General More probs- temp guage???

[LJB]

Sorry people- yet another prob, my temp guage doesnt work proply- intermittant but 90% of the time even after 10 miles plus it wont even get to a quarter up the guage, wen surely half way/little bit less should be runnin temp- and not just off the minimum which it doesnt go above (couple of times it went to a third way up but then dropped near minimum agen)???

The car shouldnt run that cold, do i need a thermostat or temp sensor or sumfing???

 

[thefishdude]

well fromwhat you are saying the temp needle is moving just not going up much. so seems like its getting signal from temp sensor. so to me it sounds like your thermostat has gone, this is valve that is shut when cold allowing engine to heat up properly and then opens when hot to let water circualte to cool it once engine at operating temp. if its broken it stays open normally and the engine does not get chance to heat up. you can check a thermostat quiet easily take it out of engine (make sure cold) you should be able to see if its stuck open also the vavle should be water tight so if water can pass through then its faulty. they are quite cheap to replace, just dont do what i did once ad over titgen the bolts that hold it on and snap the head off

 

[Ems]

Hey, I'm new here, but I've had this problem ever since I got my Punto (2001 HGT) in April. It's been in the garage god knows how many times with me on the phone telling them to check the thermostat but they say it's fine. In the end the radiator got replaced under warranty to fix the water leak (which they said wasn't there either) but I've still got the temp gauge problem. I drove a 30 mile round trip at the weekend and the needle went up to mid-temp and then down to cold and stayed there.