Thermostat possibly stuck open??

[Bongoplod]

Any advice appreciated chaps and chapesses

Nipped into Wigan tonight to pick daughter up from station (railway NOT police ).
At a roundabout ,approx 1 mile from home,my temp guage usually gets to 11 oclock and the heater by then,is blowing quite warm. (As was the same with my previous 2 bongos)
Noticed tonight at this point that temp guage still hadn`t moved and heater was still blowing quite cold........

Stopped,and checked water level on expansion tank and all was OK there......

Carried on and it was nearly 3 miles before the guage started to move and after a few minutes,it settled at 11oclock.Felt heater and still only just warm.
Carried on, keeping a close eye on temp guage. It stayed at 11 oclock and eventually the heater got to its usual "toasty hot" and all was well and i got home safely.

My question is,Ive driven in lower temeratures than it was tonight,so Im thinking,is this a siymptom that my thermostat is possibly stuck open.Ill try it again tomorrow and see if its righted itself,or the same.

Im mechanically ,as well as follically challenged so any thoughts or advice much appreciated

Brian

[wonkanoby]

run it and check lower rad hose

basically it should stay shut untill it warms up

if it just gets warmer and warmer right off then the stats open

[Northern Bongolow]

sounds normal for the cold weather to me brian.
i know yours is a petrol and ive heard they run cooler than the diesels.
tonight coming home i got 30deg c difference between my head outlet temps and my heater circuit temps, as i have a temp monitor on each circuit. the normal difference in above freezing temps is about 20 deg c,, until everything warms up.
did you start it up and just set off, if so then the forward motion is cooling the heater circuit as you drive, via the top of the rad loop, and if you had the blowers on also this also removes heat from the system.

keep a close eye on it though as you know your motor best.
i take it your antifreeze is up to spec ?.
anyone know where the temp gauge sender is on the 2ltr petrol, is it in the front/head like the diesel or somewhere else.

[g8dhe]

Nearly commented last night but thought it was most likely diesel not a petrol. Yes we find it can be several miles before the heat starts to climb up, depends how close you are to a dual carriageway! But 5 to 10 minutes in this weather is the normal for ours.

[Bongoplod]

Went for a run today,same journey,and all seemed OK

So Im hoping it was a stuck thermostat.Ill keep an eye on it for a few days,and if it happens again,Ill run it to Wheelquick to get sorted.

Thanks for the replies

Brian

[321Away]

best way to test for stuck open stat is to run the car to temperature, so the needle is at 11 o'clock position then jump in the car and drive it down the road, if the stat is stuck open the temp will drop in relation to vehicle speed and you'll notice your temp needle moves a lot more.

Julian