It has been a quite one for me but I have been making progress. There is less to change on the car (Steering wheel if I am picky but it is not bad by any stretch, and maybe a front end respray, but again it is not that bad especially for it being a daily and maybe the top engine mount), it is almost feeling strange!
When the car went to BTM Performance Fred commented on the car's great condition but pointed out a few things I should keep an eye on. While most of these have been taken care of the thermostat had not. He reckoned that with a new one the car would run a little smoother and be just so. With the old thermostat the gauge used to sit bang on half way, maybe go under by half a mm or go the other way, where they tend to sit (slightly above halfway). On the basis that winter is coming and there seems to be little evidence of the coolant being changed I went to Renault to purchase some Type D and a new thermostat.
Initially all looks fine:
Again, everything looks OK:
Errrr, maybe not! The inner thermostat seal had perished and split, causing one side of the seal to expand and come away.
I then filled the engine up with Type-D until coolant came out of the bleed hose when I then filled the coolant to the max and fired it up. It seemed to warm up quicker than previously and the gauge stayed just slightly above 1/2 way without budging at all! On my drive back the coolant level dropped to the minimum where I promptly topped it up once the car had cooled down. I would like to think that the level has settled and all air has come out.
Maybe it is placebo but the car was quite sharp on the throttle which I put down to the remap ; a friend of mine was not too keen about this from his 172. It does seem to be smoother than before as well. The heater is also hotter than before, handy with winter not being miles away and for those cold nights. I had had cars where the gauge does not even approach halfway!