Chris_in_the_UK
New member
Some of you may have seen the couple of pictures of my Ebay sourced low temperature thermostat and housing in the 996 section of the forum. Today was the day I decided to do the deed and fit it to the Cayman.
Once up on blocks, the under-tray came of easily and in less than an hour the old thermostat and housing was off and the new one was on. The cooling system lost just over 2 litres during the work so I dutifully added some concentrate and topped it off with water. I fired the car up with the header tank cap off in the engine bay and the bleed clip in the open position and let the car idle for a few mins - I glanced into the car and noticed the warning light in the temperature gauge portion of the dash was flashing. The manual states this is high temperature/low coolant. I ran a slightly fast idle for a couple of minutes but the temperature gauge did not budge one bit and the light was flashing away. Fearing the worst I turned the car off and went and put the kettle on.
1 cup of tea later, I re-started the car and let it run for a good five mins - still no gauge reading and the damn light was still flashing!. Fearing there was a major air lock I turned the car off for fear of it getting too hot and risking scoring the bores. A quick e-mail exchange with Richard (many thanks sir) and I decided to drive around the block and see if that would alleviate what I suspected was an air lock - nada, no gauge reading and one angry flashing warning lamp still.
I decided to put the car rear back up in the air, the logic being the header tank would be the highest point in the system encouraging any air lock to do the honourable thing. I started the car again and ran for a good 5 mins again, the radiator fans fired up and the heater was working fine but still no temperature gauge reading and still showing the warning light.......
I turned the car off fearing that to leave it running was inviting some damage. I slipped under the car and felt all the hoses - all hot and seemed as though everything was flowing as it should but still no gauge reading etc.
Kettle on time!
On my return I pondered if disconnecting the battery might re-boot the car systems but with the knowledge that this in itself can invite spurious errors etc. I was getting nowhere so I thought 'why not'. Well, well after I reconnected and started the car - no warning light and the gauge was reading 70 degrees!!!. PSM warning appeared momentarily and then disappeared and the TPS system is showing as 'learning".
Might not work for all but thought I would share my experiences.
Once up on blocks, the under-tray came of easily and in less than an hour the old thermostat and housing was off and the new one was on. The cooling system lost just over 2 litres during the work so I dutifully added some concentrate and topped it off with water. I fired the car up with the header tank cap off in the engine bay and the bleed clip in the open position and let the car idle for a few mins - I glanced into the car and noticed the warning light in the temperature gauge portion of the dash was flashing. The manual states this is high temperature/low coolant. I ran a slightly fast idle for a couple of minutes but the temperature gauge did not budge one bit and the light was flashing away. Fearing the worst I turned the car off and went and put the kettle on.
1 cup of tea later, I re-started the car and let it run for a good five mins - still no gauge reading and the damn light was still flashing!. Fearing there was a major air lock I turned the car off for fear of it getting too hot and risking scoring the bores. A quick e-mail exchange with Richard (many thanks sir) and I decided to drive around the block and see if that would alleviate what I suspected was an air lock - nada, no gauge reading and one angry flashing warning lamp still.
I decided to put the car rear back up in the air, the logic being the header tank would be the highest point in the system encouraging any air lock to do the honourable thing. I started the car again and ran for a good 5 mins again, the radiator fans fired up and the heater was working fine but still no temperature gauge reading and still showing the warning light.......
I turned the car off fearing that to leave it running was inviting some damage. I slipped under the car and felt all the hoses - all hot and seemed as though everything was flowing as it should but still no gauge reading etc.
Kettle on time!
On my return I pondered if disconnecting the battery might re-boot the car systems but with the knowledge that this in itself can invite spurious errors etc. I was getting nowhere so I thought 'why not'. Well, well after I reconnected and started the car - no warning light and the gauge was reading 70 degrees!!!. PSM warning appeared momentarily and then disappeared and the TPS system is showing as 'learning".
Might not work for all but thought I would share my experiences.
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