Temp gauge??

[chrissn89]

Hey guys my temp gauge has always done this.

When the engine is warm like after 3-5mins of driving. When cruising down the motorway or doing anything faster than about 60km/h the temp gauge shows the coolant temp to be ~82decrease. Then when in slow city traffic, at a set of lights or idling the coolant temp gauge says its at about ~92. In the dash of a veccy B, 82decrease would be about a 1/4 way to the hot line. 92decrease would be about 1/2 way to the hot line.

So this increase in temp is like a 1/4 of the gauge. Im not worried about it because i check the coolant quite often and its always full.

I know its got to do with the thermo fan cutting in and out, and the air cooling the radiator. But i drive a commodore work car, and the temp gauge never moves, onces its at running temp.

Any thoughts

[rjastra]

Has your car got a thermostat?? Or has someone tossed it out in the past?

[chrissn89]

Has your car got a thermostat?? Or has someone tossed it out in the past?

I dont know, im guessing it does, it has never over heated even in the 40+ summer days. How do i check???

[Jerram]

not to worry mine does the same thing - good to know that temperatures change though (commodore approach always struck me as a bit too "she'll be right")

[lithium]

mine does exactly the same thing too, i'm sure its normal. heat stops around 90-95 when idling at the lights because thats when the electric radiator fan kicks in

gotta say i found it strange at first too coming from driving various Japanese family cars where the coolant temp never moves

[chrissn89]

not to worry mine does the same thing - good to know that temperatures change though (commodore approach always struck me as a bit too "she'll be right")

Yea at least you know the temp gauge is working, because it moves.


mine does exactly the same thing too, i'm sure its normal. heat stops around 90-95 when idling at the lights because thats when the electric radiator fan kicks in

gotta say i found it strange at first too coming from driving various Japanese family cars where the coolant temp never moves

Yea i thought that would be when the fan kicks in. Its good to know that its just not mine.

Oh do the turbo g's do the same thing????

Cheers for all the quick replys.

[USC]

r u sure your thermostat is not dying??

its function is to keep the operating temperature constant.

also, what is "decrease"? do u mean degrees??

my sri-t didnt have a temp gauge..so couldnt tell if it was fluctuating.

[chrissn89]

r u sure your thermostat is not dying??

its function is to keep the operating temperature constant.

also, what is "decrease"? do u mean degrees??

my sri-t didnt have a temp gauge..so couldnt tell if it was fluctuating.


Yea my thermostat could be dying ill have a talk to my local radiator shop after work.

decrease omg i didnt even pickup on that, yes it was meant to be degrees. Now thats what happens to little boys if they stay up past there bed time.

What do you mean your sri-t didnt have a temp gauge :confused:

[USC]

Yea my thermostat could be dying ill have a talk to my local radiator shop after work.

decrease omg i didnt even pickup on that, yes it was meant to be degrees. Now thats what happens to little boys if they stay up past there bed time.

What do you mean your sri-t didnt have a temp gauge :confused:

All AH astras dont have a temperature gauge. It just turns a warning light on if engine is overheating....not the best idea I think but cool.

yeh...change your thermostat and pressure clean your cooling system (they usually attach a filtering machine to the hoses and that circulates a cleaning solution around the whole system including engine block..you`ll be surprised by the amount of crap that accumulates in there...I was ...lol). Your gauge should not fluctuate much after that.

[chrissn89]

All AH astras dont have a temperature gauge. It just turns a warning light on if engine is overheating....not the best idea I think but cool.

yeh...change your thermostat and pressure clean your cooling system (they usually attach a filtering machine to the hoses and that circulates a cleaning solution around the whole system including engine block..you`ll be surprised by the amount of crap that accumulates in there...I was ...lol). Your gauge should not fluctuate much after that.

I'll look into getting that done. Weird about the no temp gauge...

[USC]

I'll look into getting that done. Weird about the no temp gauge...

yeh..a few new cars are coming out with no temp gauge...the nissan tiida also doesnt have one.

[GreyRex]

You can check some temperatures 'live' in the AH with the CD40 stereo from my understanding, as well as your real speed...

Press and hold down the Settings button for about 5 seconds until you hear a beep, then keep pressing BC and there's different menus

Don't know if this will help, but from memory it does show a temperature in one of the screens...

[lithium]

I'll look into getting that done. Weird about the no temp gauge...

let me know how it goes! might be time to replace the thermostat in mine too if the temperature fluctuation isn't normal

[immenotu]

let me know how it goes! might be time to replace the thermostat in mine too if the temperature fluctuation isn't normal

Ive never seen the temp guage fluctuate in my Corsa mate. Once it hits temperature it stays there so it might be worth you looking into. :)

[lithium]

Ive never seen the temp guage fluctuate in my Corsa mate. Once it hits temperature it stays there so it might be worth you looking into. :)

thanks for the advice mate, i'll do that :) i noticed a few days ago that the coolant starts running through the overflow tank immediately after the car starts, which i thought was a bit odd, but didn't think twice about it until now...

looks like next service will be new oil, new spark plugs, new ignition coil, new thermostat, liquid sealer and lots of swearing and broken tools to get the old one out! :rolleyes:

[vectraguy01]

There quite possibly a fault with ur main thermo fan, and or secondary thermo fan, mine never moved other than being in central aust, and it was 45-50 outside so yer might check them, otherwise wat coolent are you running in it??

[chrissn89]

yeh..a few new cars are coming out with no temp gauge...the nissan tiida also doesnt have one.

Yea i guess you dont really need one, other than to keep an eye on things, but if the computer can do that good on it. I take it the message will be "pull over in less than 30seconds, cause your engine is boiling motherf#$ker and if you don't it'll seize" then you say f**k i cant im in peak hour trafic and no were to pull over, if only i saw the guage getting hotter and hotter a few mins ago. But then again 99% of people would never even look at there temp guage, let alone know what it means.


let me know how it goes! might be time to replace the thermostat in mine too if the temperature fluctuation isn't normal

Ill let know when i find out.


There quite possibly a fault with ur main thermo fan, and or secondary thermo fan, mine never moved other than being in central aust, and it was 45-50 outside so yer might check them, otherwise wat coolent are you running in it??

Yea could be, i hear them turn on and off. When the engine is hot and you turn the car off the fan still goes for a minute to cool it down.

[USC]

thanks for the advice mate, i'll do that :) i noticed a few days ago that the coolant starts running through the overflow tank immediately after the car starts, which i thought was a bit odd, but didn't think twice about it until now...

looks like next service will be new oil, new spark plugs, new ignition coil, new thermostat, liquid sealer and lots of swearing and broken tools to get the old one out! :rolleyes:


that means you have air bubbles in your cooling system. There is probably also a slight leak somewhere...change all clamps and gaskets.

[lithium]

that means you have air bubbles in your cooling system. There is probably also a slight leak somewhere...change all clamps and gaskets.

cheers, i'll go bleed my coolant a bit tomorrow morning. there is definitely a very slow leak from my engine but its so slow its pretty hard to find where its from! last guess is from the thermostat housing so thats the next sealant joint i'll renew

why would leaks and bubbles cause the coolant to start moving through the engine while its still cold?

[USC]

cheers, i'll go bleed my coolant a bit tomorrow morning. there is definitely a very slow leak from my engine but its so slow its pretty hard to find where its from! last guess is from the thermostat housing so thats the next sealant joint i'll renew

why would leaks and bubbles cause the coolant to start moving through the engine while its still cold?

Thermostat not closing properly...
Air trapped will force coolant out of overflow tank.

Someone here could prob. explain the theory better...Im not a mechanic but I have experienced those things..:p

[Dave]

I have a simular problem in my astra, however im not to worried about it, before the waterpump and timeingbelt was changed, the temp would always sit at constant. But now especaly in winter , it sits well bellow normal, you stop it climbs back up to where it should be, you start moveing it sinks again. hehe. I think my thermostat is rooted. Its not quite jamed open yet, but its geting there.


Another funny thing, even before this, on these realy cold 2 degree nights, when you have the heater blasting you can watch the temp go down aswell haha.

[lithium]

just a follow up, i replaced my thermostat with a new one yesterday and it was definitely the problem. you could hold the old one under a tap and the water would go straight through at room temperature!

the temp gauge is now rock solid at 90 and varies only by one or two degrees. 2 hour fix going quite slowly and $105 for a new one from Holden
:)

[lithium]

as to whether a jammed open thermostat is actually a problem: with my car it misfires less now that it is always running at the correct operating temperature. i guess if you don't get any bad symptoms its ok to keep going with a bad thermostat?

[chrissn89]

as to whether a jammed open thermostat is actually a problem: with my car it misfires less now that it is always running at the correct operating temperature. i guess if you don't get any bad symptoms its ok to keep going with a bad thermostat?


Cheers for that. i haven't had time to go to the radiator man, been busy with work. Sounds like i defently should squeeze it in thou.

[lithium]

you can replace the thermostat yourself, its really easy
let me know if you want a how-to :)

edit: just realised you have a 2.2 Vectra - it'd only be a how-to for the Z18XE. but they are all pretty similar :)

[chrissn89]

you can replace the thermostat yourself, its really easy
let me know if you want a how-to :)

oh ok i may as well give it ago myself then, yea a how-to would be handy saves me stuffng something up.

Cheers dude

[lithium]

here is it, a pic of the thermostat will follow tonight when i get home:

http://www.opelaus.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17434

with the 2.2s i think you guys can just replace the thermostat inside the housing instead of the whole housing. also you have a gasket between the housing and the engine block, so you might not need to mess around with the sealant if your gasket is in good condition or if you use a new one.

good luck :)

[J]

just a follow up, i replaced my thermostat with a new one yesterday and it was definitely the problem. you could hold the old one under a tap and the water would go straight through at room temperature!

the temp gauge is now rock solid at 90 and varies only by one or two degrees. 2 hour fix going quite slowly and $105 for a new one from Holden
:)

Sounds good, lithium! My G does exactly the same thing: 79-82 degrees when cruising, and slowly creeping back up to 90 when idling at standstill. No such issue with my C, though (it stays between 90-93 degrees). Dead thermostat for sure, hey?

[lithium]

Sounds good, lithium! My G does exactly the same thing: 79-82 degrees when cruising, and slowly creeping back up to 90 when idling at standstill. No such issue with my C, though (it stays between 90-93 degrees). Dead thermostat for sure, hey?

definitely sounds like it!

[immenotu]

Ive never seen the temp guage fluctuate in my Corsa mate. Once it hits temperature it stays there so it might be worth you looking into. :)

Looks like i spoke too soon :( . My temp guage now doesnt get above 80. This morning I did the trip to work (~25k's) and the guage only got above 70 (minimum reading) while I was stopped at lights, the rest of the time it pretty much didnt register.

I guess im gonna join the list of people needing a replacement. Group buy anyone :p :D

[lithium]

Looks like i spoke too soon :( . My temp guage now doesnt get above 80. This morning I did the trip to work (~25k's) and the guage only got above 70 (minimum reading) while I was stopped at lights, the rest of the time it pretty much didnt register.

I guess im gonna join the list of people needing a replacement. Group buy anyone :p :D

:D
the good news is that its easy enough to replace yourself...