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Temp Guage

663 views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  16saabs 
#1 ·
I have a '93 Saab 9000 cse. I noticed recently that the needle on the temp guage would go up almost hitting the red line like it was about to overheat. It would quickly go up and then move back down rather quickly. It would do it once during a 10 minute drive. I took it into my mechanic and he told me it was the coolant thermostat & gasket which he replaced. On my drive home, I noticed that the needle still went up - mostly when I was not moving. When I got on a local highway, the needle went back down and seemed to be fine. He assured me that it was not the head gasket, which made me happy b/c I understand that's a lot more expensive. Now I'm not so sure. I'm supposed to be going on a trip this weekend (I'll have to drive close to 2 hours to get to my destination), and I'm a bit worried that my car will overheat while I'm on the road. Anyone have any advice about this? Any would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Your concerns are valid. However there are a few things you can do proactively:

  • Do full coolant flush (if not done before or within the last 2 years)
  • Check, and/or replace cooling fan relay (new ones are cheap, if it brings you peace of mind, replace it)
  • Check all hoses and their connections that are part of the cooling system. I recommend switching the rubber hoses (degradable and becomes brittle) to silicone hoses which are much more impervious to heat.
Which gasket did you replace ?

Since you had the thermostat replaced, it should be fine. I change mine every 2 years.

Just so you know, the gauge in the dash actually shows a relatively small temp range between "L" and "H". I forget the range now, and the lack of degrees in the gauge itself is kind of stupid :confused:

I wouldn't worry about overheating on any extended drive unless it's the middle of summer and you're in stop-and-go city traffic. If you are mostly moving at a normal pace, the cooling system should be just fine.
 
#4 ·
Buy an OBD device like the scangauge. If it doesn't pay for itself this time, it will the next. Use it to read the coolant temperature and make sure it's a sane number. The gauge on mine barely budges off the blue at 180F and at 225F, it's only a third of the way up. It's complete garbage. I wouldn't do any wrenching based on that silly gauge.
 
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