My Clio 182 has turned cold-blooded...

[g-a-c]

Noticed over the last couple of days that the temp gauge hasn't reached midway on my drive to/from work, which seems unusual (I know it's a bit colder at the moment, but even so...). So today, I was up a little bit earlier and decided to take the motorway to work. After 5 minutes of motorway speed driving, the temp gauge had barely reached the first notch, and then as I pulled off onto the slip road it dropped down to just above the bottom. Seems very low to me, even given the lower ambient temps; I'd have expected it to be almost at running temperature by then?

Doesn't seem like a coolant temp sender problem as when I've had that on previous VAG cars, the gauge has wavered around between normal temp and zero, over and over. Mine seems quite steady, just very low. Are F4Rs known to have thermostats that can fail open so that the coolant is taking the "wrong" path round the engine and keeping it too cold?

 

[Ben.Block]

Are F4Rs known to have thermostats that can fail open so that the coolant is taking the "wrong" path round the engine and keeping it too cold?

Yes it'll be the thermostat stuck open. Circulating coolant through the rad too early.

 

[g-a-c]

Yeah, it seemed more like that than a temp sender to me. Will get it in to be looked at. Are there any easily reachable pipes that I can grab hold of to see if they're hot/cold to work out if it's definitely the thermostat?

 

[Ben.Block]

The pipe that runs from the front of the thermostat housing to the radiator. Where it joins the housing is where the thermostat is located.

 

[g-a-c]

Cheers, will try and look into it when I've driven home again

 

[ADS_V6]

having the same prob,read that duff thermostat can affect peformance my clio seems a bit lacking with the thermostat stuck open colder engine i suppose

 

[Ben.Block]

Yes, and cold map.

 

[ADS_V6]

thanks ben youve had this before i thought my engine was worn then after 45 mins in car it wakes up fan takes forever to come on lol

 

[Ben.Block]

Yes, it's pretty common.

 

[ADS_V6]

is it safe to be driving it like it is

 

[Ben.Block]

I wouldn't know to be honest. I'm not a mechanic, I've experienced these symptoms on every car I've owned including 2 rs's and it's always been the thermostat.

For something that's easy to test and then replace there is no reason to run it for extended periods if it is faulty. IMO.

 

[ADS_V6]

true changing it tomorrow thanks youve been a great help should i renew the coolant or not

 

[Ben.Block]

Depends on how old it is. You will lose coolant when you undo the housing so it'll need topping up anyway. Just use like for like coolant, I've been told if you mix the wrong ones it can cause problems.

 

[ADS_V6]

yes renault coolant it is thanks will do tomz car only has 31k on it suppose new coolant do no harm

 

[Icarus83]

Although its a different car, my Audi A4 consistently showed a very low engine temp on the dash. Changed both temp sender and thermostat, now shows spot on temp. Shouldn't be a lot for both bits. I vaguely remember the temp sender on the F4R is on the front of the block.

 

[g-a-c]

Strange, I've had dead coolant sensors on VAG engines and they would warm up fine, but then when warm the gauge would be 90-0-90-0-90-0-90-0-90-0 every few seconds as the signal went from sensible to implausible and back again.

In this case, it was definitely the thermostat, had it swapped over at Diamond and it's good as new now