General Help Please! Thermometer immersed in water warning light?

[Henri]

Hello Everyone!
This looks like it will be a very useful forum for us...
We own a Hymer Camp 52 on a Fiat Ducato 2.5 Diesel base.
My Boyfriend is stuck in Italy with the 'thermometer immersed in water' warning light on in RED. I am at home as my Gran was taken ill and he's just phoned all worried!
The actual temperature gauge shows a normal 91. The Coolant level is fine, the oil was checked last night and hasn't leaked anywhere?
He's been stopped for 30 mins and the light has gone off but is sure it will keep coming back on...
Is this light the water temp (bit odd as we thought the main temp gauge was the water temp) or oil temp or coolant temp or something else? Log book is in German and our Haynes manual is too vague!
Many thanks in advance,
Henri xx

 

[Doorman]

Hello Everyone!
This looks like it will be a very useful forum for us...
We own a Hymer Camp 52 on a Fiat Ducato 2.5 Diesel base.
My Boyfriend is stuck in Italy with the 'thermometer immersed in water' warning light on in RED. I am at home as my Gran was taken ill and he's just phoned all worried!
The actual temperature gauge shows a normal 91. The Coolant level is fine, the oil was checked last night and hasn't leaked anywhere?
He's been stopped for 30 mins and the light has gone off but is sure it will keep coming back on...
Is this light the water temp (bit odd as we thought the main temp gauge was the water temp) or oil temp or coolant temp or something else? Log book is in German and our Haynes manual is too vague!
Many thanks in advance,
Henri xx

Hi there,
Warning symbols are fairly standardized, and the one you mention is coolant temp high, but would aslo come on if the coolant level was low. Has he checked the radiator fan comes on. Sometimes you can help matters by have the heater fan in the cab on full as this aids cooling the coolant, but can be pretty uncomfortable in a warm climate.
Oil warning is a pic of an oil can, tho' you may have an oil temp high lamp but that would be an inclined thermometer symbol with a drop of oil coming off the bottom.
BTW, I dream of having 91 degrees showing on my 2.5tdi, the guage needle rarely moves as far as 58 deg.
If he's absolutely sure there's nothing wrong with the cooling system and the guage doesn't show an increased temperature, then theres the posibility it's actually a fault in the warning light circuit or the temp sender itself.
Hope your gran recovers soon.

Regards Doorman

 

[Henri]

I told him everything you said & he felt greatly re-assured!
He got across to France & had it checked out & they thought it was only the sensor too... We were just so worried as we'd only just left the mechanics complaining of black smoke - and all they said was the mix of oxygen at altitude... Better to be safe than sorry, I guess & the check only cost 13Euros!
Nan's a little better but hey she's 96 in two weeks so she isn't doing bad!
Thanks again
Henri xx

 

[mikey72]

Mine's been on occasionally, my handbook said it was high water temperature, but as you have said as well my gauge was reading normal. My van is prone to running warm when it's pushed hard, I plan to change the radiator as they are prone to having the fins peel away from the matix. Runs fine normally at the moment though. I have been told it comes on when the coolant in the expansion tank falls, there's a sensor at the back, make sure the water level is past it, my first sign was it came on in town during stop/start driving, but again, temperature gauge was fine. Half a pint of water and it's stayed out.