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| Tech90 |
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The needle on my temp gauge on the cluster doesn't appear to ever go past the "L" on "NORMAL". I thought it was normal if the needle was at between the R and M? I haven't touched the coolant or the thermostat since owning the car, should they be changed? Does this cause bad fuel economy (as I've heard)? Cheers.
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| TimmyA |
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Put your cluster in diagnostic mode as detail in the tech doc library under resources at the top of the screen...
Screen two I think displays engine temp in degrees c to help you know what the car is running at... The thermostat should open at 92 degrees... So the car will cool to like 86 and then heat to 92 - 94 and then cool again and the process repeats... Ideal engine temperature means the air fuel ratio will be spot on for economy when cruising... A cold motor needs more fuel, hence cars are hard on juice when driven for short periods... So in essence, a stuck open thermostat wont do your economy real good... Thermostats generally get changed when they fail (stick open or stick closed)... Cool needs replacing at an estimated 4 years, many do it at 2 years... Castrol make strips you dip in the coolant and then try and match the colour to a graph... It determines the "health" of the coolant and the % of glycol which is the anti freeze anti boil component... Once the colours trend to the bottom of the graph you flush the cooling system and fill with new coolant and water... I change it by recommendation of the test strips as opposed to a time based thing and if I'm going somewhere cold on holidays I'll often stuck out a litre of two of the 50/50 mix and put in a litre or two of straight coolant to try and boost that glycol level... Cheers, Tim
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| Tech90 |
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That's some helpful info there Timmy! I don't have a diag mode as I swapped out my cluster for an EF Police Cluster, but when I had it in diag it was around the 90c mark iirc.
I heard there's a trick with the boiling water and the thermostat? Someone be able to explain it fully so I know whether it's actually worth replacing it not? And if I open the thermostat housing it means I have to do a coolant flush anyway right? cheers. |
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| TimmyA |
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Na... If you open the coolant housing only thing I recommend is replacing the $3 thermostat gasket for the hell of it...
You do a flush every few years just to get any crap out of the motor... When I bought my car it literally had a layer of mud in the bottom of the block when I took the welch plugs out... Pressure washer cleaned it out... All people do is fill a saucepan full of water and stick the thermostat in it... Stick a temperature probe in the water and make sure the thermostat opens at 92 degress or there abouts... If you pull it out and it's stuck open then throw it away, no point in even testing... Trying to think of which way the temp gauge runs on my NL cluster... But it only just makes it to which ever the coolest letter of normal is and then drops back to the bottom line of the normal band... Yeah police cluster ain't worth it IMO... They take away a diagnostic feature for speedo calibration with odd sized wheels? When I went to the NL cluster and 17's I fitted the EL GT speedo gear and manual moved the needles on the speedo cluster so when it says 50 I'm doing 50 and 60 is near spot on too and when it says 105 I'm doing 101-ish... So I have calibration plus diag now...  Cheers, Tim
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| Tech90 |
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Cheers for that, and good idea on the cluster, maybe one day I'll get the fairmont cluster and do that little trick and get the correct speedo gear too.
Would a colder thermostat be better than the regular one? I think it's like ~80c vs ~90c? |
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| TimmyA |
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na engine leans out for max fuel economy at the 92 degree mark... this is the computer set point...
If you're having trouble keeping the car cool then fit a high flow thermostat, bigger rad, and flush the cooling system... My car never gets hot and I tow heavy trailers around on occasion... Would be a good idea to get your radiator cleaned also, a blocked radiator is of no help to the cause... Cheers, Tim
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| Tech90 |
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I have bought another regular thermostat just before, I'll chuck it in tomorrow and see how it goes. I boiled some water, and put my old thermostat in, nothing happened though?
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| TimmyA |
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the diaphragm should open... It's not stuck open is it? Nothing spectacular happens...
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| Tech90 |
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Or stuck closed?
Also when I opened the housing there was no gasket, only gasket there was around the thermostat. Surely there's meant to be a gasket between the 2 housings? I should have one laying abouts somewhere but wtf? |
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| TimmyA |
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the gasket is that rubber o ring which fits onto the thermostat edge... That's it...
If it were stuck closed you'd have cooked the car...
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| Tech90 |
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You sure there's no gasket between the 2 housings?
Well fair enough, my old one had a hole in the flange, the one I got today doesn't, so I assume the old one was passing coolant through the hole allowing it to keep it that little bit cooler? |
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| TimmyA |
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not much water flows through the bypass hole... if it were stuck closed I reckon you'd cook it... If it's running above normal have your radiator flow tested... Bet it's half blocked...
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| Tech90 |
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As stated above it's never gone past the "L" which means it's pretty much warm or cool, never have I seen it go past the middle except on a few 40c+ days stuck in traffic. Still think it's half blocked though? Radiator may be the next thing to look at if this new thermostat doesn't solve the problem.
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| TimmyA |
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Well if it's not getting hot then what is the problem we're trying to solve?
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| 96ELGli |
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Hi,
Mine is the same and has been for long time. I reckon the thermostat is bypassing, despite what others say. The thermostat will make the temp go a little above half way, then drop and keep it there. It doesnt snap open, so once it has opened the first time the gauge shouldnt move. You can test a few things, rev it in park for a few minutes, and the gauge should move. At a bit above half the fans should cut in. Going up longer hills, the temp will also read higher. What about the heater ? It should put out HOT air, if the demister is the same chances are you are running at a lower temp. I have put in 2 thermostats and the old ones tested fine. Regards 96ELGli
_________________ Regards 96ELGli |
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