you might be interested in this piece about Alfa Romeo. I’m not sure whether it is accurate in its details though, thought you would know better.

https://www.autocarindia.com/auto-bl...-it-all-435256

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by 1.2GT3GT

@Jeroen, thought you might be interested in this piece about Alfa Romeo. I’m not sure whether it is accurate in its details though, thought you would know better.
]

Thanks, nice article.
Classic well kept Alfa Romeos drive very well!

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

I was not happy with how the coolant temperature of the Spider was behaving. Yes, the new inlet and an additional piece of cardboard in front of the radiator did push up the temperature to about normal.

But it is not normal for me to resort to these measures. The only thing I could think of was the thermostat. Remember, when the engine is cold, the thermostat needs to be fully closed. If not coolant will start to circulate through the radiator and start to cool down.

The thermostat had been replaced not too long ago. Would it be broken again?

For good measure, I decided to check the calibration of my temperature gauge as well. I picked up a new thermostat and temperature sensor from my local friendly Alfa Romeo parts guy, Goos, and set to work.

Last time, see a few posts ago, I calibrated the gauge by dipping the sensor in boiling water and setting the gauge to 100 °c. This time I wanted to be a bit more precise. I ordered myself a genuine electronic thermometer. It costs all but Euro 6, including packing and shipping. To put that in context: that is the price of Starbucks’ coffee here in the Netherlands. I hate being Chinese, but the flesh is weak as they say.

My little “check temperature gauge/calibration set up”. I just take the wire of the sensor on the engine and attach it to the spare sensor. And put a ground wire to the car chassis.







With the sensor and the digital thermometer inside the water boiler, I switched on the water boiler. Sitting behind the wheel I could watch the temperature gauge on the dash and the thermometer reading as well!

I checked with the temperature going up all the way to 100 °c and back again. It is probably about 2-3oC off, but that is close enough. In all honesty, the needle of the gauge is already around 5oC “thick”.

So that seems to be working fine. I double-checked the resistance values of both sensors as well.

Next, I pulled the thermostat. Just two bolts and remove the hose. Sure enough, the thermostat was not closing properly. If you look closely you can see a large gap.



Compare old and new

I put the new thermostat in and took the Spider for a test drive. The temperature went up to normal within 5 minutes of driving. It stayed there no matter what. Hard driving, idling, cabin heat on or not. So it is controlling the coolant temperature properly once again.

What remains a mystery is why this is the second thermostat going bad on me. In theory, you could reset the thermostat body and valve. But I can’t be bothered to risk that as I would think it would become wonky soon after again. Maybe as an emergency repair, it would be ok.

Next Spider drive is next Saturday. There is an Alfa Romeo day at Alfa Specialist Koos. You will have seen us visiting him before. Very nice and very knowledgeable guy. Peter will be there all day to value cars for insurance purposes.

Jeroen

[1.2GT3GT]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

My little “check temperature gauge/calibration set up”. I just take the wire of the sensor on the engine and attach it to the spare sensor. And put a ground wire to the car chassis.

With the sensor and the digital thermometer inside the water boiler, I switched on the water boiler. Sitting behind the wheel I could watch the temperature gauge on the dash and the thermometer reading as well!

Very nice test procedure and write up. Now that’s what you call a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test bench!

May I know the name and purpose of the green grid marked numbered surface on which the thermostats are shown to be resting after testing?