Hey, driving to and from work today I noticed the temp guage sitting higher then normal, usualy it sits just blow or just a tiny bit over the half but today it went as high as in between the half and the next dot up and sat there a while before dropping down below the half again, then popped back up to the same level again. thats was on the way to work, (motorway driving) on the way home it went up to that level, dropped down and didnt go back up again until I was driving slowly in my town I live in.

Got a quick pic I took of the temp guage just after I parked the car, not quite as high but still a little higher then im used to.



anyone else had it sitting at this level in their brava/o?

Ive not been able to check coolent levels as its been pitch dark to do so, but this will be done in the morning. Although as a side not I have noticed no difference to the heater temp which when there is a difference is usualy a sign of an issue

Mine does that to. I think, its when the water reaches temperature and thermostat opens, hence the needle drops then picks back up again when the water gets round the rest of the engine.

Wouldnt worry about it unless anyone knows different.

That's fairly normal for my Brava.

just the first time ive seen it do that in 6 months do it cought me by suprise really.

Ive checked the coolent level and its where it should be anyway, so thats good enough for me

begining to think my temp guage is insane. its nolonger going above the half now, just sits at the below half, sometimes at the dotted point below it. and today I watched it bounce up and down between those two points.

Hi Scorg,

A month back, I had a problem with a faulty thermostat which stuck open (around a 1mm gap!!!). The effect of this meant that coolant was continuously being circulated through the system (i.e. never allowed to warm up). Basically, the temp reading would never go above the "C" mark !!!

Anyway, after changing the thermostat, everything now works fine. However, I do notice that when the engine is just beginning to warm up, the needle reaches the half way mark, then drops down to the next dotted mark. This continues repeatly until driving for a while, then at some point, it steadies at around the half way mark. So I guess that this is the normal action of the thermostat opening and closing (thermostat closed = coolant in engine block warming up; thermostat open = hot coolant back to radiator and cooled coolant flows into engine block).

Perhaps, your thermostat is on it's way out, i.e. beginning to stick open ? Definitely, not as severe as mine, as your temp actually gets above the "C" mark. If it never gets to the half way mark, I would say it is the thermostat is on it's way out.

You can check this by taking out the thermostat and see if the opening which goes back to the radiator is fully closed at room temperature (it should be). Try running water at the other end, and see if it flows through. If it does, then your thermostat is most probably on it's way out.

Another thing, you might want to check is the coolant sensor as well (fitted to the thermostat housing on my Fiat). I think the resistance should decrease as it gets warmer.

past two days its been being a bugger again, going inbetween the first and the second dots above the half for a few minutes, then eventually settling to just under the half.
Having a read of what chuck said, it could be posible the thermostat is sticking in the closed position longer then it should?
again the coolent level is fine but not having had a chance to look at it yet and its behaving up until now I left it be. But going to look at it now.

Now where is the themostat positioned?

Hi Scorg,

I get the feeling that this is how this system works. Perhaps, it's a bit colder recently so taking longer to get to temp.

Way back, I did a test with my new thermostat before installing and notice that it does take a slightly higher temp before starting to open (it says it should be 88 degrees though I have no thermometer to prove this). Perhaps this is because the thermostat is completely new.

Anyway, with the new thermostat, my temp gauge nearly always registers just above the dot just before the halfway mark (as in your picture) after 15-20 mins normal driving. For longer periods, it eventually gets above the halfway mark, at which point the thermostat fully opens and the temp drops back down to just below the halfway mark. Basically controlling the temp around the halfway mark. I am not sure if this halfway mark actually means 88 degrees or not. For extended periods (say good 20 miles), it would eventually steady around the halfway mark.

I would say if your temp registers low, your thermostat is stuck open rather than closed. I recall my old one had a 1-2mm gap even when cold, and opens a lot earlier (I doubt it is 88 degrees), so I guess coolant was being pumped round continuosly when engine is cold and cooled through the radiator, so temp takes forever to get to the halfway mark.

Mind you, at least yours eventually gets to the halfway mark, so thermostat is sort of working. With my old faulty thermostat, the temp was always registering below the "C" mark even after 30 miles.

Is your thermostat fully closed when cold (I think it should be), or does water leak through ?

If you do not suspect your thermostat, perhaps test the coolant temp sensor on the thermostat housing, which gives a variable resistance to temp changes. You may need to consult a manual to check the expected temp/resistance curve.

I'd say that heating up isnt a problem. It gets to temp in under 5 mins as normal. It just then continues above half way and starts to bounce. Anyhow, going to try check the thermostat the now anyway.
The cars under warrenty and as I have a couple of other things to deal with I may get that booked in for this as well. (and everywhere my warrenty people use are shut today!)

If everything is working normally the needle should reach it's optimum temp after about 5-10 mins steady driving and whilst moving should remain at this point. The only time it should go higher is in slow moving/stationary traffic where the needle may rise to 1-2 notches above before the fan kicks in and retunrs the gauge to normal.

If it's bouncing around while driving along then I would suggest it's either electical, thermostat or the system may need bleeding.

Its usualy stable in slow or stationary traffic for me. I'd been thinking it maybe something electrical doing this, but definetly will be checked asap, as soon as I can contact someone to book it in. Local unipart people my warrenty people use (incidently also who I bought it the car off of back in march) are closed, as are the other unipart registered garages. Uncle arnolds will probably be open, but they probably wont be able to look at the car until next week and will cost me to do so.

Give the dashboard a smack when it starts playing up. I know of several 1.2 owners who have similar problems for which the golden rule of car mechanics (if all else fails, TW*T IT!) seems to work.

Haha! brings me back to the tempra days that, wack the dash to get the led light working

I tried the "sharp wack on the dash" before I first started...I wished it fixed my problem...

Scorg said:

Haha! brings me back to the tempra days that, wack the dash to get the led light working

Click to expand...

You should have tried a 127 mate. One of mine ended up with many a dent 'cause of that Olde Worlde Cure-all! ;-)

I think my favourite was constantly getting pulled over by the bizzies 'cause a rear light was out: -

Me: "Evenin' officer. Tail light out is it?" (Pops bonnet catch, kicks bonnet catch, tries again, gets screwdriver from under seat, snaps bonnet catch, swears profoundly whilst kicking catch at which point bonnet pops open);

Orafice (sorry, officer): "Yes Sir. Your drivers side rear light is out."

Me: "You sure about that?" (Lifts bonnet and lightly flicks the fuse box with finger);

Cnutstable: "Yes Sir, it's this......oh! It appears to be on" (Goes around car checking tyre tread depths, tax disc, etc......)

Me: "Right. I'll be on me way then chap" (closes bonnet very gently so as not to disturb fuse box, fails as bonnet wont catch, waits for bizzies to leave before shutting bonnet at which point both rears and side-lights are extinguished.......)

Happy days....

didnt have to go to those extremes on the tipo or tempra, but it did involve getting out the car and hitting the lights

talking of hitting stuff, Hit the top of the dash this evening when it went sky high, and it started to behave and sat just under the half all the time.
So what could be the cause of that, loose wiring, bad earth?

Dunno mate. Could be anything really. Most likely a loose wire or duff instrument panel. At some time or other most of the Bravo/a owners on t'other forum seem to have had this (including me) and the old short, sharp, shock seems to work.

I wouldn't worry about it for now as long as it keeps working.

if it is a dodgy instrument panel i'll live with it. Know that once changed it resets the milage to Zero, something i'd rather not deal with at resale time