Low Temp on gauge even after long drives?

[quang]

hi guys, i'm not sure where to put this, as i have a civic might aswell put it here as it doesn't seem to happen to anyone of my friends cars, this is a two part thread.
Does anyone find around this season that their temp gauge doesn't get to normal operating temp even after long drives. i read somewhere that the temp gauge is based on the coolant temp, but even after a decent drive shouldn't the gauge go up, it seems my needle is making its home a little above the lowest mark. also even after these drives my car is not at it normal idling as if its still warming up(its sits > 800 ). the only time it goes up is when i give it a hit but it then goes back down again.

And does anyone find that their fuel economy goes down around this season as well? i use 98 octane petrol. any reason why?
thanks

[Setanta]

Replace your thermostat.

Contrary to popular belief, in summer they are prone to silting up in the open position. In Summer this means nothing as the thermostat spends a lot of time open - but in winter, you want it to close until the optimal temp is reached.

[Jazzle]

depends on what sort of roads u been driving on... water temp would not get too hot if u been only driving on highway even for a long period.. does the temp get high during traffic jam though??

btw, how low is too low and wat's the idle sitting at?? 800 - 950 i guess is acceptable due to the cold weather these days.

[ONE600]

mine used to do da same... thermostat it iz

[mugeneration]

You're from canberra yeah? Well its blardy cold there so stayin on cold for a while is perfectly normal. My question is this: how long is a long drive for you? On cold days when i drive to sydney my engine will start off cold and the thermostat will only be at about 1/3 around the canberra area.

[gnx1987]

I'll agree with the thermostat theory. I reckon I got the same problem to. The reason it doesn't go higher than normal temp in the summer is cause the thermofans kick in, but the thermofans won't warm the coolant up obviously

[Weq]

You're from canberra yeah? Well its blardy cold there so stayin on cold for a while is perfectly normal. My question is this: how long is a long drive for you? On cold days when i drive to sydney my engine will start off cold and the thermostat will only be at about 1/3 around the canberra area.

it is defaintly NOT normal. Its a thermostat issue and its stuck open.

[fatboyz39]

change your thermostat, cheap part to replace.

[okocimski]

when i got my swap done, there was a airlock in the cooling system that took a while to get rid of. I thought it was thermostat too, but as it was brand new i had to think a bit harder. I flushed the cooling system, and used a pump to remove the air. Just something to think about.