Mike,
Try putting a cooking (meat or candy) thermometer into your radiator
when the engine is at normal operating temps to check the thermostat.
Thermometer may read 4-5 degrees colder than the stat, but that's close
enough for the test of the stat and the gauge. The car might have a 160,
180, 190 or 195 'stat in it. For winter use, almost everyone recommends
the 190 or 195 stats. On my gauge, the 195 stat puts the needle at the
right leg of the N. It doesn't go above that but needs cardboard on 1/3
the radiator to get even that warm on 30degree F, or colder, days.
Since your temp gauge needle reached middle of the gauge, it 'should'
be about right, but, again, that's assuming that the gauge is calibrated
properly. If, say, the gauge is reading 15 degrees higher than actual,
then the centered needle could be concealing the fact that the engine
temp was only 145 degrees. Trust the cooking thermometer. It tells you
the temp of the water as it leaves the engine heading for the radiator,
passing the temp gauge sender en route.
That the heater was tepid at best suggests that the heater core is
plugged, the valve is not opening fully, or both. One quick and dirty
test is to touch the hoses to the heater and the top of the radiator. All
should feel about the same. If the two heater hoses are quite different,
then you know that the water is not flowing through the heater very well.
If one is slightly cooler than the other, you know that the hot water is
giving up some of its heat to the heater, as it should. And, the hotter
heater hose should be same temp as the radiator.
Bob
On Mon, 18 Mar 2002 22:43:51 -0500 "Mike Razor" <mrazor@mis.net> writes:
> Have got lots of good suggestions and some more questions. The car
> temp ran
> just outside of the cool and only got to the center of the gauge
> when we
> climbed a hill or drove through traffic. When it did get to the
> normal
> operating range the heater was still just tepid. When the gauge
> swung back
> on the cool side the blower only blew cold air. I got one of those
> ceramic
> heaters to experiment with and it did not have much effect on the
> wiring nor
> did it have much effect on the cabin temp. I have not had time to
> do much
> else, work keeps getting in the way of driving the MGs. : )
> Mike
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