Overheating??

[oibaf]

Watching this thread to see what happens in the end.

Hopefully it's nothing serious. I still wonder if it might just be something like ambient temperature being higher.

It's in the garage tomorrow morning, firstly to try eradicate my own paranoia and check everything, before making any rash decisions and fixing something that ain't broke! I'm pretty sure nothing has changed, except buying that bloody temp alarm!!

Well the best of luck with it and do let us know how it goes. Good info for prospective owners like me!

[Stevievee]

Update:
Been to the garage this morning. Bongo seems fine, he ran the engine, got it up to temp. Thermostat opened as it should. He then took it out for a good drive around hilly Bradford. Highest reading was 98 on temperature gauge (lower ambient temp today). Back at garage laser tested temp of block and upper, lower water pipes, nothing above 89 registered.
We have a 2 hour drive tomorrow, so will see how it goes. Will still have system overhaul in June and still use the temp alarm as an early warning system. I’ll just try not to pay too much attention to the actually temperature showing on the screen, but note a change that registers much higher I suppose.

[Bob]

Sounds really promising.

Enjoy your trip.

[oibaf]

Update:
Been to the garage this morning. Bongo seems fine, he ran the engine, got it up to temp. Thermostat opened as it should. He then took it out for a good drive around hilly Bradford. Highest reading was 98 on temperature gauge (lower ambient temp today). Back at garage laser tested temp of block and upper, lower water pipes, nothing above 89 registered.
We have a 2 hour drive tomorrow, so will see how it goes. Will still have system overhaul in June and still use the temp alarm as an early warning system. I’ll just try not to pay too much attention to the actually temperature showing on the screen, but note a change that registers much higher I suppose.

Delighted to hear that. I suppose, in a way, the alarm worked in that it made you think about the system and you now know what can be considered acceptable or not, in terms of temperature anyway.

Might be an idea to take note of the ambient temperature where you are with the van, the amount of the time the engine has been running and what sort of traffic it has been in, and then check against the alarm temperature. Something like:

Ambient temp: 12c
Journey: 1 hour at ~50mph, little traffic
Alarm temp (highest): 100c

You'll soon have a good idea of what really is normal or not. I'm glad you've been sorted either way!

[Stevievee]

Update:
Been to the garage this morning. Bongo seems fine, he ran the engine, got it up to temp. Thermostat opened as it should. He then took it out for a good drive around hilly Bradford. Highest reading was 98 on temperature gauge (lower ambient temp today). Back at garage laser tested temp of block and upper, lower water pipes, nothing above 89 registered.
We have a 2 hour drive tomorrow, so will see how it goes. Will still have system overhaul in June and still use the temp alarm as an early warning system. I’ll just try not to pay too much attention to the actually temperature showing on the screen, but note a change that registers much higher I suppose.

Delighted to hear that. I suppose, in a way, the alarm worked in that it made you think about the system and you now know what can be considered acceptable or not, in terms of temperature anyway.

Might be an idea to take note of the ambient temperature where you are with the van, the amount of the time the engine has been running and what sort of traffic it has been in, and then check against the alarm temperature. Something like:

Ambient temp: 12c
Journey: 1 hour at ~50mph, little traffic
Alarm temp (highest): 100c

You'll soon have a good idea of what really is normal or not. I'm glad you've been sorted either way!

Thank you. Yep, a good idea, I’ll monitor and make some notes.

[Stevievee]

What engine do you have? Maybe it runs at different temp to our lpg fitted v6 but our experience is that these alarms can drive paranoia to new heights...... if you've had the van for a while and it's been ok, it probably still is - a number is just a number. What's more important is a variation to the normal experience. The position of the sensors, even the tightness of fixing will cause a different reading.
For what it's worth ours runs in a range of 80-90 in the summer, sometimes as high as 98 climbing hills, this time of year it's lower. The alarm set 104 if I remember right. But as said these are indicative temps. Not an absolute measure.
Other's may disagree, but unless there are other reasons to think there's a problem, I'd raise the alarm setting and drive around those lovely Yorkshire hills as normal and learn how your van usually behaves then you have a base line to refer to. Then reset your alarm to just above your experience.

So weekend away, no issues. Temperature averaged between 88/93, climbed high following a tractor up a steep hill, but soon came down.
Interesting what Katka said above. Before setting off I unscrewed the bolt with the engine warm, then put it straight back in. Readings were lower straight away. I have now set the alarm for 104 and am going to try forget about it!

[oibaf]

What engine do you have? Maybe it runs at different temp to our lpg fitted v6 but our experience is that these alarms can drive paranoia to new heights...... if you've had the van for a while and it's been ok, it probably still is - a number is just a number. What's more important is a variation to the normal experience. The position of the sensors, even the tightness of fixing will cause a different reading.
For what it's worth ours runs in a range of 80-90 in the summer, sometimes as high as 98 climbing hills, this time of year it's lower. The alarm set 104 if I remember right. But as said these are indicative temps. Not an absolute measure.
Other's may disagree, but unless there are other reasons to think there's a problem, I'd raise the alarm setting and drive around those lovely Yorkshire hills as normal and learn how your van usually behaves then you have a base line to refer to. Then reset your alarm to just above your experience.

So weekend away, no issues. Temperature averaged between 88/93, climbed high following a tractor up a steep hill, but soon came down.
Interesting what Katka said above. Before setting off I unscrewed the bolt with the engine warm, then put it straight back in. Readings were lower straight away. I have now set the alarm for 104 and am going to try forget about it!

That's excellent, could have been that you actually removed some slight bit of corrosion on the engine or bolt when you loosened and retightended.

[Katka]

Taking up Oibaf's suggestion:
2.5l V6 on LPG
Amb Temp: 11 deg
steady 30 - Head temp: 87 deg; steady 60mph - 90 deg