300tdi Temperature Gauge

Hi all,

Ive owned the truck for a few weeks now. And I've never known the temp gauge to hit the middle. The needle is always around 2/5ths from the bottom. The viscous fan is in bad shape, blades snapped etc so if anything this should mean it warms up quicker?

Ive tried driving it up hill, low gear, higher revs flat out for a while and nothing. Is it worth flushing coolant and changing the thermostat?

That sounds adbout right mate. Normally the temperature guage sits just under the halfway mark. The tdi engine tends to run pretty cool anyway, in fact a lot of guys remove the viscous fan completely and only replace it for towing or long slow off road trips.
New coolant and thermostat wouldn't hurt, especially if you've no idea how long the current ones have been in.

Cool, thanks! I shall get a picture just to check.

Also, while I'm here, it feels slow. I mean really slow. 5th gear is pretty much pointless on anything other than downhill. Doing 60 on the motorway, im almost flat out, just to hold speed. Any slight incline and I have to change down. Is this normal?

It will be getting a decat and new exhaust this weekend. Along with a boost gauge and I may fettle the pump a little too?