VZ SSZ Temperature

[simonhmorgan]

I have a VZ SSZ Gen 3 Crewman, and noticed that the temperature gauge fluctuates between about 1/3 and between 2/3 and the red Hot marker.

usually its about 1/3 or a little over, but if i drive in traffic it will get up to above the 2/3 line, then the fan kicks in and it drops back down again. after a few minutes it will be back up again... and so on.
is it normal for it to get so high before the fan kicks in, and for the temp to fluctuate so much?

every other car i have owned has pretty much stayed at the same place regardless of driving conditions?
i am thinking a themostat or an airlock.

one other thing i noticed, is it takes about 3-4 minutes of driving before the gauge even moves off the bottom
Thanks in advance...

[ARATIC]

The gauge shouldn't move no matter what. 1/3 is normal for these.

I'd activate the actual coolant temp reading on your dash (hold mode and set whilst turning ignition on and scroll through till you get to it) and monitor it in traffic, as it may just be the gauge. If its getting above 105 degs then you should be concerned.

Gauge not moving for 3-4 mins after start up sounds normal too

[simonhmorgan]

Thanks.
i just did that a while ago.
got to 105 quickly, then slowly crept up to 116 before i shut it off.
coolant level seems fine. could it be the thermostat (though the bottom rad hose was hot - top one not as hot).
or the radiator cap? does the dodgy cap apply to the V8 as well as the V6?

[torana355]

The gauge shouldn't move no matter what. 1/3 is normal for these.

I'd activate the actual coolant temp reading on your dash (hold mode and set whilst turning ignition on and scroll through till you get to it) and monitor it in traffic, as it may just be the gauge. If its getting above 105 degs then you should be concerned.

Gauge not moving for 3-4 mins after start up sounds normal too

Sorry but you couldn't be more wrong. It is fine for the gauge to move when in traffic. Is the car a manual or auto? 105 deg's is fine the thermos on my car does not even kick in till 110!!

[simonhmorgan]

my car is an auto V8 SSZ Crewman.

it got to 105, then kept rising until the needle wasnt far from the red, and the readout said 116Deg.

[torana355]

my car is an auto V8 SSZ Crewman.

it got to 105, then kept rising until the needle wasnt far from the red, and the readout said 116Deg.

Ok if it is getting close to the red zone then you have an issue but it is ok for the gauge to move a bit in traffic. Check if the thermos are kicking in, turn on the AC to force them to turn on and see what happens. My car gets to 110 all the time in traffic.

[simonhmorgan]

yeah when i switched it off, the fans were definitely running. the temp cools down to below 110 fairly quickly when the car isnt running and the fans are going, so they seem to be working ok.

[ARATIC]

Sorry but you couldn't be more wrong. It is fine for the gauge to move when in traffic. Is the car a manual or auto? 105 deg's is fine the thermos on my car does not even kick in till 110!!

Well mine has never moved in or out of traffic and the temp never gets over 100ish degs. Yeah maybe its ok to move a little bit but not a swing of 1/3 of the gauge

[Vt_vic]

mine never moves at all once it gets to temp it stays there its done it on all my commodores