Is my GTV running cold?

I drove in my 2002 TS from London to Yorkshire last night. So the journey started off urban until I hit the A1 and the "open road" (I did not hammer all the way but on one or two occasions the MPH may have been in the 3 figure area). The temp gauge never got above 90deg in fact it was nearer 70 deg for the majority of the way.

The car runs smoothly, MPG is suprisingly good and nothing I have seen gives me any concern (touch wood) should I be getting it looked at? (less than 50k on the clock if that makes any difference)

Any advice would be good.

Ours runs at the same temperature as yours.. We asked previously and were told that the thermostat had likely failed (they normally fail fully open)... took the car to our local indy and he said it was fine..

As it doesn't seem to effect anything (car runs well, heater works, idle is OK, fuel economy is OK etc) we've decided just to ignore it..

TBH after having a MGF for the past 2 years it's nice not to have to drive with one eye on the temp gauge all the time!

Likewise my v6 runs at about 90 degs in town, but as soon as you hit clear roads it drops to about 70 (just above the white mark that sits between 50 & 90 degs on the gauge).

my gtv thermostat is shot and it runs at 50 or just below most of the time, am replacing my thermostat today, the temp yours runs at seems fine.

Good luck with it gazza!

Originally Posted by Pete046

Likewise my v6 runs at about 90 degs in town, but as soon as you hit clear roads it drops to about 70 (just above the white mark that sits between 50 & 90 degs on the gauge).

My TS is the same and I reckon it's just fine.

i have a gtv 3.0 and a 156 2.5 and both in city driving(reasonably slow approx 60kmh stop start) sit on or near to 90.
when i start to drive on the freeway (after stop start driving) the temp moves down to approx. 70.

THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL!!!!!!!!!!!
another thing........these engines take about half an hour to get to normal running temp.

yep, my V6 is the same, 90 in town, 70-80 on the road, and that's with a new thermostat a month ago. Though it is running slightly warmer than before, and warms up quicker from cold. No noticeable change in economy though, its still crap!

Just fitted a new thermostat to my 2.0 ts, straightforward job, no problems except temperature sensor was different connection so used the one off the old thermostat, car now runs at between 70-90 now, it was below 50 before, drives a lot better and goes like s**t off a shovel now!

Give away to a stuffed stat is initial warm up. In warm weather, the temperature should be up to normal in about 2 or 3 minutes of driving. If it takes ages, then the stat is stuck either partially or fully open.

Also, I know it seems tedious, but the temp gauge should rise steadily from cold, then get to a point on the dial where the stat opens, and then rapidly drop back 20 or do degrees before climbing again to a steady temperature and then staying there.

That is the behaviour of a good thermostat. If it doesn't do that then replace it. It is a simple job and should take no more than an hour on your drive. You'll need a stat a range of jubilee clips and some sockets and some coolant. I'd also advise replacing the temperature sender unit, as they tend to corrode into the stat housing and crack or warp as you spanner them out!

V6 should warm up very quickly - less than 10 mins couple of miles and the temp gauge should hold absolutely rock steady at 90, whatever.
If its low at high speed then either your thermostat is jiggered - fails open or part open, or the temp sender is jiggered or the gauge us jiggered or possibly there is a poor earth connection on the circuit.
Running at 70 deg you'll be overfuelling by some margin.
Twinkie is probably the same.
Doddle to change stat, cheapest thing to do of the above.

The TS and V6 should run between 85 and 90ºC all of the time. However on some cars the gauge reads lower than this by about 10ºC due to the location of the sensor at the back of the cylinder head. (it is screwed into metal, and not immersed in the coolant.)

However I have owned 7 TS engined cars and 5 V6's and all of them but 2 of them came to me with failed thermostats.

It is a very common problem, so if the car is running cooler than you think it should then I would say it's a fairly good bet the thermostat is stuck open.

My 147 was running btween 50-90. Changed the Thermostat. Now sits at 90 and doesn't budge once its warm.

Jobs quite a simple one too....
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/engin...twinspark.html (How to: Change a thermostat on a twinspark.)

Changed my rad and mine's gone back to doing exactly the same as it did before ... around town and in traffic it sits a touch over 90 ... then on a good run on a open road it sits around 70. I think from reading previous threads on this subject those kind of figures are a sign the thermostat is stuck open. Would that be a reason for lower than expected mpg??

Originally Posted by BlackGhost

Changed my rad and mine's gone back to doing exactly the same as it did before ... around town and in traffic it sits a touch over 90 ... then on a good run on a open road it sits around 70. I think from reading previous threads on this subject those kind of figures are a sign the thermostat is stuck open. Would that be a reason for lower than expected mpg??

It does sound like it is stuck open, and if it is that will affect MPG.

Mine was doing the same.

Changed thermostat, problem sorted

mpg much better to (like symonh said).

Hmm looks like maybe I need a new 'stat. Job for the winter there I think. My mpg seems pretty reasonable even though a chunk of the driving has been on the motorway with the temp reading 70 so not sure if it really makes much of a difference.

Don't agree with the V6's good to run at 70 to 90. The V6 Arese needs to run at 80 to 90. I modified mine so it was be stable in all conditions at 85 irrespective of the climate conditions or velocity.

The TS, now that I have a new thermostat runs at 90 + or - 3 degrees, again, in all conditions.

Slow warm up = bad thermostat.
50 to 70 highway temp = bad thermostat.

Mine never budges of 90 whatever the conditions/use.
Had a dicky stat when I did a 500 mile round trip to London 80+mph at -2degC most of the way - never got above 70 ish. mpg terrible (usually quite good at steady 80) and the relatively new lambda probe was fooked several hundred miles later probably due to overfueling.

Originally Posted by ceci

i have a gtv 3.0 and a 156 2.5 and both in city driving(reasonably slow approx 60kmh stop start) sit on or near to 90.
when i start to drive on the freeway (after stop start driving) the temp moves down to approx. 70.

THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL!!!!!!!!!!!
another thing........these engines take about half an hour to get to normal running temp.

Ceci - I agree those temperatures are normal but taking that long to warm up is a clear sign the stat is going/gone (sometimes they just leak rather than being stuck full open) - unless you freewheel downhill away from home for miles! Mine used to take ages, changed it last week & now its up to temp in about a (urban) mile, say 5 mins. Might be a bit longer going gently on an open road, but registers temperature within a couple of minutes.

Originally Posted by ceci

i have a gtv 3.0 and a 156 2.5 and both in city driving(reasonably slow approx 60kmh stop start) sit on or near to 90.
when i start to drive on the freeway (after stop start driving) the temp moves down to approx. 70.

THIS IS COMPLETELY NORMAL!!!!!!!!!!!
another thing........these engines take about half an hour to get to normal running temp.

Its normal as in it is very common, but it is not what is intended. Your thermostat should STAY COMPLETELY SHUT until 85, where it will start to open, being fully open by 87-89 degrees.

So you do have a sticking thermostat, and you should get it replaced. If a coolant temp under 70 degrees is detected, the engine runs without the lambda sensor and will overfuel.

Virtually every Italian car i have owned has come to me with a Stuck open thermostat, so lord knows what they make them from.

As pud says, it sounds to me like its faulty. The V6 stat is pretty easy to change, the TS is more difficult.