aluminium in line thermostat fitted !!

I used the cheaper Renault 5 in line thermostat mod. It much cheaper for someone tight like me.
Cut rubber hoses with those disposable retracting craft knives. They make clean cuts in rubber and you can throw the knife away when it's useless.

Just done the aluminum inline thermostat replacement/modification. Took 25 mins (most of that was getting the 'fatter' end into the hose) and took it for a 30 minute drive and I had to turn the heating down it was soooooooooooooooo warm

Brun1958 said:

Just done the aluminum inline thermostat replacement/modification. Took 25 mins (most of that was getting the 'fatter' end into the hose) and took it for a 30 minute drive and I had to turn the heating down it was soooooooooooooooo warm

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**update** Took it on it's 1st long run from Sheffield to East Mids Airport.....it over-heated I had to drive at 50mph and have the heater on with the blower on 3 to keep it from going into the 'red'

Brun1958 said:

**update** Took it on it's 1st long run from Sheffield to East Mids Airport.....it over-heated I had to drive at 50mph and have the heater on with the blower on 3 to keep it from going into the 'red'

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Is the thermostat fitted the correct way round? The sensing bulb MUST be on the engine side of the hose.

Nodge68 said:

Is the thermostat fitted the correct way round? The sensing bulb MUST be on the engine side of the hose.

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yup, the bulb end points towards the engine. Took me ages to get that end in too as the 'pipe' had a bigger diameter

Brun1958 said:

yup, the bulb end points towards the engine. Took me ages to get that end in too as the 'pipe' had a bigger diameter

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Is the bulb as close to the head as possible? The reason the Renault thermostat works so well, is because it is fitted right up close to the head. This allows it to sense the engine temperature, not the top hose temperature.

Also make sure you don't have air surrounding the bulb, which would stop it opening.

Nodge68 said:

Is the bulb as close to the head as possible? The reason the Renault thermostat works so well, is because it is fitted right up close to the head. This allows it to sense the engine temperature, not the top hose temperature.

Also make sure you don't have air surrounding the bulb, which would stop it opening.

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I did manage to further tighten the jubilee clips. It could have been they were letting coolant leak out or air in. No way of knowing really until I do another long journey. I had to to top up the expansion bottle with 2 liters of water on the journey to and from East Mids Airport so could have been leaking.

Brun1958 said:

I did manage to further tighten the jubilee clips. It could have been they were letting coolant leak out or air in. No way of knowing really until I do another long journey. I had to to top up the expansion bottle with 2 liters of water on the journey to and from East Mids Airport so could have been leaking.

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Sounds more like it's still got air in the system.

Nodge68 said:

Sounds more like it's still got air in the system.

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I read somewhere that there's a 'knob' you can turn to let air out but I can't see one on my system. Will do the running the engine with the expansion bottle cap off for 30 mins and see if that helps. Ta for your replies

Brun1958 said:

I read somewhere that there's a 'knob' you can turn to let air out but I can't see one on my system. Will do the running the engine with the expansion bottle cap off for 30 mins and see if that helps. Ta for your replies

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The only place to bleed the TD4 cooling system is at the heater matrix feed pipe.
The top hose is self bleeding, unless a thermostat is stuck in the way. The R5 thermostat has a tiny V notch, which is there to bleed air out of the top hose and pass it to the radiator.

Nodge68 said:

The only place to bleed the TD4 cooling system is at the heater matrix feed pipe.
The top hose is self bleeding, unless a thermostat is stuck in the way. The R5 thermostat has a tiny V notch, which is there to bleed air out of the top hose and pass it to the radiator.

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Hi, I ran it for 45 mins without the cap on the expansion bottle, bled the heater matrix feed pipe and it still goes into the red if I go over 50mph. Could it be that I need a thermostat that would open at around 80 degrees?

Brun1958 said:

Hi, I ran it for 45 mins without the cap on the expansion bottle, bled the heater matrix feed pipe and it still goes into the red if I go over 50mph. Could it be that I need a thermostat that would open at around 80 degrees?

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80°C is to cold for the TD4 to run efficiently. You obviously have a problem that needs rectification.