thermostatus

[wdkingery]

Ok so this "the temperature" my car likes to drive at.
now if i stop for prolonged periods, it can go much higher, and then the fan kicks in, etc.
but once i get movin, it's back down to this.
i kinda want it to ride (quite) a bit higher on the stick.
should i attempt to find a hotter themostat? (which apparently don't exsist)
am i down to cardboardin the radiator and never stoppin?
the 160 degree thermostat is more expensive than the 192 degree, so i doubt the PO put a colder, more expensive one..?

[chopper03]

It could be stuck open, Have you got a instant red thermometer?

[bajacalal]

That's what mine operates at, it sits on the thermometer symbol and maybe goes to half-way when idling in hot weather.

I never knew it was supposed to work differently,

Also, don't assume your dash gauge is an "accurate" representation of engine temperature.

[wdkingery]

It could be stuck open, Have you got a instant red thermometer?

I have a thermometer with a red laser?

That's what mine operates at, it sits on the thermometer symbol and maybe goes to half-way when idling in hot weather.

I never knew it was supposed to work differently,

Also, don't assume your dash gauge is an "accurate" representation of engine temperature.

Yers too huh? I want hotter.
The gauge seems to work right well on this particular car.

[ORCoaster]

Only way to get a reference on that setting is to measure it with a "real" gauge or the thermometer.  Then you know what is what.  I worried about my temps as I would drive with the temp lever set to cold all summer and then in the fall started bumping it a bit to the heat side.  Soon as I did that I got a huge jump in the reading.  Clear to the middle of the gauge or up about 4 lines.  So I put a gauge on it and found that I was not getting full heat at the flange until I opened up the heater flow.

Now I know that the temp sender works just fine but if the flow is shut off the sensor cools a bit and hence my gauge on the dash shows the lowered reading.  I stuck the gauge that gives me real numbers in the route to the overflow tank and it stays dead on 90 C no matter what I do with the heat lever.  It will show that temp decrease we all seem to get when I roll down long hills with the foot off the pedal.

So get out the cooking thermometer that you just used in the turkey a week or so ago and stick it next to the head or something.  Just don't insert it in the rad hose.  

[rabbitman]

ORCoaster, what you say is correct for a MK1 but I think I can tell in the pic that he's dealing with a MK2 which always flows coolant through the heater core.

I think your t-stat isn't sealing very good, when you're driving cold coolant from the radiator is being let into the engine and keeping it cooler than it should be and when you stop the rad heats up due to lack of air flow through it.

I think t-stats go 180 and then 195 degree. Maybe colder too but I don't even look at those ones.

[8v-of-fury]

Yup round speedo, and his username signature says 1985. Mk2, always circulating through the heater core.. I hate that design, wanna know what else i h ate about mk2's? No cold air vents like the mk1's.. Genius design.

[chopper03]

It could be stuck open, Have you got a instant red thermometer?

I have a thermometer with a red laser?


Check your actual temp and compare to where your gauge is reading,  Most of the laser
thermometers are only accurate up to about 2 feet or so then become less accurate the farther
away you get from the object you are checking.

[Mark(The Miser)UK]

My TD Quantums run about the same,1/4 FSD, until long inclines. Heater output starts within half a mile and  from a mile or so is satisfactory.

Do Quantum heater cores last longer than Mk2 Golf ones, or, hence do Rabbit cores last longer than  Golf ones?
 My point being regulating the heat to the core, is surely kinder to the core and the attached hoses, than continual heat with a fart flap.

I cannot remember changing a Quantum core, nor the hoses for that matter.

[ORCoaster]

Had to edit above,  The temp gauge is in Celcius and it is only 90 degrees dead on.  So that is the hotter thermostat that I put in last year.  The old one was doing what you say, flowing through on a run.  But this one, I don't think so, that is why I chose to gauge the small line going to the coolant tank.  It always is smoking when flowing.  My gauge on the dash is the one that moves between the second line to maybe the 5 and a half mark with a small push of the heat lever.  I can be two hours down the road and look down and watch it move one way or the other as I move the heat open or closed.  All the while the other gauge flowing to the coolant tank stays at 90 C.  So I don't think I have a bad thermostat as much as I loose heat at the flange with no flow to the heater core.

And it is getting cold here now.  26 this morning, like third in a row.  Portland.

[bajacalal]

So get out the cooking thermometer that you just used in the turkey a week or so ago and stick it next to the head or something.  Just don't insert it in the rad hose.  

LOL, those things. I have 2, they read 10 degrees apart at the same temperature. One is a large, el cheapo unit I use for deep frying, I need to get a better one. I suppose you could put in boiling water to see if it is accurate and reads ~210 degrees F (less at higher elevations).