Engine running a little hot.

[emil]

hey guys,

my temp gauge wasnt working properly so i changed the temp sender and the coolant sensor just for good measure. now my temp is just over half way. even when im driving on a highway it still stays at half way.
when im idle, once the temp gauge hits just under 3/4 the fan turns on (i assume thats turning on a little bit to late) so i guess im asking two things here.

1. what would be the reason the fan turns on to late?

2. would it be worth changing the water pump to see if the engine runs a bit cooler

[zskinner]

hey mate, this is just my understanding of water pumps and hot engines etc, so dont take this to be 100% correct, im definately no expert, but my understanding of the water pump is that it is either working and pumping enough water, or it is not working and pumping no water at all (nothing in between), so if it were me i'd be more looking at the state of the current coolant. if that coolant has been in there for more than a year personally i would flush it out, along with flushing the radiator, and i would also change the thermostat for the sake of $15, i would also change the water pump too as a preventative measure if it has done more than lets say 40,000 kms. or if you have changed your coolant recently, maybe check to make sure its got a good mix of coolant to water ratio (as too much water with not enough coolant may cause your current problem). well mate hope i helped just a little bit, good luck with it ay

[emil]

thnx mate. ive changed the thermostat and the coolant recently. ill take a look at the mix ratio to. im just worried why the fan turns on a little bit to late. and why the temp gauge is on half way even though im driving on a highway. its doesnt go all the way to hot but the most it gets to is 3/4.

[delcowizzid]

you may have got the wrong sender for the gauge and it just reads high fans turn on at just over 100* which is normally round half way on the gauge

[emil]

ahk. well i checked the back of the box that had the sender and sensor in it. i also open up the bonnet and seems a little bit hotter than normal. would it be possible to get a different coolant sensor for the fan to kick in more quickly or could the coolant sensor be wrong??

[delcowizzid]

the ecu controls when the fan comes on not much you can do about that bar put a switch on but its probably all normal just the new thermostat making it hotter than normal

[zskinner]

hmmm that sounds like a pretty good idea actually ay, adding a switch to turn the fan off and on. wonder if you could just leave the switch always turned on and just run a second wire to the ignition so the fan would only come on when the car is turned on, but cuts out when the car is turned off? similar to the way fog lights work (they cant be turned on without the headlights already turned on) ????