Hi guys. I helped my father take his 1981 GTSi out of storage this past week. He was nice enough to let me drive it back to his house. On the way, the water temperature gauge was reading very hot--like 110 degrees C. I opened the heater controls, and the temp on the gauge dropped around 5 degrees. I stopped the car, and the radiator didn't feel particularly hot. Nor did the expansion/overflow tank. Also, the auxillary radiator fan did not turn on, which it normally would have after this length of drive in mild weather. Does this sound like a therostat that failed closed? If so, where is the thermostat located, and can I get another one at NAPA? If it's something else, I'd appreciate help in chasing down the problem. Thanks in advance, --Matt
Umm, Did the engine itself feel hot? What about the oil temp? Thermostat is a possibilty. It's located just above the waterpump. See the drawings in the parts books located in: http://ferrari.jenkins.org/books/ Not going to find a thermostat in a local parts store. The usual sources are linked to in: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28256&highlight=PARTS+classic Also a possibility is that air has risen to some point & needs to be bled out, try this before going after the thermostat: Click on search, select 'advanced search' then enter 'bleeding' and 'coolant', select 'search 'Entire Posts' & 'Tech Q&A'. Also, there's more info in the old fchat. Click on search, select search old ferrarichat.com' then 'all words' & search both the 'Tech Q&A' topic, then 'Tech Q&A Archives'. Welcome & Good luck!
In an emergency, you can use one out of a VW rabbit from Autozone or Pep Boys, but although it fits and has the correct 180 degree F specs, it isn't as heavy duty as the OEM nor does it have the air-relief hole. Get the "real thing" -- it's worth the aprox $60
I was having high water temp problems on my 81' as well. Replaced the radiator fan switch with one from a VW per guidance from ParkerFE. This will kick on the fans at 10 degrees cooler than OEM. Haven't had a temp problem since then. FWIW...Here is the part number and info that I got last year. "I found your post about the VW radiator fan switch upgrade with the part#823959481f listed. I looked this up on the internet and found this listing: http://www.busdepot.com/catalog.jsp...=33&category=11 The 82-77c is the range you want. Call Ron Reineke at 404.435.6760 to confirm. He's the Ferrari tech. that told me about and installed the one for my Boxer."
