Hello, I'm new to this forum, to Skodas and to cars overall, so this question may sound funny My Felicia is 1.3, 1997. The thermostat got broken, so a guy, who does maintenance for my car opened the housing up and the parts inside just fell apart. He removed the spring, some rubber thing and some metal thing out of the housing, which left me (as I believe) without a thermostat (no big problem, as it didn't work anyway). To my knowledge if the thermostat is taken out, the engine should always stay cold, as water always circulates through it, and it does so if I drive fast enough (i.e. on a motorway). But when I get stuck in some traffic jam of move relatively slowly (second or third gear) the engine heats up quickly (it takes about fifteen minutes to heat up to 110 in a jam). My question is: why does it heat up so quickly in the jams?

Are you using the correct (or any) coolant, or just water?

The only thing that should change without the thermostat is it will take longer for the engine to warm up from cold.

I suspect you may have an airlock which is preventing the coolant from circulating as it should.

also without a thermostat in, the water pressure is less becase there is no thermostat to restrict flow.

Well I added some water into the coolant as I lost some of it when disconnecting the thermostat. And the overheating was there before the thermostat was removed... When I bought this car I had to get water pump and the radiator changed, but it didn't improve overheating much.

maybe you need to get the cooling system pressure tested then to check or a blown head gasket etc

Wouldn't the head gasket have broken completely after driving for two months with it blown, because the same symptoms continue since I have bought the car two months ago.

Are you sure the cooling fan is coming on when the temperature guage rises? Very very common on these cars for the fan switch on the radiator to stop working.

it depends how badly it's blown, and where it's blown

As for the fan, I don't what temperature should there be for it to turn on. It had turned on a couple of times when the temperature has risen up to 110, but I don't know if it's normal or should the temperature be lower.

As for the head gasket, shouldn't that whitish mass which appears when the coolant mixes with the oil be there, when the gasket is blown? Because I checked a few times and it wasn't there.

I had the same problem with my felicia but the temperature only rose to around 70-90oc at the most. It may be the case that a bit of the thermostat that broke off is in the system somewhere and restricting the flow.

Have a good look around and also check that the radiator isn't blocked. Run the car to operating temperature and then leave it running whilst you feel the bottom and top hoses connected to the radiator. Both should be hot, if the bottom hose is lukewarm then there is a problem either with an airlock or a blocked radiator. If you take the temperature sensor out this bleeds the system.

Could be the temp gauge is broken. Happened on mine, the gauge read very high most of the time and replacement cured it.

Andy

Could be the temp gauge is broken. Happened on mine, the gauge read very high most of the time and replacement cured it.

Andy

It doesn't read high all the time, it actually reads very low most of the time (if I drive on a motorway it doesn't rise at all, as it should be with the thermostat taken out). The high temperature happens only when stationary for a longer period, so I think it's not the gauge that is the problem.

Spent some time reading around the forum and found out that 110oC is probably the right temperature for the fan to start, so maybe it's no big problem...

Waiting for an official Skoda dealer to get the thermostat now as they rarely have them :/ When I was buying the felicia, I didn't think it will be so hard to find spare parts for it. The newer Skodas are quite popular here in Lithuania, but it's quite a rarity to see a felicia running around. It would be easier if the motor was 1.6 (i think that's quite the same as that in thw VW Golf, and VW Golf is the every second car around here)

sounds like it is ok mate.

In England there are plenty of these in stock as it is a common problem and they retail at around

The dealer said it will be 190LTL (it's about 40 GBP), very much in lithuanian prices Thermostats for other cars cost about 20LTL (about 4 GBP)

No help (well everything's been covered already), but the last time I was in an accessory shop hereish, thermostats were typically about 10GBP.

No help (well everything's been covered already), but the last time I was in an accessory shop hereish, thermostats were typically about 10GBP.

Where was that? really stuggled to find anywhere that would do the whole plastic section with the moulded in thermostat....

Certainly, you can get the SPI loose thermostat for the metal housing no problem:thumbup:

but plastic bit was dealer only

I wasn't looking for a stat; I just saw the typical price in passing whilst looking for the bit I was looking for.

I wasn't looking for a stat; I just saw the typical price in passing whilst looking for the bit I was looking for.

just curious incase it was an accessory store i'd missed on my rounds:thumbup:

I am also having problems with temperature in a Felicia.

I was driving hard (about 75mph) on the motorway, and I noticed the temperature creeping up. When I reduced revs, it cooled down again to normal, but would then creep back up even when the revs were kept low.

I have driven the car since (about 100 miles) and no problems at all.

There is no mixing of oil and water and there is plenty of both in the car.

Could this be a broken thermostat?

John

It sounds like it could be the thermostat no longer opening fully. You've already got parts prices for both types, and AFAIk the Felicia needs 2 bolts (and maybe a hose clip) undoing to change the stat (and coolant topping up afterwards).

When i changed my thermostat it was because the usual problem of the plastic housing breaking inside and the thermostat coming loose.

So popped a new one on there... took me about 30 mins to do including draning the coolant and sticking some new in.

I didn't need any new bolts or clips though, i just managed to slide the hoses off by slackening the clips off with a screwdriver and re-used the old bolts as they were fine.

You may need a new gasket if you removing it though as the old one was knackered and the only thing seeling it was the fact that it was old and has fused to the plastic! lol

Are thermostat gaskets still made of cardboard? If so, one of the best materials for getting a replacement from is a cereal box.

Are thermostat gaskets still made of cardboard? If so, one of the best materials for getting a replacement from is a cereal box.

MPI ones are rubber, but the SPI and carb ones (with the metal housing and seperate stat ) are cardboard