Can anyone shed some light on this problem for me?
The little bar indicator on the instrument binnacle for engine temperature never goes above one bar now. Yet when I plug in FiatECUScan and monitor the engine temperature, it takes about 10 minutes or so to reach 90 deg C and is then controlled between 85 and 90. That seems normal to me and suggests that the thermostat is doing its job. The thermostat housing was changed along with the water pump when I had the cambelt changed about 15000 mles ago. The dashboard gauge did work properly for a while after that. The coolant has been a milky colour ever since that work was done and I suspect that the monkeys at the garage put a leak inhibitor (like Radweld or Bars leaks) in the circuit. They deny it of course. It seems strange because the coolant was crystal clear before it went in!

So the questions are:

Where does ECUScan get the temperature from?
Is it a different sensor to that used by the display on the instrument binnacle?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance for any help on this issue.


By the way, I had a problem with heavy soot from the exhaust of my car ever since new. Fiat were never interested in fixing it and kept fobbing me off. I just replaced the EGR valve with a cheapo chinese copy costing £25, and the problem has gone away. The car is running better than it ever has in all the time we have owned it!

'03 JTD ELX in Pareo Yellow, owned siince new, approx. 170000 miles and going well.

Does the top hose to the radiator get very warm when the engine is fully up to temperature? Does the heater blow warm air? There's quite a long thread on here about someone who had only two bars on their gauge and what they did to fix it. The norm seems to be four bars for most, with some only seeing three.

The JTD does run cool in the Multipla and in winter can struggle to get up to temperature. When it's really cold, try cutting some lengths of the cheapo grey pipe lagging (the fat building regs-compliant stuff won't fit) from Wickes or B&Q and squeeze them on to the grille bars in the lower bumper. That will help to stifle the air flow a bit.


Good to hear that a cheap EGR fixed the soot problem. Keep us posted as to how well it works, as time goes on.

Thanks - will check the top hose. Yes, the heater does work reasonably well but to be honest, it has never been brilliant and I have always had problems with clearing condensation unless I have all the warm air blowing onto the screen.

On another point, I just read a recent thread from a guy who has an '07 diesel and he claims to get 47 mpg. I have never seen better than 40 out of mine - even with the new EGR valve doing its job. Is that normal for a JTD?

It's very, very dependent upon the type of journeys you make. If you do lots of short, urban trips you'll be lucky to see more than 32-35mpg. If you're mostly on the motorway and happy to sit in the inside lane with the HGV's, you may well get into the 50's mpg. For me, doing mostly long-ish trips of 20 miles+ on A and B roads, I get a true 42-43mpg. Others have done quite a lot better and it may have something to do with the EGR. There doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between the round- and square-nose types.

Thanks for your reply. I am doing a mixed commute of 15 to 20 miles each way depending on the route I choose. I will do a proper calculated check on mine when I next fill it up but the dash computer is currently showing 38 MPG, which is much better than my summer transport, A BMW 3L Z4. The main thing is that the car is now running properly for the first time in many years - perhaps since it was new. I am starting to understand why people enjoy driving Multiplas - it has got loads of 'grunt' now!!

It's well documented on here and elsewhere that (for reasons unknown) the mpg figure given by the trip computer is based on something approximating US Gallons, so it always under-reads!

Checked mine this morning when I filled up. I calculated it at 38 MPG which agrees with my digital readout.

Not convinced about the US gallons theory - especially as the Multipla was never (to my knowledge) sold in the US.


Anyway, I guess 38 mpg is not too bad for my mixed commute. I might just squeeze one more Ski trip to France out of the poor old girl and I will check the figure again then. I will be sad to see it go but I fear that one major fault such as a worn out clutch or failed DMF woiuld be enough to force me to scrap it.


I have not seen any evidence of the remaining Mk 1 Multiplas going up in value yet.


Unless someone knows different of course!....

Bilbie said:

Checked mine this morning when I filled up. I calculated it at 38 MPG which agrees with my digital readout.

Not convinced about the US gallons theory - especially as the Multipla was never (to my knowledge) sold in the US.


Anyway, I guess 38 mpg is not too bad for my mixed commute. I might just squeeze one more Ski trip to France out of the poor old girl and I will check the figure again then. I will be sad to see it go but I fear that one major fault such as a worn out clutch or failed DMF woiuld be enough to force me to scrap it.


I have not seen any evidence of the remaining Mk 1 Multiplas going up in value yet.


Unless someone knows different of course!....

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You've hit the nail on the head there, it'll be a few years before they are worth keeping by then there won't be any left.
I've got two waiting to join the queue at the canning factory - both MOT'd and NO electrical faults (is that rare or what)
I have offered them but there's no takers and I can't keep 4 cars here - looks like a bloody carpark.
BUT I've been swayed by French opposition in the form of a C4 Grand Picasso 2.0L Exclusive - it is awesome. There's some irritable bits, of course, but nothing to lose any sleep over. The bugs are very much out in the cold now.
Which is sad really cos my bugs have been reliable and cost effective over the years and my daughter still loves them. She says the C4 feels as big as a tank and the Ugly Bug feels homely. I'm sure I'm gonna be sorry one day.
By the way economy wise the C4 is doing 48.6 average (tank full to tank full)
George

42 to 43 real mpg and say 37 mpg displayed on mk1 has always been my experience with them. It is just a calculation error in the code.

We are running mk2 at the moment and just running a test on the mpg. Books say they are the same mpg as mk1.
I have a thermostat to put on it too as it always shows 1 bar ... I am worried it will not regen the dpf as too cold. It took ages to get to temp on mot for them to check the emissions and they were plugged into ECU via ODB port.