Vauxhall Astra 5 Door Hatchback

[Scobalob]

I've just bought the above in an R reg.  The water temp gauge shows 90degC to 100degC with blue and red bands respectively below and above the numerics and I've been told the water system is pressurised.  On normal running today (22degC) the gauge reads about 97deg C with the fan cutting in and out about 99deg C.  I thought this was high so asked one garage, they said it was way too high and to take it back to be checked.  This I did and was told that its perfectly normal.  Can anyone offer me a third opinion please? 

[marcus5771]

If its a diesel tend to run hot. So long it does not boil over or loss of water

[marcus5771]

If its a diesel they tend to run hot. So long it does not boil over or any loss of water.

[Scobalob]

Oh, sorry I forgot to mention that - its a petrol.

[col.83]

I've got a 1.4i LS 1995 model.

The temperature on them does seem to rise if you're in traffic, ie not moving and forcing cool air through the radiator, and when it gets to 100degC the electric fan comes on.

I've been told not to worry about it by a mechanic, "it's doing exactly what it should do if it's not actually moving".

So basically don't worry about it unless your fan isn't coming on.

PS. If you want to speed up the cooling, put your in-car heater on hot and turn the heater blower on to '1' or '2' - it draws hot air off the heater matrix, allowing the heat of the coolant to dissipate a bit quicker.