Petrol berlingo

[Wellmound]

Friend of mines just bought a 2003 petrol berlingo shes just concerned about the temp gauge it goes to 90 then on motorway drops to 60 degs is this normal before she goes chucking money at it...or should she not worrie about it as long as its not jeading north!!...iv onlynowned diesels for years and they dont move!!! Cheers

[cancunia]

Maybe a faulty thermostat sticking? 60 sounds a bit low and may cause the engine to use too much fuel, depends on how clever the ECU / automatic choke are.

[Tomcat3]

My 1.4 petrol when warmed up is around 90 when driving around town on a warm day and in traffic and if I go on motorways the temp will drop as you have better airflow. To check thermostat is working without stripping anything from cold drive car preferably on an open road watch the temp needle rise, when it gets around 85/90 it will start to drop back that is the thermostat opening and letting water around the rest of the system.

[Gadgetman]

You don't mention which Gasoline engine it is(1.4i, 1.6i, 1.8... Isn't there a 1.1i somewhere also? it shows up in some car model selection lists on parts sites)

The 1.4i heats up pretty quickly if you're 'generous with the pedal' we naccellerating or up steep inclines, but will drop the temp almost just as quickly as soon as the engine isn't straining any more.
Part of the reason for this is that the engine block is made of aluminium, and is sitting just behind the radiator and fan, so any air passing through will hit the side of the engine. Aluminium is a great heat conductor(much better than steel) so heat is very evenly distributed all over the block. So the wind rushing through the engine compartment at motorway speeds is bound to remove a significant amount of heat.

But this sounds a little bit too extreme, so it wouldn't hurt to replace the thermostat, and possibly also the thermal switch for the radiator fan. (and check that the fan spins freely)
She can run it up to temp, then listen closely and she should be able to hear the fan operating. On hot days the fan may even run a little while after stopping the engine..

Does it have AC?
If it's a Non-AC car, does the heater produce heat?
(consider the heating system another coolant loop.)

[Wellmound]

Cheers guys iv not heard back off her but i did say to her get stat changed as a matter of course....its a.1.6

[Wellmound]

You don't mention which Gasoline engine it is(1.4i, 1.6i, 1.8...   Isn't there a 1.1i somewhere also? it shows up in some car model selection lists on parts sites)  

The 1.4i heats up pretty quickly if you're 'generous with the pedal' we naccellerating or up steep inclines, but will drop the temp almost just as quickly as soon as the engine isn't straining any more.    
Part of the reason for this is that the engine block is made of aluminium, and is sitting just behind the radiator and fan, so any air passing through will hit the side of the engine. Aluminium is a great heat conductor(much better than steel) so heat is very evenly distributed all over the block. So the wind rushing through the engine compartment at motorway speeds is bound to remove a significant amount of heat.

But this sounds a little bit too extreme, so it wouldn't hurt to replace the thermostat, and possibly also the thermal switch for the radiator fan. (and check that the fan spins freely)  
She can run it up to temp, then listen closely and she should be able to hear the fan operating. On hot days the fan may even run a little while after stopping the engine..

Does it have AC?
If it's a Non-AC car, does the heater produce heat?
(consider the heating system another coolant loop.)

She said the heat from the heater was warm..not hot.....another problem she has is she can lock tje drivers door with the consol button but not fob or manualy

[Gadgetman]

She may have air in the system.
(This is not good... And can cause it to boil over... )
The 1.4i has 3 bleed points, and I assume the other versions also have them at roughly the same places;
1. Top of the thermostat housing.
2. On top of the radiator, where the hose from the thermostat enters.
3. On the 'knee' where the heater hoses goes through the torpedo wall.
On the 1.4i there's an issue with the thermostat housing not being even close to the top of the engine, so air tends to be trapped at in the head. Because of that we usually jack up the front lefthand corner of the car as much as possible when bleeding the system.
(You still hven't revealed which engine model it is)