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Coolant bleed screw head fell off

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6.1K views 38 replies 17 participants last post by  Sunnyfajardos  
#1 ·
Received call from wife that smoke coming from base of windshield on driver’s side.
Lifted hood and noticed no coolant in reservoir.
Filled it up, ran engine and found coolant bubbling from the bleed valve farthest from bulkhead. Touched it with finger tips with intention of tightening and it fell off resulting in coolant being sprayed all over the place.
Ordered replacement bleed screws from Alfissimo. Received yesterday (thanks guys) and installed today.
Over the phone they instructed me to heat the tip of a screwdriver to mold a groove into what remained of the screw. Worked like a charm and I was able to remove it.

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#8 · (Edited)
I would hope nearly everyone knows to replace them by now. This thread seems to happen almost every week (and multiple times per week when these Giulia were newer).

They're made of same recycle plastic, so I'm sure either could fail... firewall one is a bit bigger but still just plastic.

...It's just about $5 or less for one M6 and one M8 bolt and two o-rings at hardware store. Makes no sense not to fix right when you get a Giulia.
 
#11 ·
I think they changed the "replacement part" to a metal one.

My car was a '22 and still came with the plastic rad bleed screws... yep, seems pretty hard to believe after they had 5 years of constant problems with them.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Definitely.
Car turned off for a long while and system pressure released, yes..
It needs to fully cool down, or you'll spill a decent amount of coolant if there is any fluid and pressure in the line.

...1 Let the car cool for 12-24+hrs (depending on weather temp outside and how it was driven).
2 Open the coolant tank lid to release pressure and close it (both antifreeze tanks... engine and turbo).
3 Replace the two plastic screws for metal ones (M8 x ~20mm and M6 x ~20mm) with o-rings... about $5 total parts at hardware store or pay as much as you want other places.

There are a few Youtube vids on this, and they'll give you the gist of it although they are not very good lighting/camera.
 
#23 ·
Just had this issue today

I wonder how much money Stellantis saved with this cheap stupid design vs designing a proper screw?

Stuff like this leaves people stranded, causes unnecessary stress, and makes people swear off the brand entirely. That's exactly what I plan to do.

Hope they enjoyed the short term savings of $2 bucks/unit at the cost of future customers
 
#25 · (Edited)
Alfissimo said:
View attachment 166319


shop.alfissimo.com

Stainless Steel coolant Bleed screw replacement kit- Giulia/Stelvio 2.9L/2.0L/1.8L

Stainless Steel coolant Bleed screw replacement kit- Alfa Romeo Giulia/Stelvio 2.9L/2.0L/1.8L -Alfissimo International
shop.alfissimo.com shop.alfissimo.com
Click to expand...

This is a great product but I really do not care. It is not my responsibility to buy and install quality parts into a flawed product that is still under warranty. Alfa corporate should not be putting cheap flimsy plastic parts that fail at 37,000 miles.

This happened 4 days after I got my service done. What were the idiots at the dealer service dept doing last monday, did they not check or think this is a common failure point so let's replace it pre-emptively?
 
#31 ·
Sunnyfajardos said:
Sunny fajardo
2000 Silverada blvd #824
Reno nv 89512

thank you so much!
Any idea how to get the rest of the screw out?
Click to expand...
Some people have had luck getting the tip of a screwdriver very hot and pushing into the body of the screw.
 
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