I have recently bought a 2.0 petrol 56 S-Max which i love. My question is can any owners please tell me whereabouts on the temp gauge should the needle be on normal running? What is the temp for the other lines? Please see attached photo which is after sitting in slow traffic for a few minutes. Never seems to go over this position and overheat

Looks right to me. Both of my focus' have been just below half way :)

Thing is it only gets to there when stuck in traffic and goes no further than this. It usually sits on the line up from the 60 and this is when driving say on the motorway

Hi Gary,

When your moving your getting the air cool affect on the radiator, when your sat in traffic idling, you dont have this luxury which is why its running hotter. However, anything up to about 105 degrees is normal, if it stays there most the time in slow moving traffic then its normal, anything less than that (between 60 - 100) is a very good place to be.

Hi Gary,

When your moving your getting the air cool affect on the radiator, when your sat in traffic idling, you dont have this luxury which is why its running hotter. However, anything up to about 105 degrees is normal, if it stays there most the time in slow moving traffic then its normal, anything less than that (between 60 - 100) is a very good place to be.

Hi James

Thanks for getting back to me. You know what its like when you buy a new car you listen to every little noise and study the temp gauge. As stated the needle in photo is the highest it gets and that was taken today when 20 degrees outside and stuck in traffic. Usually going down the motorway to work it sits around the second white line. What is the line after the 60 temperature wise? I guess the one at the 6 o'clock position is 90?

they are 15 degrees incriments, so you go 60, 75, 90, 105, 120 :)

they are 15 degrees incriments, so you go 60, 75, 90, 105, 120 :)

So my car is running at 75 under normal conditions and raises to 90 when in traffic. So you think i have nothing to worry about and no need to change thermostat? Thanks

I personally think its running fine.

thermostat replacement would only be necessary if the fan is always on like a wind turbine, or if the temperature goes up and down like a rollercoaster for little reason.

If you want to be cautious, then you can check the coolant expansion tank cap is not cracked or damaged, but I suspect you have absolutely nothing to worry about. If you bought the car from a garage, you will be entitled to 6 months warranty, so if anything is wrong, they will be obligated to fix it.

I personally think its running fine.

thermostat replacement would only be necessary if the fan is always on like a wind turbine, or if the temperature goes up and down like a rollercoaster for little reason.

If you want to be cautious, then you can check the coolant expansion tank cap is not cracked or damaged, but I suspect you have absolutely nothing to worry about. If you bought the car from a garage, you will be entitled to 6 months warranty, so if anything is wrong, they will be obligated to fix it.

Thanks James

Only other reading is when needle is a cats whisker under 75 but that is only if AC is on and on cold setting.

Think i will take your advice as i have a feeling you know what you are talking about :-)

Air con does reduce the temperature a little as the compressor is operating and the liquid refrigerant takes some of the heat out.

I certainly wouldnt worry about it at all :)

Thanks James :)

also once you had a run in it,do the on board diagnostic check.scroll through the menus and see what the actuall temp of the car is.

also once you had a run in it,do the on board diagnostic check.scroll through the menus and see what the actuall temp of the car is.

Did not know you could do that? Any instructions :-)

if you have the trip computer, turn the ignition off, press and hold the reset button as you start the car, keep hold of reset (it will reset your trip odo) then the car will enter TEST mode, let go of reset. then you can press the reset button to circulate through each of the options, and you can find the temperature in there - thats the real temperature rather than the rough guide on the gauge.

Air con does reduce the temperature a little as the compressor is operating and the liquid refrigerant takes some of the heat out.

I certainly wouldnt worry about it at all :)

Its normally the reverse of this - the heat that is taken out of the AC system has to be dissapated ( its a heat exchanger

the cabin gets colder, the heat that is sucked out has to go somewhere) it is normally dumped in front of the engine radiator, raising the engine temp, not reducing it, thats why the fan comes on when the AC is switched on

Modern cars may run cooler due to emmisions/ economy - deisels normally run hotter than petrol-engined cars, on both, there is an optimum temperature for economy, and optimum temp for emmisions, and an optimum temp for performance, the running temp is often compromise between this, though emmisions/ economy are high priorities these days

To give you and example, some truck owners were fitting special thermostats to their diesel trucks to get better economy, at the expense of some performance

My mistake, thanks for clearing it up foca ☺

Sent from my MY SAGA C2 using Ford OC mobile app

Its normally the reverse of this - the heat that is taken out of the AC system has to be dissapated ( its a heat exchanger

the cabin gets colder, the heat that is sucked out has to go somewhere) it is normally dumped in front of the engine radiator, raising the engine temp, not reducing it, thats why the fan comes on when the AC is switched on

Modern cars may run cooler due to emmisions/ economy - deisels normally run hotter than petrol-engined cars, on both, there is an optimum temperature for economy, and optimum temp for emmisions, and an optimum temp for performance, the running temp is often compromise between this, though emmisions/ economy are high priorities these days

To give you and example, some truck owners were fitting special thermostats to their diesel trucks to get better economy, at the expense of some performance

Hi FOCA

Will see what temp gauge does on way to work which is mostly motorway but in the few days i have had it the running temp on gauge is around 75-76 but with a/c on it drops every so slightly to 74. Needle raises to 90 in traffic if stationary but does not go past this point. No point in my paying out for new thermostat if not needed. I will try some combinations tomorrow and post again.

Its normally the reverse of this - the heat that is taken out of the AC system has to be dissapated ( its a heat exchanger

the cabin gets colder, the heat that is sucked out has to go somewhere) it is normally dumped in front of the engine radiator, raising the engine temp, not reducing it, thats why the fan comes on when the AC is switched on

Modern cars may run cooler due to emmisions/ economy - deisels normally run hotter than petrol-engined cars, on both, there is an optimum temperature for economy, and optimum temp for emmisions, and an optimum temp for performance, the running temp is often compromise between this, though emmisions/ economy are high priorities these days

To give you and example, some truck owners were fitting special thermostats to their diesel trucks to get better economy, at the expense of some performance

So 20 degrees here today and driving at 65mph for about 40 minutes on motorway.

A/c on and blowing out nice and chilled air-Needle about 74

Heating off completely-Needle on about 78/79

Heating on with hot air-Needle about 78/79

Stuck in traffic needle rises to about 89 and no further so not overheating

Tried the test as mentioned above having driven for an hour and test showed temp as 78 which is about what needle is showing on dash when driving

very odd! but the main thing is that despite its odd charecteristic, its still at least working.

very odd! but the main thing is that despite its odd charecteristic, its still at least working.

Odd as in "I would get it done" or "Odd but still working at leave it"

Quoted £120 to supply and fit new thermostat with housing or mobile mechanic will do it for £65 all

In

I would say save your £65 for when its needed!

its not overheating, its managing itself quite well, so just leave it as is :)

Hi FOCA

Will see what temp gauge does on way to work which is mostly motorway but in the few days i have had it the running temp on gauge is around 75-76 but with a/c on it drops every so slightly to 74. Needle raises to 90 in traffic if stationary but does not go past this point. No point in my paying out for new thermostat if not needed. I will try some combinations tomorrow and post again.

This is because the radiator fan comes on when the A/C is switched on, when i had my AC removed (for better performance/ economy, it weighs 11kilos and puts a significant load on the engine) i noticed the engine ran cooler, The AC sucks the heat out of the cabin and dumps it into the AC radiator that sits in front of the main radiator, heating up the engine more (on a Mondeo, and most Fords i am aware of) - design-wise, its not ideal, as the AC is liable to be used in hot weather, but as the AC radiator is almost as big as the main radiator, there is not much space for it elsewhere, ideally it should be completely seperate from the main radiator

If you turn the heater up, (as hot as it can go, fan(s) fully up) this will cool the engine, the heater acts as a secondary radiator (you get hotter, the engine gets cooler) ok, not very comfortable, but useful to know in emergencies

Remember that any changes you make, the cooling system will try to compensate for/ attempt to stabilise the temperature

Another point worth mentioning is the temp gauge (+ ECU temp sensor) may be connected directly to the metal of the head, not the coolant, (most modern cars are like this now- its for fuel/air ratio/ emmision reasons) so the coolant may be at a different temp or be going up/down at different rates from from the gauge

In the winter it will probably be a different story (may take ages/ be difficult to warm up, or to even get heat out of the heater) - its easy to forget the difference the outside temp makes to a car

Anything up to 95 degrees centigrade is ok, under the pressurised system the boiling point of the coolant is about 110 degrees C (off the top of my head) so i agree with James, as well to leave it as it is - if it goes seriously wrong and overheats, the ECU will detect this and try to compensate, probably by backing off the power, so you should be safe

So 20 degrees here today and driving at 65mph for about 40 minutes on motorway.

A/c on and blowing out nice and chilled air-Needle about 74

Heating off completely-Needle on about 78/79

Heating on with hot air-Needle about 78/79

Stuck in traffic needle rises to about 89 and no further so not overheating

Tried the test as mentioned above having driven for an hour and test showed temp as 78 which is about what needle is showing on dash when driving

Its interesting how much it rises in traffic (but still ok, as you said) - as you probably know this is because you dont have the cooling effect of the rush of air going into the radiator/ engine bay that you get when the car is moving, + an un-vented engine bay can act as an oven, with just the fan to draw air across the radiator

As above Needle gauge may be the metal in the head, not the coolant

Yes, agree with James,- ok for now

I've recently brought a s max 2007 2.0 tdci the 140 engine I've got a temperamental temp gauge it climbs a bit wen driving but resets when I turn off n on any ideas what this could be as it's weird drove for an hour the other day and the gauge didn't move until I turned it off and on was thinking maybe coolant temp sensor but on the other hand thinking it could be a problem with gauge itself