Technical Coolant temperature weirdness - is it OK?

[mmbravo]

Hello !

Im a new owner of 1998 Bravo TD100 (100hp), and I noticed some weird stuff according to my coolant temperature gauge and i dont know if this is OK or not, or what could be the fault, since im new to fiats.

I have this type of instrument cluster in my car and i noticed some weird behaviour of the coolant temp needle.

I check the coolant level regularly, and it is OK (between min/max marks on cold engine).
But im having hard time getting the car to operating temperature (which i assume is around the middle - bolder mark on the gauge).
The needle only goes to middle mark when drivign through mountain pass slowly (behind trucks), city driving or standing still idling, the air from the blowers then is hot and radiator fan starts to spin as soon as the car hits the middle mark.
As soon as speed increases (just 50kph is enough), the needle drops pretty quickly. On cold winter days it goes even back to "C" mark, in hot summer it stays around 2nd or 3rd mark. The air going from the blower is significantly less warm as when on middle mark.
When i stop, it goes back to middle mark. I can gain little increase of temperature when i shift at 3500rpm or turn the A/C on but it never gets further than 3rd mark and i usually shift at around 2500rpm.

I daily drive the car (around 100 kilometers) across mountain pass and some extra-urban roads, and the lowest consumption i could get was 6.2l/100km. I saw (spritmonitor.de) that these cars can get lower than 6l, so i assume something is wrong.

What could be the cause ? Or is this normal behaviour? Faulty thermostat ? Faulty temperature sensor? The car has some other minor flaws, but i assume this is the most important thing.

Thank you for your ideas!

 

[Neverth]

Sounds like thermostat.
I had that and just used a piece of cardboard blocking part of the radioator to bring the temps up before I changed thermostat along timingbelt (waterpump).

 

[franglais]

seconded for the thermostat, those are classic symptoms, mine is starting to do the same thing.
Change the temperature sensor while you have the system drained.

 

[mmbravo]

Thanks for the advice guys!
Will change the thermostat, probably together with timing belt&water pump (it is 10yrs old, but only has around 50 000kms on it...should i?)

Also Ill try to use this thread for my other questions...
For example, sometimes (it does not depend on outer temp.) when i take off, i can hear a loud screeching noise from the engine bay and feel little vibration in the pedals, it lasts only when taking of with the clutch engaged on 1st gear or in Reverse gear, as soon as i let off the clutch it goes away. It occurs spontaneously, but more often when the wheels are a bit turned or when taking off uphill. Could this be the main clutch bearing? Havent heard noise like that on any of the cars i have driven. Otherwise i can shift gears just fine.

Another question : Sometimes after the car has been sitting outside for a day or two, when i start driving and exceed approx. 2200rpm for the first time it kind of doesnt want to go, has lower power at this point (as if the turbo was thinking if it wants to spin ) and then after around 0,5sec it suddenly gains power and goes just like normal...but i have to let off the gas pedal not to go very fast. Then it drives just fine the whole day. I know the turbos are like this, but this is something different, it feels like lack of fuel for that small moment and then suddenly rockets away.

Thanks for other replies (if any) !

Edit- forgot to to note that the fuel and air filter have approx 8000kms on them, so they are new.