What's the function of the Temp Gauge? It shows the temperature of what exactly? I've noticed that the one in my Deli doesn't go up to high now, is it because of the cold temperatures?
I noticed my wife's car (gasoline car) goes up to the middle, and I thought that would be the same in the Deli, but apparently not. Is this a problem???
The temp guage in the Delica is famous for it's low readings... in normal use it never gets up above the top of the "C", on long steep hills (eg mountain passes) you might see it get up to about half, if it gets up to the top... STOP THE VEHICLE! The only time I've seen the guage much above half was when it pegged at the top when I cracked the head on the coquihalla (interestingly enough it was near the bottom only seconds earlier)
well mine is consistent with most reports on here and the UK forum, as well as the other Delicas I've seen...
If yours is moving appropriately then I'd tend to assume it's fine, but if it basically always stays in the same spot regardless of what you're doing, then I suspect you have an issue...
Mine generally runs about the width of the two cold lines above the second cold line....yah that makes sense. Or around a 1/4 of the way from the top cold line to the hot line. It moves up a little when I go over the Malahat and going up Mt. Washington....but not much. I think mine works pretty well.
Green1 wrote:If yours is moving appropriately then I'd tend to assume it's fine, but if it basically always stays in the same spot regardless of what you're doing, then I suspect you have an issue...
Mine moves appropriately, it seems to be scaled differently than yours. 1/2 way is normal Nanaimo driving, and creeping up to 2/3rd would be summer driving on the Malahat. I've never seen it close to to the top.
Mine used to read low and climb to 2 thirds on hills then would cool to almost nothing when descending. i replaced the thermostat, it now reads about a third of the way normally and goes to half way when climbing the snowshed hill on the Coq, and returns to one third mark when descending.
Cheers
When we got our thermostat replaced as part of the "Mardy Special at the CVI Automotive Spa" (as I posted in detail at the time) we were taught that with correct Deli Thermostat it only goes less than a third of the way up. Cooler is better. Freak-out if it goes over half, they stopped the test drive when it was 3/4 way up (which was how we'd been driving it with a Lordco "correct" thermostat). Christine.
Green1 and Mark, mine was running the same as yours, at the bottom end of the range. I decided since I was replacing my rad hoses as well as the fluid, it would be a good time to change the thermostat too. When I took the old one out it seemed to be fine but the seal was missing for at least half of the thermostat, that was keeping my temps as low as they were. I installed the new one and I now run consistently mid range, pulling hills 2/3'rds range and right back to mid when finished with the hill. It reacts like a normal vehicle now and the heat seems to come on a little sooner too.
Tardis, if over 1/2 way to hot was something to worry about I think that Mitsubishi would have made allowance for that in their gauge markings, that is why they have the hot mark where it is. That is the whole purpose of the gauge markings where they are.
I recommend that everyone who has not changed or had their thermostats changed do so. While you're there, change the rad hoses too, Glenn @ Coombs Country told me of some original hoses that have let go. For me it is good peace of mind.
Fishtank I'm with you on that one. When I first got my deli the temp guage always hung around the c, even after the new thermostat it came with. I used to drive a vw van so I have a fear of odd acting temp guages. I got a local shop in squamish to go over the whole cooling system for me. they found that while the termostat was indeed new, it had a faulty spring. they also found a small crack in my upper hose. about $150 and 3 hours later I had a replacement thermostat, coolant flush and new top hose. hangs around 1/3 now with pushes up to 1/2 on longer climbs. like a charm
And make sure that if your thermostat is replaced it isn't modified in any way. Since I had mine replaced with an un-modded one, my normal operating temp is about a needle width above the narrow bar in the cool range. Some movement in the needle is observed when cranking up longer hills, but it always settles back into the same place. Like Laura says, these engines are more efficient than gas engines and don't typically run in the warm end of the spectrum. I would be concerned if the temp gauge was consistently in the middle of the range.
1. Mitsubishi knows this is a diesel engine. Agreed?
2. Mitsubishi knows the temperature range the engine should run. Agreed?
3. Mitsubishi marks the gauge to indicate the correct 'Hot' and 'Cold' range. Agreed?
I don't see where the confusion would come in. If you were running a temp gauge that was designed for a gasoline engine, I could see trying to get the temp in the lower range, but this temp gauge was DESIGNED FOR THIS VEHICLE.
SquamptonRyan wrote:hangs around 1/3 now with pushes up to 1/2 on longer climbs. like a charm
This is how mine behaves, this time of year anyways. I always let it sit a few minutes at 1200~rpms to warm up a bit then I have to drive for a few minutes to get any reading or any heat out of the heater at all. Then it hangs around 1/3 all the time. With 6 people and gear inside full throttle all the way up cypress mountain it got up to half. Not sure if I would do that in the summer, probably stick to 3rd gear and take it easy, it is really suprising how much loading the van with people affects peformance.
i replaced the thermostat, it now reads about a third of the way normally and goes to half way when climbing the snowshed hill on the Coq, and returns to one third mark when descending.
"I could be just around the corner from heaven, or a mile from hell." -- Jackson Browne, "The road and the sky".