That might be normal for an aluminum radiator. My car sits below half quite a bit and I have a factory temp thermostat with my factory plastic radiator.
Also, I've noticed the gauge sits a little lower now that it's colder outside.
First off i have an all aluminum radiatior,
My gauge will sit at about 1/4 will never get to the middle, im aftraid im not getting into closed loop and the car is never warming up as it should
is this normal ? or do all miata NB 1999+ do this ?
I had a 192 degreee themostat in the car, i changed to 180 and it seems to be doing the same thing, what themostat do you prefer ?
Im getting 160-180 degree heat out my vents, is this normal or is this not hot enough ?
thanks james, pic attached of gauge
Last edited by NissanFairladyZ32; 11-30-2010 at 10:25 PM.
That might be normal for an aluminum radiator. My car sits below half quite a bit and I have a factory temp thermostat with my factory plastic radiator.
Also, I've noticed the gauge sits a little lower now that it's colder outside.
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Replace your thermostat after using a laser thermometer on the water neck to confirm the temp.
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Update on this:
I've changed the thermostat with an orileys one, i have changed the coolant temp sensor, i have flushed the radiator, i have burped the system, i have installed a new radiator cap. i have 50/50 coolant mix
And my temp gauge still seems so sit low, i can run the car for 15-20 mins and its at the 1/4 mark, if i let the car idle after driving it 20 min and put the heat on full and on defrost, Then the gauge slowly climes to the middle position.
Does this mean there is some air still in the system ? or does this mean something is wrong with my gauge ?
1) You need to know what temp your car is actually running at to see if you even have a problem
1a) Get a real gauge (temp or perm) so you know what the actual coolant temp is
1b) Use a thermometer to get the actual coolant temp
2) Factory gauges have a massive dead spot by design. Maybe you got lucky and yours reads to the much lower end of the dead spot
3) Maybe somebody removed the needle for whatever reason and put it back on in such a way that it reads lower than usual
Do your fans ever come on when you're just idling? At least you might infer that it's reaching temp.
Regards.
Last edited by Piff; 10-04-2011 at 09:04 AM.
My two cents:
My car is a '99. My temperature gauge sits at where yours is only until I drive for a little while, then it goes up into the half region. I would guess something isn't right, though I know nothing about cars. I'm sure it's nothing serious though! Good luck figuring it out.
You should feel very lucky/happy to have cruise control by the way! I would love to have it.
Also be aware that the factory temp "gauge" is basically an idiot light. Warm the car up and check the temp with an infrared thermometer.
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'99 head swap, JR header, TDR intake & header blanket, MegaSquirt, RB hollow bar, Tein Flex, 15x8 6ULs, HD M2 Sport, FM cat, Borla cat-back, black '95M interior, MOMO Zebrano, IL Motorsport console...
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No sir, let me describe to you "Idiot Light". Idiot light is when someone (me) is checking the temperature over and over as they are flushing the coolant in their car making sure it never goes up too high... only to realize that the temperature gauge they are looking at.... is actually the oil gauge and that the temperature gauge is to the right, not in the middle. I felt like such a moron afterward... I had to go buy myself a pizza and watch Judge Dred.
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Mick wrote: "I think Jerrett is the best autocrosser I have ever seen naked."
Repost.
Here, pic of the deadspot on an NA - the NB is similar, with some people saying it's actually worse (I personally do not know either way on an NB):
99° | 120° | 139° | 159° | 174° | 200° | 220° | 240° | 260° | 270°
(photo credit to whomever took the actual photo years ago)
Notice from ~159° to ~220° is what most people consider "normal" needle position. That goes from not even open thermostat temp to a bit hot...for roughly the same needle position. Some will even claim the 240° position above is their "normal summer" gauge position.
Last edited by Rob®; 10-04-2011 at 11:01 AM.
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