Hi all,

Can anyone please tell me what temp my 2.0 8v should operate at under normal conditions?

I suspectt the thermostat is dodgy. The days are averaging around 20.0 C here at present but on the open road it doesn't go above 70 degrees, and seems slow to warm up.

Regards,
Kiwi

Hi Kiwi,

Do the cooling fans ever come on? They are controlled by a totally different sensor. If the coling fans do come on then it suggests the sensor for the dash gauge is faulty and the temperature is fine. However, if the fans never seem to come on but the radiator gets warm then its likely your thermostat is stuck open. Another test for the thermostat is to judge how long the radiator takes to warm up. If the thermostat is working correctly it should be closed when the engine is cold keeping the water circulating between the cylinder head, water pump and heater matrix. The water is only released to the radiator once the circulating water has risen to 82 DegC or so. If you put your hand on the top of the radiator just at the inlet hose, start the engine and time how long it is until it feels warm. It should take at least 10 minutes. If it feels warm immediately then the stat is stuck open.
The sensor for both the dash gauge and the fan control are located in the small circuit between the pump, cylinder head and heater matrix. This means the dash gauge should rise relatively quickly because the water is trapped in a small recirculating circuit with (almost) no cooling function.

cheers

noz

Hi Noz,

Thanks for the info. I haven't heard the fans come on yet and will try the top of the radiator test on Saturday. Out of interest, what temp should the fans come on?

Regards,
Kiwi

Hi Kiwi,

I also had low temperatures on my 8V turbo. The particular symptom was that the engine cooled down noticeably at speed. I had a new thermostat when I had the timing belt changed and now the temperature is prettey steady around 80 deg on the dash indicator or just below probably down to a slightly low reading of the instrument, nonetheless the cooling down at speed has gone.

One really great plus point is that the fuel economy improved instantly, still not great at about 30 mpg but better than before at about 24 mpg.

Good Luck

John

Hi all,

Thanks Noz for the tip re hand on the radiator. I've put in a new thermostat and the temp now goes quickly to 90 and hardly ever moves off it. The fuel consumption has improved damatically. I recently drove a 960km on a weekend trip and it took 66 litres to top up the tank. About 800 of that was open road with the rest city. Thats pretty impressive, and I wasn't trying to save fuel and had the air on for most of that time.

Regards,
Kiwi

Fitted a new thermostat last day of 2008. Big difference. The old one was rusty. Probably due to not using proper antifreeze by a previous owner but just (rusty) water in the summer. When checking the new one did open and old one not at all. Temp. gauge dropped from always 95 to constant 80 now or a bit less.Heater seems to work better too.