New 'stat fitted gauge still reading a bit high

[gasace]

Following the advice last week I replaced the thermostat (what a kerfuffle) and repositioned the i-alert sensor, it is now taped to the hose on the right hand side of the engine, I also covered it with heat sink compound so it should give a good reading. I changed the coolant although it looked good, mainly because I did not know which type it was, I flushed the cooling system 3 times to get rid of all the old coolant, bleeding the system every time. I did not bother to use a chemical flush in the end as everything was so clean including the old thermostat which looked brand new, in fact when I first saw it I was sure I had been wasting my time. But on closer inspection I found marks on the side of the 'stat which looked like it had been sticking. I have taken the bongo for a run today, it is much cooler today than last week when the gauge moved fully to hot, in normal use the gauge now sits about 2 o’clock and climbs to about 3 to 4 o’clock when going uphill (modified gauge with 110 ohm resistor) but unlike before, the gauge drops back when the hill work is over. The i-alert does not now go over about 75 even when climbing. Is it a problem for the gauge to read a bit high? if the i-alert is showing the right temperature then if anything the bongo is running cool, although it is not a hot day. Any advice would be welcome please

Thank you

Gasace

[missfixit70]

I'd trust the i alert more than the standard gauge - that depends on the state of the sender/wiring etc, it's just a guide, if you hadn't modified it, it'd bbe sitting at 11 oclock all the time & you'd be none the wiser as to what's actually going on. The main thing is, it seems to be doing what it's supposed to & it's controlling, ie it's coming back down after a load, which should mean the fans are cutting in if slow speed or stationary? Easy to check, run it up to temp on the drive & let the temp keep going up until the fans cut it, make a note of the i alert temp when it does & the temp it cools back down to, then do it again but as soo as the fans cut in rev the engine up to @2.5k revs & it should shoot down a bit quicker as you're then increasing the coolant flow around the rad & thus the rate of cooling.