Temp guage reads high?? help please
 

hi guys

i am new to this and the saxo experience and need your help.

I have just got myself a VTR 1.6 8v 2001 and have noticed that the temp gauge seems to always read quite high. It always seems to sit between the 1/2 way and the red zone and generally more towards the red. The fan does cut in if it gets too high (left ticking over for a long time) so at least thats a good thing but it cant be normall that it sits there can it?

do you think that the thermostate might not be opening fully or is there something else more amiss?

IT could be one of many things can you seen anything obvious?

E.G:

When my head gasket went on my astra the temperature went through the roof but it was using loads of water.

is there enough water in it

how long does it take to get this hot

First things first, check your water level as hesslevtr said, maybe it needs some bleeding? could be many reasons but check the obvious things first and see how it goes and let us know.

could be airlocked, thermostat....or worst of all....head gasket mate

thanks for the replys guys,

The gauge has read this way since i have had it (3 days) i have been servicing it today and have drained the radiator and changed the anti-freeze. at first it did have air in it and the heater was blowing cold but thats now sorted and the heater is roasting so i dont think its air.

where abouts do the gauges normally read?

oh, and yes there is plenty of water in there.

any other ideas?

oh, by the way, the oil is fine, no signs of water in it and the water in the radiator/resevoir is not mucky. car has 96,000miles and full service history.

dont think mines ever gone over halfway mines same year as yours

mines normally on half.

Ironicly i sorted this problem out the other on my car.
My car was loosing so much water, i was topping it up every couple of days, and the leak became more obvious. During this the gauge was reading about 3/4.
Turns out it was the water pump leaking. Changed that, at the same time i done the rad aswell. Its fine now

Mine usually idles just below half way but it does go a tad over half way in heavy traffic as you would expect, but yeah quite a few suggestions has been made and at least you know it's not the air that's causing the problem, hope you get it sorted and keep us posted :).

alot of VTR heat at about this! is very normal! don't worry unless it creaps to high or the light comes on!

my VTR stayed at around 3/4
altough my vtr only heated that much when i had cams and remap done

so as long as its not actually loosing water and the light and fan dont keep coming on then there is nothing to worry about?

is it possible it could be the thermostate though? i mean if it were not opening fully would it give these symptoms, or could it be the temp sender unit (do they have one?)

yea if the termostate aint opening fully it will heat around this area! as long as it doesn't go really close to the red you should be ok! does it stay around 3/4? mine stayed around 3/4 and i had no problems with it at all!

yep around the 3/4 mark almost at the point where i would think the light would come on.

I am just thinking that for just a few quid it may be a simple job to change it anyway. I guess its not that difficult.

your light wont come on untill you redline it.

whats the oil situation?

the oil is fine, no white muck in it and the rad/resevoir is fine also.

car never seems to smell hot or anything like that, it just dont seem right that it runs so high.

OK well try over filling the system this way any airblocks that maybe in the block can be forced out. Allow the car to get warm then with the engine still runnin carefully remove the rad cap with a thick cloth or towl so you dont burn youreslf then fill the rad up as high as it will go then give the car a slight rev then repeat the process acouple of times. Take the car for a drive then turn it off. The pressure in the system will force water out of the system through the rad cap. But this ok.

Let the car find its own level, if the car still gets hot then have then get the Thermo changed, as your mileage is high then like mention above get the water pump changed and if the rad is lookin abit shabby then get anew one too.

Thing with overheatin is you lose all confidence in the car, I know I did when mine had overheatin problems.

mine normally stays around the half way mark, but somtimes goes about a mm over in traffic or standstill

i noticed today that when i got stuck in traffic and had been there a while that the fan cut in but the gauge had not moved any higher?

what about a faulty temp sensor?