Get a thermometer (a meat or candy thermometer works fine) and measure the
coolant temperature in the radiator once the engine is warm. It should be
180F to 195F. Note the corresponding position of the temp gauge needle.
If you are running much lower than that you probably should replace the
thermostat, in my opinion, with an 87C.
Brian
At 03:09 AM 5/30/98 -0400, Douglas Sisson wrote:
>Today I took a closer look at the over-heating problem. I was armed with
>the numerous tips I got from the list (thanks everyone). I ran the car
>with the heat off for a while and waited for the temp to get to the 2nd
>line. NOTE: what seems to be half-way is a little below the second line.
>To see what I mean, take a look at my temp.ind. at
>http://pages.cthome.net/dougsisson/pugprob.html
>
>After stopping the car and checking under the hood, I noticied that the
>engine wasn't that hot. I took the oil cap off, I saw no steam coming
>out (this happened when the car overheated last year). After releasing
>the pressure of the coolant via the overflow tank, I slowly removed the
>radiator cap to find the coolant at normal temps (as far as I can tell).
>Last year when the car reached similar temps it overheated and
>everything was extremely hot. Could this have damaged the thermostat?
>Should I replace the thermo with a higher temp? Should I worry at all?
>
>> The thermostat brings the coolant to the thermostat's minimal temperature,
>> and prevents it from going back below that. It has nothing to do with
>> higher temperatures or overheating (normally)--it just maintains a minimum
>> temperature. A cold thermostat allows too low a minimum temperature when
>> the engine isn't working hard, causing loss of efficiency. When the engine
>> is working hard, the thermostat temperature is probably irrelevant, because
>> the coolant temperature will doubtless be above the minimum. But in daily
>> driving, the engine may run too cool frequently, wasting fuel, wearing
>> faster, and sludging the oil.
>>
>Thanks for the help
>Douglas Sisson '87 505-sti 2.2l auto, ZDJL engine
>http://pages.cthome.net/dougsisson/peugeot.html
>
>
>
Brian Holm, Peugeotholm
Supplying parts for Peugeots only, since 1969
Plainfield, VT 802.454.7132 Fax 454.1310