K8 Temperature

Steve_SK · Post by **Steve_SK** » November 4th, 2006, 9:24 am

Hello, some news.. my temp went up almost to the red zone last Tuesday, so I decided to exchange the radiator. I installed a new one today, put a new cooling liquid in and repaired fan connection.

My old radiator was leaking on the left side (driver's side) all the way from up, now the new one works really great, the temp gauge shows the same temp (in 5/8th scale), but doesn't go higher.

So, there's probably difference in thermostats in EU and USA. And I would like to ask if anybody could give me detailed info on US thermostat (opening temperature etc.)

Thank you!!

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » November 4th, 2006, 9:31 am

Steve_SK wrote: now the new one works really great, the temp gauge shows the same temp (in 5/8th scale), but doesn't go higher.

You're sitting in a comfortable range at 5/8's. Remember that the coolant thermosensors may not be as accurate as when they were new either. The attached image show's a reasonable temp reading for a fully warmed K8 motor.

Steve_SK · Post by **Steve_SK** » November 4th, 2006, 10:05 am

jschrauwen wrote:You're sitting in a comfortable range at 5/8's. Remember that the coolant thermosensors may not be as accurate as when they were new either. The attached image show's a reasonable temp reading for a fully warmed K8 motor.

So this is the right temp of my engine, right? Then everything is OK and it seems my problem with cooling's gone.

Am I right? If yes, I'd like to thank all people for posting in my thread and for help of you all!

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » November 4th, 2006, 12:02 pm

just get urself a used thermo sensor and you can see whats going on with it, also make sure the fans are turning on. Maybe the fan thermo sensor is going on and it does come on but when engine reaches over half. My temp during the day is only half and I got the fan wired to a switch. At night I dont even need fan at all because if i turn it on it goes a bit below half. I do have an all cooper radiator and no ac condencer tho. Thermostat is good.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » November 5th, 2006, 12:33 pm

Steve_SK wrote:
jschrauwen wrote:You're sitting in a comfortable range at 5/8's. Remember that the coolant thermosensors may not be as accurate as when they were new either. The attached image show's a reasonable temp reading for a fully warmed K8 motor.
So this is the right temp of my engine, right? Then everything is OK and it seems my problem with cooling's gone. Am I right? If yes, I'd like to thank all people for posting in my thread and for help of you all!

What I'm saying is that particular display (if it's on a fully warmed up engine) should be OK. That's taking into consideration the possible age and inaccuracy of the gauge and the possible inaccuracy of the coolant thermosensors. Depending on the age and integrity of your coolant thermosensors, if you feel that they may be questionable, than I would replace them. Before that though, make a quick check with a multi-meter just to see what the readings are in comparison to what's called for in the online shop manual. I had one that had fatigued because the engine does normally run so hot and over time it just plain failed - they do do that over time. I would actually remove them for closer inspection. I actually cleaned them up with emery cloth (fine sand paper) so as to remove any oxidization and coatings that have developed over the years. It will also aid in being that much more sensitive to coolant temp which is a very good thing also. Final call of course is yours. good luck.

Steve_SK · Post by **Steve_SK** » November 5th, 2006, 2:17 pm

Jschrauwen, thank you very much for explanation, I will try it next weekend, exactly what you have written. Thank you!

Steve_SK · Post by **Steve_SK** » December 18th, 2006, 4:02 am

I have another question:

I have 180F thermostat installed, would 170F thermostat help to lower my temp? Probably yes, but woun't it hurt my engine? I was driving Peugeot 307 SW 1.6i last weekend and temp there was just 1 mm below half and it read 78 C (something around 170F). Is it ok to put this type of thermostat in my MX3? If I remember the full opening temperature is 95 C (202F) and it is too much, in my opinion..

Thank you.