The temperature gauge on my vauxhall astra 1.6 club only moves when my car is stationary it doesn't overheat but it doesn't move until i'm stuck in traffic where it'll hit about 80 degrees. Cheers Mike
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Maybe the thermostat is stuck open - does the top hose to the rad. start warming up as soon as the engine starts? If so then it's almost certainly the thermostat.
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Maybe the thermostat is stuck open - does the top hose to the rad. start warming up as soon as the engine starts? If so then it's almost certainly the thermostat.
Hmmm not sure i'll check later and re post
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"it doesn't move until i'm stuck in traffic where it'll hit about 80 degrees"
Then presumably the electric cooling fan kicks in (as it doesn't overheat) and it drops to slightly below 80 - my Cavalier would hit 90 and the fan kicked in. Then it cycles like this as long as you are stuck in traffic. If so perfectly normal.
Or are you saying it doesn't register anything on the gauge until you are in traffic?
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It doesn't register anything until i am stuck in traffic
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Then, as suggested above, more than likely your stat is stuck open although I'd expect the gauge to crawl into the blue area (just) even with a stuck open stat.
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Then, as suggested above, more than likely your stat is stuck open although I'd expect the gauge to crawl into the blue area (just) even with a stuck open stat.
How do i rectify this is it something easy that i can sort out or a bit more technical bearing in mind i am not the greatest with car engines
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the top hose of the radiator follow that to the engine the thermostat is behind the alloy housing im sure. there is a water temperature sensor to the side of that on the 1.6 16v, mine sits at about 90 degres most of the time.
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If your heater works ok then its just a lazy gauge.
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I'd expect the gauge to crawl into the blue area (just) even with a stuck open stat.
Agreed, but my MK3 cavalier 1800 had exactly the symptoms described, and the gauge hardly ever moved off the bottom end stop. After about 4 years of living with it I finally got round to replacing the thermostat, easy job as I paid a couple of quid extra and bought the thermostat alreay in the housing. About 15 quid for a pattern part IIRC.
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Also the engine management light comes on and off sparatically do you think this could this be connected to the problem ? i'll be driving for about 10 mins light will come on then 1 or 2 mins later will disappear,
i left my car running last night for 15minutes and the pipe to the radiator began to heat up straight away the temperature gauge rose to 90 degrees and stopped.
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New thermostat needed then.
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It certainly sounds like thermostat stuck open - it won't do your fuel consumption any good so replacing the stat will soon pay for itself.
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It certainly sounds like thermostat stuck open - it won't do your fuel consumption any good so replacing the stat will soon pay for itself.
Thanks for all your help on this how much is a new stat these days and would this also affect the heating in the car as i get no hot air. Cheers Mike
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if you have no heat in the car and no response or very little on the gauge sounds like thermostat is stuck open! not sure of a price but why not ring round for a quote? after all it's not very warm at the moment.!!
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if you have no heat in the car and no response or very little on the gauge sounds like thermostat is stuck open! not sure of a price but why not ring round for a quote? after all it's not very warm at the moment.!!
If a thermostat is stuck open does this mean it definately needs replacing or is it repairable? Cheers Mike
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Last time I bought a 'stat was about 5 years ago for a Cavalier 1800, that cost about a tenner from a VX dealer - much less hassle to get the thermostat already in the housing and only a couple of quid extra. Took me about an hour of swearing / knuckle grating to fit including draining and refilling the coolant. I wouldn't think agarage would want more than an hour's labour for the job, unless it is a really difficult job on an Astra.
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If a thermostat is stuck open does this mean it definately needs replacing or is it repairable?
They're non servicable items, so it will need replacing.
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do you want to be warm in winter??? if so fit a new thermostat it's not a very expensive job and there's enough people on here pointing towards a new stat. if you can't do it yourself bite the bullet and take it in as mentioned no more than 1 hours labour.
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Besides what bigtee has mentioned, if the engine isn't running at it's optimum temperature it will more than likely use more fuel as well.
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