New to the alfa family! :)

[omgShane]

Hey guys, my name is shane, after a long time wanting. i just bought myself a 1987 33 1.7 (s2), loving it so far such an experience driving, i had a question for the 33 buffs around, having a few troubles finding some definite answers on the subject.

firstly is what should the normal operating temperature of the 1.7 be, the gauge shows the average running temp to be around the 90 - 100 on the gauge, but the water in the tank doesn't feel like its that temperature.

if its just a sensor problem, what is the part number that i need to replace this?

Now that this question is out of the way, time for some pictures, this was the day it was bought.







Thanks for reading!

[colcol]

Hey Shane, welcome to the forum and 33 motoring, the temperature usually sits halfway on the gauge, that is 80c?, if you think its running a bit cold, have it sit there, with the bonnet up and see if the electric fans kicks in regulary, if not check your thermostat, if thats ok, check the temperature sensor, which is located on the LHS manifold, points towards the centre of the car, is it a carby or EFI?, failing that check the temperature gauge, as these have been known to play up, i have only had my 1.5 33 TI for about 26 years, still a ball of fun to drive and practical, like today i went and picked up a Jason Recliner, and it fitted in the back, the Alfa 33 practical and sporty!, Colin.

[omgShane]

cheers col! ill check it all out tommorow, just had me a bit concerned but loving the car so far. such fun to drive.

its a carby model BTW

[colcol]

The carby model has such a nice crackle in the exhaust on overun, it has so much torque it turns you into a lazy driver, because you don't have to downchange, just plant the foot, i know i had a 1.7 carby in my brothers Alfasud, and i drove it for years, the 1.7's are better in a 33 than a sud, because the 33 has a less restrictive engine pipe, Colin.

[omgShane]

heh yeah, the 1.7 is a fantastic motor! i have sorted that cooling problem, its either the guage or guage sender, i temp probed the coolant and it was sitting at around 75c when the guage was reading 110!

[colcol]

If you temperature probed the coolant reservoir, then that is always a bit cooler than the active part of the cooling system, you could take the coolant sensor out of the manifold and give it a cleanup, as you can get some corrosion on it, and clean up the electrical terminals on the sensor, and the old trick of removing the wire from the coolant temp sensor, [with the ignition on], and see if the temperature gauge goes to full cold or full hot, then earth the coolant sensor wire, and see if the temperature gauge goes in the opposite direction, if in doubt, get a new coolant temp sensor as they are a lot easier to replace than a temperature gauge, Colin.

[omgShane]

Just wanted to update this post, after a fair bit of playing around and troubleshooting i found the problem to be a blocked radiator, new one is in now and temp is running nicely at the 80 - 90 mark. thanks for all the input col, glad to have her back on the road again!

[colcol]

The radiators for Suds and 33's are now so cheap, its not worth fixing them, the tooling costs have been payed for by now, and after 40 years, they have got production spot on, what brand is it?, a Valeo made in Spain, i had my radiator cleaned and flushed about 5 years ago, and it was about half the price of a new one, despite using coolant with anti corrosion inhibutors, they still manage a bit of rust, the radiator for the Alfasud in Italy with 60 h.p. and 1.2 litre is the same one we use in Australia with a 1.7 litre with double the power, power = heat, no wonder they run a bit hot!, Colin.

[omgShane]

the brand i got is a valeo. its a bit surprising that they did that considering the weather conditions in australia

[colcol]

They ran the same radiator, from 1972-1990, because they used the same sheetmetal for 18 years because Alfa Romeo had no money to change the radiator apron, Fiat bought Alfa Romeo in 1986, and put some money into them, when the 16 valve 33 came along in 1990, with 130h.p., they needed a major change to the radiator surrounds, so they put a bigger radiator, if you ever see under the bonnet of a 16 valve, compare it to yours, and see how they did it, Colin.