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Originally Posted by turbodiesel
I drove it today for about 150 miles.. on the interstate the car runs at 70-75c.. if I let it idle for a while it will get to 80-82c. I've never had this much of a temp. flucuation in any other diesel i've owned. Mine does take a bit of time to warm up.
So far I have a few people telling me that my temp readings are normal, and a few telling me my car is running to cold (like I think it is).
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I looked at my gauge again and mine also will run at about 75 I guess and it also fluctuates up to 80 or a little higher and sometimes a little below 75, but not quite to 70. Mine is also an '98. When it is cold outside and I stop at a drive-up window before the car has fully warmed up the temp will actually drop down 10-20 degrees. If I started it cold in the morning I think it would have to idle for a really long time before it would warm up without driving it. That is also a function of the efficiency of the motor which doesn't produce a lot of waste heat after it heats the cabin, wiper fluid and fuel.
I really think it is a matter of the cooling systems on these cars being so burdened with heating things other than the radiator that makes them behave this way. That and the aluminum heads which just don't hold heat the same way the old steel ones would makes them more likely to fluctuate. Maybe I am wrong, but it seems that your car and mine react very similarly...either we both have the same problem or ours are both "normal" which is my thought. I'd like to hear from other '98 and '99 owners in colder climates for their experiences with warmup times and operating temperatures though.
I was also considering changing the thermostat and when I researched it online the parts place said that I had to replace the thermostat housing too because the original T-stat for the '98 and '99 had been redesigned and the new ones will not fit the old housings...does anyone know about this??