Sticky thermostat?

[imaspy]

the pinnie runs well. keeps its cool in most situations. however, with the advent of summer and hot days, i am a little concerned. when i am idling, the temp seems to shoot up, to fairly high levels. radiator is fine, and is plenty full too. i am led to believe it might be a sticking thermostat.

any ideas?

TIA guys!

[mitza]

Mate...I have the same problem!
Could be a sticky thermostat, but I just changed mine...so I cant figure it out. Radiator is full, water pump is working and not leaking.....But here is something I did notice.
The temp rises when you are at idle in traffic. I tested this when I got home, just left the car running. When it got to a certain temp. the fans switched on and Bobs your uncle, its all sweet. But in peak hour traffic it keeps rising. So, the other day, when I was in traffic, i noticed my temp rising, I turned on my air con. Slowly the temp came down.
Im trying to work it out I just cant. The temp. rises in traffic, but not when Its idling in my driveway. The temp will drop if the air con is on.
So..the solution is to have the air con on. Maybe this has something to do with distributing the engines temp with the cooler air forcing the hotter air out with the fans running? Maybe this is the problem..the fans arent coming on for long enough?
So why does it only occur in traffic and not at home in my driveway? Im stumped as you are!
Ideas anyone?
Could my engines cooling thingy need a flush? I mean, can coolant build up within the engine itself, limiting the circulation? Cause I have regulary changed the coolant etc..all of it, but have never fluched it out using some sort of high pressure hose or chemical fluid. Is the word im looking for "water jackets'? ARe they getting clogged up? HELP!

[fmx_rider]

Do the fans work when in traffic? If so, maybe the ambient temp in traffic (with exhaust fumes from other cars and yours, and heat off the road) is such that even with the fans operating, the high (3/4 from my observation) engine temp can only be maintained, not  lowered. Whereas in your driveway, there is really only your car's heat, so the heat is less and the fans have more of an effect, lowering the temp. Just a guess, based on my observations driving around Melb.

[Resin]

How High is it going? ... is it rising above the top dot?.......i would agree with fmxrider ....traffic air will prob be warmer than the driveway

[imaspy]

it isnt going past the maximum mark.... but its still high... and i dont really think the idling 'in traffic' bit fits in, cos it will happen if i'm idling on my own or in traffic... hmmmm .. a mysterious mystery!!!   :-/

[Resin]

If it isn't rising above the topmark then it should be fine! It only warms up when ur stopped because there is no air rushing past cooling the liquid and dragging heat out the engine bay. The two dots show where the indicator should be when the car is idyling and warm.

[fmx_rider]

Our cars do normally run fairly high compared to most other cars I have driven. Just make sure your cooling system is working fine, get it flushed out good and replace with good quality coolant. My car did run about 1/4 to 1/8 higher when I got it, before it had a good cleaning of the cooling system.

[mitza]

Ok...another breakthrough.
I was thrashing the hell out of my baby last night...pretty cool night here in syd..would have said round 18C, so there shouldnt be a problem with the engine temp, no traffic on the road...straight trip.
I arrive 20 minutes later. While waiting in his driveway, for about 5 minutes..the temp. creeped up again.
Up and up and up..almost to the beginning of the top marker. Im talkign about above the top top..between the top dot and the H part! 3/4 if not more up!
But then, he jumps in the car, I dive for a bit, then it slowly comes down.
What the hell is happening here?
It does move p when stationary in a drive way on a cold night, if you have just thrashed the car? But if you avent thrashed the car, in a driveway on a hot day..it wont move up?
This is confusing and frnakly giving me the shits! Not you guys that is, the solution to this problem!
I took out my Noise deadener thingy off the bonnent too, cause I thought it may have been keeping the heat in there....did nothing!

[Tim-E]

well get this.

u guys might remember i blew a radiator hose a couple weeks back, and the mechanic told me i should get the radiator cleaned as it was real dirty.
so i got it flushed out and new coolant (cost me $170!), and now its running hotter!!!
used to always be between the dots, now its above them after about 15 minutes of driving, and gets up near 3/4 at times!??
im taking my car back on monday, haven't paid the $170 yet...

[fmx_rider]

Mitza....(I read your msg 3 times...hope I got it all right).

If cars are stationary, then they will heat up very quickly (the reason why dyno's have massive industrial cooling fans). The temperature 'outside' really doesn't matter much as there is no wind to make the hot air flow out of the engine bay.

To move onto your 2 scenarios:
1) Cold night, you thrashed your car, then stayed staionary. The fact that you had thrashed your can basically negated the fact that it was a cold night, the engine was really hot, therefore temp went up quickly when stopped in driveway. Once you went again, movement caused air flow through engine, therefore temp went down.
2) Hot day, no thrashing, stayed stationary. [Was this after a drive or not?] In anycase, the engine was cold, therefore without heating it unduely (by thrashing or just driving) it will take a fair while to cause a major rise on the temp gauge.

Remember, the difference between a hot and cold day is really almost insignificant compared to the combustion temp in engine, therefore being stationary in a already well and truely 'hot' car is going to send the temp gauge up.


GliTimmy......$170....you've been had! It is really easy to flush it out yourself, and costs about $20-40 for coolant.

Also, sounds like you have had your car refilled with shite coolant that is not very efficient (cheap), therefore is worse at diffusing heat than the coolant that was in your car before (my guess).

[Tim-E]

hmmmm, i was charged about $33 for the coolant i think. he also replaced the bottom hose and radiator tap, but i thought $170 was very steep.
anyway, if he put crap coolant in, he can put good stuff in. I'm not paying my $170 till i see results  

[mitza]

To put it plainly, regardless if im in traffic or thrashing my car, or driving normally, if the whether is hot or cold, my temp gauge shouldnt be getting that high.
Any quick fix solutions guys?
I might make a post on the teamnse forum...more cars, better chance of someone having the same problem?