Thermostat needs changing, covering up rad to help temp ????
Discussion
I have a 2004 1.8 vectra, and the car starting taking a age to get up tp temp, and never really to the bottom end of the zone, meaning when you turned the heat up in the car the temp dropped right down.
Now I have found out this is a common problem on these cars and a simple fix, just replace the thermostat, Hanynes Manuel has arrived just waiting for the parts and a slightly warmer day. At worst it is effecting the mpg but that doesn't seem to bad.
I am off to Dorset this afternoon and was wondering if covering up some of the rad would help keep the car temp up ?
Is this madness ? I have heard of people doing this, if it is basically sound how much should I look to cover up and what with ?
Now I have found out this is a common problem on these cars and a simple fix, just replace the thermostat, Hanynes Manuel has arrived just waiting for the parts and a slightly warmer day. At worst it is effecting the mpg but that doesn't seem to bad.
I am off to Dorset this afternoon and was wondering if covering up some of the rad would help keep the car temp up ?
Is this madness ? I have heard of people doing this, if it is basically sound how much should I look to cover up and what with ?
GT4 Baz said:
You can partly cover the rad with carboard, I have done this on car's with external air to air oil coolers in the winter.
Just make sure you keep an eye on temps on the drive down but it should be fine mate.
Thankyou bud, so should I look at 20-30% of rad covered ?Just make sure you keep an eye on temps on the drive down but it should be fine mate.
I am think the thermostat is reading the temp wrong ( thinks it is hotter than it is ) and making the cooling system work to cool it down, thus making the car run as if you have just started a journey ( nto a lot of heat from the heaters in the car, works fine when the car sits in traffic and goes up to normal temp so matrix is fine ). Therefore covering up the rad would make the car run warmer by reducing the cooling effect of the rad ?
Would that mean the cars just going to try hard to cool its self ? any problems with that for a round trip of say 300 miles ?
GT4 Baz said:
20-30% sounds like a plan, if you have a look at a lot of the black cabs in london during the winter they cover up their rads with card for the same reason.
Just keep a beady eye on the temp gauge, it sounds like a dodgy thermostat.
Sweet so no real damage just a toasty car and better running engine ?Just keep a beady eye on the temp gauge, it sounds like a dodgy thermostat.
You think gaffer tape is the way to go to hold it on?
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