250 quid thermostat but worth it.

It might not do the same when under the normal working pressure of a cooling system. And they're generally more like 90c these days.

In message , T i m writes

Is modern engine design really that bad? Last time I changed a thermostat I had to remove two screws!

on this the thermo is only held in by two small bolts, but access to it requires cam covers and cam belt out of the way. Changing the relevant extra bits is the big cost.

The difference is you were probably doing it every other year!

I've not needed to change a 'stat on any of my cars for maybe two decades or so.

Chris

I can't even remember which car it was! Could have been the 1936 Standard 10, or the 1946 A40 Dorset, I don't think I needed to change one more recently than that. ;-)

Hmm, good thought ... although I think I remember them testing this way in the past and I think they are still 'wax pellet' design aren't they?

Ah, well, that might explain it. Someone kindly gave me the exact rating for this Meriva when I first asked about this but something seems to have changed re this Agent (or whoever serves Usenet for VM) but I only see about a month of posts now (I'm sure it used to hold older posts even when purged off the server)?

Ah ha! ... I've just looked at the old stat again but this time under my illuminated magnifier and it reads '92 / 107 o' so, if that (as you say) reflects the range in DegC that the stat starts to open and till it's fully open (?), then it is indeed opening way too early. Still not at the sort of temperatures it was in the car (more like maintaining a running temp of sub 70) but early none the less.

Oh well, that's even better then. Both the stat and belt actually needed changing, you would do the tensioner in any case and I've done the water pump as well as it was the right thing to do. At least if it doesn't make any real-world difference to the mpg then should be a positive selling point.

Cheers, T i m

p.s. And thanks to Chris re the heads up on the Android OBD app 'Torque' and reader. As a mate once said, 'You can manage what you can measure' and that combination lets you watch live a whole bunch. (It was obvious the difference between the instant mpg figures on the Corsa (50) and the Meriva (30) for example.)

On Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:05:42 +0100, Gordon H wrote: [...]

Heh! My first car was a 10 year-old 1954 A40 Somerset; if you compared it with a 10 year-old car now, it was a heap of crap.

I changed the 'stats on lots of cars in the past, but not one since the early 80's.

Chris

Why do you think that, are the thermostats more reliable, they seem to be of the same construction.

Thermostats often used to get stuck closed, which I put down to the lack of anti-freeze. Most cars used to only have anti-freeze put in at the first frosts and it was out again in early spring. The first car I used on the road never had any antifreeze, I drained it after use and filled it with hot water before, put the handle in and gave it a turn (knackered battery). It was actually the most likely vehicle to get up and running on a freezing morning, so I would often be asked to go and start other people's cars with jump leads. I have no idea if that car had a thermostat in at all. Many cars didn't, relying on cardboard in front of the rad if it got really cold.

I believe that in general, most things are better made now. Extended life of components can also come from better quality control, as well as improved design.

My last car, which I had for 10 years, had one cooling hose changed as a precaution in its life. If I hadn't changed it, I doubt it would have caused a problem, but I'm cautious. A car from the 50's, 60's, or 70's would most likely have had every coolant hose replaced in 10 years, and the top hose several times.

Most sensible folk with cars from that era would carry a spare 'fan' belt. It was generally considered good practice to change them every other year, *if* they lasted that long. Again, the car I ran for 10 years had the auxiliary belt replaced with the cam belt at 100k miles, but it looked as if it would have lasted another 100k.

Also, cooling system designs have changed significantly. Thermostats used to mostly fail closed, which meant you *had* to replace (or discard) it. They generally fail open now. The cooling fan was mechanically driven; now, it's a thermostatically controlled electric fan, which tends to disguise a sub-optimal thermostat.

Chris

I still remember one guy at work in the '70's who (in very cold weather) lifted the bonnet and put a blanket over the warm rad in the morning to keep the heat in. Until one day he started it up in the evening without removing it, and put a fan blade through the rad. Direct belt drive, no clutch in those days!

In message , Mrcheerful writes

Dad's Standard 10 had a leather jacket to fit over the bonnet front, with sections which could be rolled up and down to let the air through, and secured with a strap, press studs and all. Or was that the Morris 8? ;-)

I managed to use 'Torque Pro' Heads-Up on the 8" tablet tonight and it displayed a cozy 86 DegC at 65 mph, even with the heater on. ;-)

MPG slowly creeping up to around 33.

Just like to say how impressed I am with the Torque app. Best £2.95 I've spent in a long time. ;-)

Cheers, T i m