Bleeding the Cooling System *In six years owning, and working around Fiats, I've heard some really bizarre procedures for bleeding the system, including
massaging hoses, jacking up one side or another, revving the motor/not revving the motor, etc/etc. I'll share my favorite method here, and wait to be flamed via return mail
Note: Dan Frederick (who has more Spider experience than I) swears that my method is correct, but that jacking up the front end (or parking uphill) greatly facilitates filling the Cylinder Head with coolant. I've never had a problem personally on flat ground, but I'm willing to defer to his experience on this issue. I disconnect the left 'Radiator to Tee' hose at the radiator, and slowly fill the system. Make sure the Heater Valve is open. Patiently fill the system, and listen for escaping air - If you fill too fast, you will create air pockets that will complicate the bleeding procedure.
Once you have the system as full as you can get it, attach the hose to the radiator again. Fill the radiator and recovery tank to the top, and have at least a gallon of coolant mix handy for the rest of the procedure. Start the engine (If Carbureted, get it off fast idle as soon as you can), and let it IDLE. As the engine warms up, you will see the first big pockets of air escape - keep the radiator topped up, and watch the temp guage - Once you get past about 180 degrees, install the radiator cap. Let the engine continue to warm up, and when you start seeing 185-190 on the temp Guage, start feeling the lower hose (radiator to thermostat). If the stat is doing it's thing, it should gradually warm up, but don't panic if it is not. Keep idling (this can take 10-15 minutes in some cases) and watch the guage. If you start seeing 195+ on the guage, shut the engine off and
don't touch anything! Wait 5-10 minutes (during this 'quiet time' you should see and hear air escaping into the recovery tank), and then start the engine again. Typically, while the engine sits, it warms the thermostat to the point that it opens right away on a restart. Once you've verified that the stat is open (lower hose and bottom of radiator nice & warm), you should get an electric cooling fan at about 190-195 degrees, that kicks back off again at about 185.
If you experience problems with this procedure, you can let the engine cool for 15-20 minutes,
carefully remove the cap, and make sure that the system is full enough- I've only really had this procedure fail if I was too hasty with the initial fill, and did not get enough coolant in the system to start with.
Source: mirafiori.com
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