cooling issue

Travel to work on the motorway (70-80mph) - temp gauge doesnt come out of cold - oil temp on MFA about 60-70.

come off motorway and temp rises quite quickly to just below half way

hit traffic and temp rises quickly to 3/4 when fan comes in and takes it down to just below half way

Any ideas - thermostat ??? cap on header tank ??? water pump ??

Thermostat stuck open. Replace.

Job done.

Peter.

thanks tallpete

Any one use/recommend the neuspeed 180 degree stats ??

Hmm, just thought of something else.

When I bought my car it had this problem. Thermostat solved it but caused a few others!

Bad timing was causing the car to overheat. Which had been balanced by the dodgy thermostat.

Also heard of people removing them to hide overheating problems.

You will lose all the coolant changing the thermostat so remember to have some proper coolant ready to put back in, not crappy tapwater which is full of mud and chalk.

You will need a new rubber o ring aswell or it will leak forever.

When I did mine I half emptied coolant then poured in some traffic film remover and ran the engine till hot to give the cooling system a good clean. Anyone tried it? Someone reccomended it as I kept getting crap in my filler cap. It worked.

Probably not worth doing unless your coolant is manky like mine was. If you do try it remember to put the heater to hot to give the heater matrix a good clean aswell.

Peter.

Yes that was my worst case scenario view - no stat at all - Given the cars history I am hoping this is not the case and that it is just a stuck stat.

we will see at the weekend !!! fingers crossed

Changed the stat at the weekend and it was stuck partially open.  Replaced it with one of the Neuspeed 180 degree jobbies (normal is 195 degree)

so far all seems well - car heats up a lot quicker with the needle sitting just a tad below half way no matter what happens.  Hopefully all is cured now