Temperature - or just the gauge?

oport

oport

Member
Hello fellow Rover drivers,

i have a strange problem with my P6. The reading of the temperature gauge drives me crazy. It doesn't matter for how long i drive the car, the needle hardly touches the green sector. When the car is warm, the temperature needle moved from nil to the beginning of the green sector and stays there. The engine runs fine, the thermo opens and when i manually check the engine bay after a ride everything seems to be just right, the engine is hot. The hose to the radiator is pretty hot, so the cooling system itself seems to be ok. I flushed everything and removed all the gunk, so that should be no problem. I rather expected the car to run too hot than too cold. The final qestion: Is it just the usual little bit of paranoia on my side when the car is good and we experience just some funny readings from the instrument? Or is there something to check for? From my understanding a car running to hot is bad, but too cold is not good either.

PS: I have the car for almost two years now and the behaviour was always like this...

CU Olaf
 
You need to get hold of an infra red thermometer then you can check what the temp actually is...

Rich
 
Hello Olaf,

A 74 degree thermostat will see the needle rarely reach the green sector of the gauge. What temperature is the thermostat? Does it have a jiggle pin, bleed notch or is there a hole drilled in it? The temperature of the thermostat is the minimum temperature at which it will open. An 82 degree thermostat as an example will open when the needle reaches just below the 8 on the gauge. Running temperature will normally therefore be a couple of degrees warmer so the needle will cover the 8 or be a little higher.

A themostat which does not close will allow coolant to circulate before the opening temperature is reached, and this will keep the engine running cooler for much much longer.

Usually when the temperature sender fails the needle moves to the top of the red even when the engine is cold, so the problem is a give-a-way.

Ron.
 
I'd say the most likely problem you have is an incorrect temperature sender. SD1 senders are known to produce this effect when fitted to P6's. But it is worth checking that you have the correct temperature thermostat fitted and that it has the bleed hole / jiggle pin.

Chris
 
Hello,

thank you guys for the advice so far. Will check the themostat then first. From my understanding a 82 degress thermostat should be the right one under normal running conditions here in Europe (especially Germany as well as GB), is that correct?

CU Olaf
 
82 is a Summer stat that you can use if you get problems with the correct, 88 degree one during the warmer weather. I would always fit an 88 as the first option.
 
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