A Question For Focus Mk2 1.8Tdci Owners

[stef123]

A quick question or a few for those who have a focus mk2 1.8tdci,

i have recently changed the thermostat in my dad's focus as the temp gauge would not move at all. so now i have got it to move, it warms up - seems ok.

how do you find your 1.8tdci in the winter? does it take an absolute age to warm up? also how does it cope when you have it up to temperature on the gauge and you turn the heater on when idling, does the gauge start to drop?

on the dual carriageway doing 60-70mph the gauge gets up to almost half way, just a tad under it. it maintains this position but it is possible to see when the thermostat opens and closes as the gauge does move slightly. it still pumps out plenty of heat with the heater fan running on a high speed.

just trying to determine if its still overcooling or if its ok considering its pretty damn cold outside

thanks in advance,

stef

[TDCiST]

My old 1.8 took YEARS to warm up on a cold day, to the point it still wouldnt be anywhere near moving off cold once i had got to work! It was a 15min journey!!

As for temp dropping in traffic on a cold day, i never had this, but i have heard of it happening...

[stef123]

My old 1.8 took YEARS to warm up on a cold day, to the point it still wouldnt be anywhere near moving off cold once i had got to work! It was a 15min journey!!

As for temp dropping in traffic on a cold day, i never had this, but i have heard of it happening...

thanks TDCiST, from cold it probably takes his car about 10-15mins to warm up (sounds about right as my car takes about 10mins)

when we tested it last night it was about -2 outside so it seemed quite plausible that it was struggling to maintain heat.

cheers

stef

[TDCiST]

I actually used to worry in winter, as i was doing 15 min journeys, to and from work... and because i dont like to drive like a loon from cold, it would hardly ever warm up, doing that for the whole of winter used to worry me with premature wear etc... survived for years tho!

[fernsie]

warmed up in about 10mins, sat 1/2 way and never seen it move when using heater etc

- don't have it now to check for sure though

[stef123]

warmed up in about 10mins, sat 1/2 way and never seen it move when using heater etc

- don't have it now to check for sure though

thanks for your reply, thats what i thought it should be doing but apparently not.

Its a big improvement over it not moving at all (never has since he bought it a long time ago...)

cheers

stef

[Pitmonster]

All of my diesel cars have taken ages to warm up, a lot longer than petrol cars. My mk2 1.8 TDCi is no exception.

Obviously in winter the water starts off colder, so takes longer to reach your target temp. Mine can take 15-20 minutes easily.

Turning the heater on will always make the water temperature drop a little, because you are drawing heat away from the water system and moving it to the cabin. In fact this is a long-known trick of helping to cool an overheating engine; whack the heater on full and the engine temp will come down slightly.

[artscot79]

All of my diesel cars have taken ages to warm up, a lot longer than petrol cars. My mk2 1.8 TDCi is no exception.

Obviously in winter the water starts off colder, so takes longer to reach your target temp. Mine can take 15-20 minutes easily.

Turning the heater on will always make the water temperature drop a little, because you are drawing heat away from the water system and moving it to the cabin. In fact this is a long-known trick of helping to cool an overheating engine; whack the heater on full and the engine temp will come down slightly.

if its any help stef my petrol is the same mate its because as said youre drawing the heat from the system

[stef123]

All of my diesel cars have taken ages to warm up, a lot longer than petrol cars. My mk2 1.8 TDCi is no exception.

Obviously in winter the water starts off colder, so takes longer to reach your target temp. Mine can take 15-20 minutes easily.

Turning the heater on will always make the water temperature drop a little, because you are drawing heat away from the water system and moving it to the cabin. In fact this is a long-known trick of helping to cool an overheating engine; whack the heater on full and the engine temp will come down slightly.

if its any help stef my petrol is the same mate its because as said youre drawing the heat from the system

cheers guys, i think i will take it as normal for now and see how it goes. will be interesting to see what it does on a warm day.

[artscot79]

Ide hedge a bet it will act normal when its warmer mime does just seems to be the cold my old diesel u had to rev it a bit when idling in winter otherwise it drew 2much heat from the pipes