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How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

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How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby jaycey001 » Sat May 06, 2017 5:04 pm

Hi

Went for a long run today in the van, 2.5Di manual, 1989, and the temp needle sat on the M of the "norm" mark on the gauge. I know its within the Norm range but is this really Normal? I sat in traffic for an hour and it didnt budge from that point, and when doing long motorway inclines it still didnt move.

No odd running or anything, I just want to see what other people experience in their vans and where the needle sits.

I may change the coolant and thermostat just to see if it makes any difference, but would appreciate anyone's opinions.

Many Thanks

James
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby gotgcoalman » Sat May 06, 2017 6:40 pm

Is the headder tank bubbling?
are you loosing/using coolant?
does the heater blow hot in the hot posistion?

leave well alone (if it ain't broke)

unless.............
it's due a coolant change.
Blue = every second year
orange(oat)=every 5 years
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby CamperVanBeethoven » Sat May 06, 2017 6:52 pm

My coolant is kind of black-grey. How can I tell what colour it was? :D
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby gotgcoalman » Sat May 06, 2017 7:06 pm

CamperVanBeethoven wrote:My coolant is kind of black-grey. How can I tell what colour it was? :D


might be time for a change :lol:
headertank discoloured?
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby CamperVanBeethoven » Sat May 06, 2017 9:37 pm

gotgcoalman wrote:
CamperVanBeethoven wrote:My coolant is kind of black-grey. How can I tell what colour it was? :D


might be time for a change :lol:
headertank discoloured?

To be honest I think it's blueish but can't check at the moment as I STILL don't have my van :(

As to the original post ... The temperature needle isn't a very accurate device. It is best to think of it in relative terms i.e. is it moving up and up and up ....? That's when you worry (a Rover I had did that. It was the head gasket). If it climbs a wee bit higher on a slightly hotter day than it would on a normal day but doesn't keep creeping up, it's just moved up a bit because it isn't dumping as much heat as it normally would.

It MIGHT be worth checking (yeah I know, it's hot outside, you don't want to) that your heater matrix is working. As it is in effect another, smaller, radiator, the needle creeping up a bit and staying put MIGHT be because it's blocked or almost blocked and therefore it's not getting the small amount of heat loss that that secondary radiator would normally give it ...
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby jaycey001 » Sat May 06, 2017 10:12 pm

gotgcoalman wrote:Is the headder tank bubbling?
are you loosing/using coolant?
does the heater blow hot in the hot posistion?

leave well alone (if it ain't broke)

unless.............
it's due a coolant change.
Blue = every second year
orange(oat)=every 5 years


No loss of coolant, heater blows hot in hot position and not 100% sure on last coolant change, still blue but a bit murky, No signs of HG issues.
Maybe normal? or does everyone else's needle sit in the middle of the gauge?
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby CamperVanBeethoven » Sat May 06, 2017 10:20 pm

Mine sits slightly above the middle, but then, mine is completely wrong :D I have had to kind of hand-calibrate it and didn't quite get it right, as I had to disassemble the temperature gauge during a clock swap ...

I'm not sure what the best procedure is to 'calibrate' it. I took it for a run, got it well warmed up, and tried to pull it off and stick it back down in the middle of 'NORMAL' i.e. pretty much where yours is. But I must have applied some twist when I put it on and now it reads a bit 'high'.

If anyone can enlighten me with a more robust and scientific method of determining where the hell to pin the needle on the donkey (so to speak) please let me know ;)
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby Noctule » Sat May 06, 2017 11:06 pm

Ours gets up to just before halfway on the temp gauge and stays there come sun, rain, hail, sleet or drifting snow. Don't forget these are fitted with a thermos viscous fan, which is always doing something, so the temperature doesn't go up and down like a car with an electric fan.

Get that coolant changed though! If it doesn't look bright or translucent in some way it's probably had it.

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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby Naglfar » Tue May 09, 2017 11:20 am

If you really want to get to the bottom of it, why not just buy a cheap electronic thermometer and place the sensor in a relevant location to see how to engine temperature acts?
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby mike En » Fri May 12, 2017 11:33 pm

My mk4 di is doing exactly the same, when I first got it on the road it sat dead centre between the O and R, but now sits on the M . Took rad of and flushed it, fresh coolant and a new thermostat, still the same, I suspect I have a slight leak from rad though as does loose a tiny bit of coolant (maybe a cup a fortnight) and yesterday noticed a drip on the cross member under the rad.

Have got another rad to go on when I get round to doing the cambelt and water pump.
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby ceurieusneus » Sat May 13, 2017 6:24 am

Never forget, the temperature gauge only gives us an indication, it is not a precision instrument!
Also, it works electrically, a bad contact will influence her reading...
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Re: How hot is too Hot - 2.5Di

Postby andygee1138 » Sat Aug 05, 2017 7:16 pm

I fitted an electronic gauge to my 2.5di. Normal temp iis 75-80. 80+ and my electronic fan kicks in and brings it down. Gauge was easy to fit, just replaced the existing sender.
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