thermostat

[donm]

Do these thermostats ever stick wide open? Compared to my daily drivers, my Spider seems to take a long time to reach normal operating temperature, especially when the outside air temp is in the low 60s or thereabouts.

It can take 20 minutes or so for the needle to approach the cener of the dial. In fact I've taken rides in the spring and fall when it never reached beyond the first third of the dial. Maybe I need a new thermostat or is this typical? Most of my driving is in the summer when the needle hangs around the center, with the fan cycling on and off as required, so It's taken me a while to notice this.

[dfuehrer]

Yes, it is possible for any thermostat to get stuck open. It happend to me twice, on a '87 Suzuki Samurai, and a '97 Chevy Blazer. Symptoms are just as you describe.

Cheers!

Don

[TX82FIAT]

A couple thoughts to throw in. When you drive for 20 minutes in 60 degree weather is it mostly open road or is it stop and go traffic. If it is open road driving in cool temps it is possble that the car does not get real hot because of the constant air flow. In particular, if the cooling system is functioning well and the car is well tuned and you are driving easy. It is possible the car is running at 170 degrees. Conversly, some new cars often have true dummy gauges. For Example, I have a 2007 Suburban where the temp needle never moved from the center of the gauge. Even when I start the car the guage goes right to the center inside of 30 seconds. I'd start the car up, drive it around the block to get the fluid moving and then just let it idle for 20 minutes while standing still. If the fan does not come on then i would suspect a problem. If the fan does come on smile.... Your not one of the spider owners that has an overheating problem.

[courtenay]

Yes the can be stuck open. Mine was. Taking a bit longer to reach normal operating temperature appears to be the only problem with this.