VY SS temperature question

[robbith]

Hi All,

I've got a question about the I suppose 'normal' running temperature for a VY SS...

Back in Feb we had some pretty hot days in Melb (I think they were about 45 degrees or so). I noticed that the car was running alot hotter than usual.

The temp sort of kept creeping up higher and higher, you can see in the pic below where it was sitting, and from memory it went above that. I remember filling up and when I turned the car back on it actually gave me a temp warning.



The only reason I'm asking about it now is that while I was on my way home today it crept up again (it would've been approx 30 degrees outside). I was coming out of the Burnley tunnel and it had moved up above the 1/2 way mark (usually sits exactly in the middle of the gauge).

I find that turning the aircon off improves it a little, but the car's a 2004 model - so I have a feeling something might be wrong. Also, this was in peak hour - if I start moving again (say over 80km/h), the level starts to go down again...

The rest of the time it's never really been an issue, just the really hot days. I'm wondering if there's anyone else out there who can give me an indication of how hot it should actually be running?

Any help would be great. Before the VY I had a VR V6 and it used to do a similar thing in the heat... BTW it's a Manual, series II... If that makes a difference?

Cheers, Rob.

[INDACLUB]

My VY SS sits in the middle of the gauge but on hot days in traffic it moves up to around half way.

[highflya]

i had a very similar problem to my vy ss a cpl wks ago. on my trip up the coast i knew the thermostat had been playing up , getting stuck open and missing a beat occasionly. on the way back she broke down. turnd out the thermostat needed replacing and the radiator cracked down both sides aswell. def not happy..

[TI0350]

My SS sits in the middle of the gauge as well doesnt matter how hot the weather is..

[adamc11]

My gauge sits lower than half way. 3/8 of the way to be exact, half way in between the first white mark and second white mark. It has crept up to Hot twice before on 2 occasions, but that's because i was using the Car Bra on hot days with lots of stopping and starting. I would say there is something wrong with your car, it shouldn't be doing what you mention. It could be head gasket/thermostat issue but generally with the head gasket there would be other issues.

[robbith]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I was having another look at it the other day and I noticed that when the thermo's kick in, only one of them spins up. At first I thought it might have been the relay, so I swapped them both around, and the same fan span up - so it's not the relay.

I got the multimeter out to test whether the second fan was getting any current and it read as nothing.

When the thermo's kick in, are they supposed to both run at once? I tried putting the aircon on to force them both and still only got one.

Could this explain the overheating?

Cheers, Rob.

[robbith]

Well.. I think I answered my own question. Went out to check the fuses, the smaller fan had a blown fuse. Went down to SCA, replaced it, now both fans run at once, including when the aircon is going. I suppose now I just have to wait until the next set of hot weather.

Thanks to all for the help!

Cheers, Rob.