Running a little warm...or at least indicating it is warm...

[WilsBoar]

Finally got the 109 "back on the road" and have been taking her for short jaunts to make sure things don't blow up or catch on fire. She runs fine but the engine temp straddles the white line right before the red line on the temp gauge. Not sure what to do about it or how concerned I should be. I can take her out and then let her idle for a while and the temp won't go any higher. I understand that this is an "indicated temp" and there could be a sender unit or actual gauge issue at hand. How would you guys address this and how concerned would you be?

[SafeAirOne]

With the engine warmed up and running, I might remove the wire and check the resistance between the terminal on the temp sender and ground and compare that to what the water temperature should be for that ohm reading and see if you are happy with that temperature. If not, change to a lower-temp thermostat. Ohm vs coolant temp can be found here. Arggh! Click the word "here"--it's a link, though you can't really tell!

As a side note, if you had the cooling system empty lately, I might also make sure I don't have air trapped in the system.

[WilsBoar]

Thanks Mark!

[knac1234]

Will,

The best advice I can give is to get an infrared temp gun and check the real temperature. I had the same issue when I bought mine (near H on the temp scale), but the gun proved it was running cool. Swapped out the temp sending unit and checked the wiring back to the gauge.....worked great.

You might also check the voltage stabilizer if the fuel gauge appears off as well.

Julian

[WilsBoar]

Thanks Julian.

What is a reasonable operating temperature for the 2.25l?