When is hot hot and hot not hot?

[borntobag]

After an over heating episode last year that cracked my cylinder head before I realised I was actually overheating , I fitted a LCA as well as a Mason Alarm after my new cylinder head was fitted (by Simon from Banbury) to try and prevent it happening again.
Both cracking bits of kit that inspire confidence in driving the Bongo, especially after an out of the blue failure and a four figure repair bill..

However, the Mason Alarm, as we well know, makes the standard temp guage actually work and takes a bit of getting used to.
My Mason Alarm tends to indicate at about 60%-85% through the guages scale depending on my right foot and the load I am carrying or towing,
what does this represent in degrees C ?

I have just purchased and about to install a digital gauge so i can actually see what the temp is doing.

I realise that the temp reading depends on the sensors location, but i am also led to believe that the Mason Alarm was originally designed for the Delica. So when is Hot Hot? is it Mitsubishi Hot or Mazda Hot?

In a nutshell, what is the standard operating tempurature of the Bongo (2.5 Diesel 4wd AFT) and at what tempurature should I start to worry and pull over?

[Driver+Passengers]

This thread has some ideas for DIY temperature sensor location... though beware - I pulled the thread somewhat off topic towards the end!!
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=50699.

The two points most people use are the threaded hole on the back of the engine, and the coolant hose stub towards the front o/s.

The thermostat is designed to start to open at 82/84°C, and will be fully open at 95/96°C+ (allow ±3°C for a used thermostat. An open thermostat directs coolant through the radiator, and the radiator fan(s) kick in at some point - I'm not sure exactly when... someone?

Short answer, I don't know but there has been a lot of research into this, and there should be some more detailed answers forthcoming...