Ive just aquired a 1.3L T reg felicia with an MPi engine and when driving it ive noticed that the temperature guage is below the middle mark, around 2/3 between the half way and the cold.

Is this right, or is something wrong/will it damage my engine if its not sorted.

Cheers

It sounds like your thermostat has broken. Its a very common problem. The engine won't warm up properly so the heater doesn't work and the mpg is poor.

Andy

Thanks for the reply Andy, where abouts is it located? Is it a fairly easy fix to implement, im going to get a haynes manual for it.

Edit: sorry to sound stupid, which heater wont work? The "climate control" (lol) blows warm air very effectively.

Just to clarify, I was driving on a motorway all the way back, could this possibly have made the engine cooler?

It's not necessarily a faulty stat. And a slight difference between city traffic and motorway (especially if cold) could be normal.

I live in the countryside, 10 miles from the town where I work. When my stat was broken it never whent higher than halfway between cold and normal (halfway) on the way into town, but in city traffic queues and when idling it rose to the halfway mark.

So if the gague rise to the halfway mark when idling and goes down when driving I would go for the stat.

It's easily fixed, but you should change both the stat and the housing (the plastic housing often breaks, in fact this might be what has happened).

Sounds like it's nothing to worry about to me. The thermostat is located on the top right of the engine. It has a hose that goes to the radiator and one that goes to the expansion tank.

If yours is the plastic thermostat, as opposed to the aluminium housed one, it's easier to swap the whole unit. I suppose if it's never been touched it could be worthwhile swapping regardless and giving the cooling system a good flush through, and some new G12+ lifetime coolant 50/50 de-ionised water. To drain the coolant drop off the bottom hose rather than using the supplied bolt, as if this pipe breaks it won't be fun to replace I understand.

Cheers for the replies guys, i'll test it over a few weeks and see whats what. Will get a haynes for it too.

Just to clarify, its most likely to be the thermostat not the temperature sensor?

Was in traffic yesterday and it wasnt getting properly warm.

Cheers

Hmmm... if the gauge always indicates on the "low" side it could be a faulty sensor but also a dodgy gauge - the "clock" itself - or maybe a bad connection.

If you leave the car idling till the electric fan starts, where do the needle point then? Normally it should be a bit (say 1/8 of an inch) over the halfway mark. If your is at the mark or below it could be that the problem is with the gague (or connections) rather than with the sensor. If so it won't be much of a problem.

But it can still be the sensor. I don't remember whether it's the same sensor for the gauge and the ECU. If it is, you will you get an over-rich fuel mixture and low mileage.

Could you get another sensor from the scrapyard (cheap) and see if there's a difference?

But it can still be the sensor. I don't remember whether it's the same sensor for the gauge and the ECU. If it is, you will you get an over-rich fuel mixture and low mileage.

For the MPI I think it does.

If it's the plastic housing one I'd renew the whole lot. You get the sensor and thermostat and the housing all in one, plus avoid any potential damaged plastic housing issues.

I agree with anewman - it's most probably the stat since it's a common fault with the Felly. But even with a faulty stat a "normal" gauge will go past the halfway mark if idling for a few minutes (till the electric fan starts). So if it never goes that high there's something else going on too... or instead.

Thanks for the replies again guys. The thermostat is in the right half of the plastic holder and from the ones I can find the thermostat only comes with the right side. The sensor is in the left side which attaches to the right side.

I might just order both, they arent that expensive.

The needle does move about, starts cold and slowly moves up, just not loads.

Well, have been driving and in traffic the needle creeps up to the half way mark and the fan cuts in if it creeps up higher than that, so mabe nothing is wrong after all?!!

Am going to leave it for a bit to see.

From your last post I'll say that your sensor is OK (reads temp correctly). But if the temp gauge always drops when you're rolling at higher speeds, then the stat doesn't shut as it should. Gives you too much cooling of engine and bad mpg. So if that's the case you should get a new stat (with housing).

Ok cheers. Ive got a spare stat and housing as I ordered one anyway. Got a long drive coming up in the next few days so will see then.

Was in traffic yesterday and it wasnt getting properly warm.

crikey when im in traffic my temperature gauge goes up like a b**** heaters on an windows down lol

Dealer only part if i remember rightly....

Housing comes with Stat, and Temp Sender too...About £50 inc VAT.

Dealer only part if i remember rightly....

Housing comes with Stat, and Temp Sender too...About £50 inc VAT.

I bought it off ebay, just got the left hand piece which holds the stat, there isnt any need to remove the other half with the temp sensor in it anyway.

Thats OK then, nice one.