Is thermostat faulty???

[sonic113]

Just noticed that the temp dail needle never goes past midway mark. when I do the dash board menu trick and check  the Engine temp digital readout it's reading different. It seems to be higher than the temp gauge Itself. 

When left idling the digital temp will creep to 100 before the fan kicks in but the fan only kicks in for a few seconds and then stops, the temp drops to around  96 and this repeats. Other cars the fan usually hits full speed to knock temp away down, best if all the temp gauge needle stays midway it doesn't even move to the red.

When I'm driving the digital read out seems to stay around late 70's to early 80's so I presume this is the rad is air cooling properly when car is moving.

 

Would a faulty Thermostat cause this or any bad sensors?

 

I'm gonna have a closer look over weekend at wiring loom ect for any damage, any thing else I should look at or any help would be great.

 

Thanks

[Micro]

I'm led to believe the dash dial is just there to please us as humans. Mine doesn't correlate much with engine temperature (and doesn't budge once at it's middle position).

 

[sonic113]

2 hours ago, Micro said:

I'm led to believe the dash dial is just there to please us as humans. Mine doesn't correlate much with engine temperature (and doesn't budge once at it's middle position).

 

I'm thinking the same to be honest. What is a normal running temp and what temp should the fan kick in at when car is idling for a long period? Its hard to judge when the dial doesn't move above the middle.

[jpwsmith]

my Mk3.5 is doing something strange too, dial not even getting to mid-way and blowing cool air out even on long journeys. don't know about the trick to see the digital eng temp so please share this is anyone ones if there is one for the the mk 3/3.5?