My new (1st) 308 running hot. Pic Included.

You might need to properly bleed the air from the system. Do a search, and you will find plenty of info on how to do it.

 

My 308 runs at 190 degrees. The cooling fans should kick on at between 190 & 195 degrees. While idling, check to see if the rad fans are coming on when the gauge hits that temperature. If not, replace the thermostat sensor that can be found on the inside bottom right of the radiator. Check fuses first of course. 230 degrees is far too hot. Ensure that the water pump is not leaking & the belt is tight. Also release the pressure bleed screw on the font of the rad. There may be an airlock in the cooling system. I would not drive it until it runs under 195 degrees.

 

Agreed that 230 is too hot. My Mondial hovers at the 195 range. Cycles between 193 and 195 all day. When I get out on the highway it actually drops down quite a bit. As said above these are known for having air bubbles. Losing a bit of fluid when the car gets hot can be normal from the overflow. Mine has a bleed screw at the radiator and at the thermostat housing. I filled mine cold to start, had someone watch the bleed screw up front and filled at rear until it started to come out. Sealed that then opened the one at the thermostat housing and filled again until it came out there. Sealed up and have only let a tiny amount of air out of radiator maybe twice, no overheating issues.

Yellow is a great color. There isn't a bad color, but because I see these cars every day in numbers (here) it is nice to see non red ones and yellow really works well with the body style, it's great.

 

And I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned, Dave Helms' shop is in Boulder if you're anywhere near there. Wonderful guy to work with. Absolutely nothing against FoD, but depending on where you live it's important to know who is out there.

 

Hi Mark,

Before you go spending bucks at the Ferrari dealer, see if theseller will provide the smog and do what ever it takes to resolve the heating problem. This might be a big problem, (either emission testing or overheating), so go back to the seller first.

If you are even a bit mechanically inclined, do a search, (upper header bar on the left), type in (308+overheating) and you should find a huge list of posts/threads dealing with overheating - check them out, there is an unbelieveably deep base of knowledge dealing with our cars. Give it a try.

Warm the car up and openthe front trunk lid, on the passenger side of the radiator, there is a brass knob, up top, that you can open, just a bit, to bleed the air from the radiator, when it stops hissing and pees coolant, turn it clockwise to close it.

Your car may have an air bleed screw on top of the thermostat housing, to the right of the air cleaner. Crack this too and see if there is a lot of air in the system, close it when it starts to pee coolant.

Once this is done, check that the colant tank is half full, (be carefull opening the tank when hot, or just do this step first.

As has been mentioned, let the car warm up and check for the fans coming on at 190-195 F.

308 thermostats are brutally expensive, and so don't get replaced that often. They can stick closed and result inalmost immediate overheating, or they can stick open, in which case they take forever to warm up and in cold climates, driving the car moderately, you will notice sub normal operating temperatures when "warmed up", like 150 degrees farenheit.

I suspect that, over time, the thermostat expands and contracts, aganst the spring and eventually some of the parafin wax is lost, so the thermostat will not open FULLY, leading to overheating.

308s are just the same as most cars, they start out cold, the thermostat recycles the coolant untill the temp comes up to the threshold temp, then it opens to maintain the stated gauge temp.

Dinner is ready, off to the table,

Good luck,
chris

 

As has been mentioned, the thermostat can make a huge difference.

Aside from checking that, if the car has been sitting for a while, flushing the rad is a good idea, in addition to checking that the fans are operating correctly. Sometimes, the material perishes, and clogs the cooling system. Unless you know what you are looking for, it can be maddening to try to find it. Check your rad hoses. Check the INSIDE of your rad hoses, especially at the top of the rad.

I love the giallo color on the 308; always have. So many Ferraris look great in giallo. Good luck finding your difficulty.

 

love the yellow. overheating it is a really fast way to ruin the car. get it fixed, and you may ask him to do a compression check too.

 

yes...
and if you already came this far, just make a fast little test...

look down at the radiator on the passenger side
you will see a water sender that is screwed in right at the bottom of the rad

just take the two wires off of the sender and hold them together...
the fans should start now (engine does not have to run for this test, only ignition key in pos 2)

if the fans DO start with wires held toether ...the sender is most likely the culprit
if they do NOT start, it might be the wiring/connections to the fans or sticking fan motors...

good hunting

.
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Alternatively, if you can fit your arm in there, just reach your arm down with a screwdriver, piece of wire or another conductor and touch both wires at the same time.

BUT, FIRST AND FOREMOST, make sure you're not wearing any loose clothing or anything that can get caught up in those fans if/when they come on.

If no change, check fuses and relays if you haven't already.

Phil

 

Just out of curiosity, and in no way meant as an insult, but are you sure you weren't looking at the -oil- temp gauge?

If not, I agree with the above. There's really only a few reasons why an automotive system overheats, and pretty much all of them relate to bad water flow:

1) water pump not pumping
2) collapsed hoses
3) bad/stuck thermostat
4) clogged radiator tubes
5) no airflow to cool the radiator
6) air in the system

7) combustion gases in coolant (blown head gasket) -- really not likely

 

Start with the simple stuff. It was most likely not "leaking" coolant, it was coming out the overflow from the expansion tank.

That happens because

a) The cap is old & weak & needs to be replaced
b) The system is just over-full
c) A blown head gaskets is pressurising the system

Most likely is (a)

When that happens it is also throwing out coolant as you are driving. When it does that the coolant level in the engine drops & eventually the thing starts to overheat for obvious reasons.

So suggest change the cap (fit a 1.1 bar cap) , fill it up with coolant & bleed the system.

By all means check that the fans are operating as well, but they should not be needed during normal running.

 

"By all means check that the fans are operating as well, but they should not be needed during normal running."

THe fans should come on at around 195F anytime there is insufficient airflow through the radiator. This is common in bumper-bumper traffic, city driving, warm day at stoplight, etc.

 

+1

Scheduling a time to take the car to Dave's can be a PITA but there's a reason why his schedule is always full.

As you can see, there are several things to troubleshoot regarding a car running hot. It would be a good idea to confirm that the fans come on at the correct temperature.

-F

 

I've seen the coolant overflow tank on a lot of 328's bowed upward in the middle. Always wondered if this may have been caused by people using a 1.1 Bar cap instead of the standard, I believe, 0.9 Bar cap.

If the cap is weak I would be inclined to go with a new 0.9 Bar cap which operates at 0.9 Bar.

Not sure, but I'm assuming the 308 and 328 use the same or similar tanks and caps.

 

change the switch in the radiator. there is one for a VW that works and is easy to find if i remember correctly. the part number should be in one of the "Sticky" parts cross reference threads. the system will not loose much fluid if you are fast, but you will still have to re bleed the system.

turn on your heater control valves if you are having overheating issues, you may have air trapped in that system also. i live in Georgia, and all of my 308s ran under 190 during our summer.

 

+1 on the cap. I'd bet money it's bad although mayber not the only problem.

Also, turn on the A/C and see if the right fan comes on.

Dave

 

That would seem to indicate that the thermoswitch that the wires normally attach to is bad. I would change it out.

EDIT: what thecarreaper said. just saw his post.

 

check those fan fuses first...that circuit loves to melt the fuse block. If she is pissing out of the radiator overflow then more than likely the system just needs to be bled..fairly easy operation that usually fixes your symptoms. I usually have to bleed my 308 once a year. be sure the heaters are set to the ON position first. Oh, and if you need a theromostat get one of the german made Whaler units...they are only about $40...not the $200 bucks ferrari is asking for theirs.

 

If the fan fuse were bad (if you meant possibly blown) the fan would not have come on when he shorted the thermoswitch wires together. However, still good advice to look at all the fuses and their contacts to make sure they're clean and don't show signs of overheating etc.