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Wondering how long it should take for my Mazda 35SLTi engine to warm up today, sat outside with the bonnet up. I've replaced the thermostat and flushed the system and had it idling for about 20-25 minutes. The needle has gone towards the red when I turned it off but the top hose didn't seem to get warm. I'm not sure of the accuracy of the gauge as I have just put this engine in and the gauge belongs to a TD so turned the engine off as a precaution. The reason I was warming it up was to check if my X-fan controller worked, it didn't kick the fan in but the fan does work when switched to overide.

There are a few variables such as my wiring to contend with but any thoughts? Should the thermostat typically open before 20-25 mins of idling from cold?

Cheers,

MArtin

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A diesel will hardly get warm at idle, especially in this weather with the bonnet up. When i've had to fill the coolant on my 200tdi it's taken a good 15 mins with the throttle wedged.

Mis-matched senders and gauges won't work either - you need to fit the TD sender, or fit a new aftermarket gauge and sender. they are matched pairs and won't read at all accurately mis-matched.

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You shouldn't let an engine tick over to warm up. Take it down the road.

However.

Shut the bonnet and cover the grill with something. The viscous fan that isn't supposed to work until the engine is warm will pull whatever you use into the grill.

mike

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Thanks Guys, I know the sender needs to be matched to the gauge, I have a VDO gauge and sender for it but the sender is a different thread, will need to re-tap or make an adaptor, so was making do at the moment but you';re right, guess it doesn't mean a thing with the TD gauge. The vehicle isn't road legal at the moment, hence the idling but I think it's probably just not getting hot enough idling. If the thermostst isn't opening (top hose staying cold), does it matter if the bonnet is open or not? I whipped the thermostat out immediately after stopping the engine and it was closed when I opened the housing up but it opened in a pan of boiling water just as the bubbles started appearing. Stat is 91C according to the stamp so I guess this adds up.

Guess I need to fit the VDO gauge and sender which will allow me to run the engine a bit longer and know what it's actually doing.

Cheers,

MArtin

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It will take a looong time to warm a 3.5 mazda from cold at idle its got a lot of metal to warm up as well as the coolant and the engine isnt working. Its not good to idle a diesel as they carbon up the comp rings and then you smoke .

Take the time to fit the guage correctly and then youl have to drive it to find out how its all working

I know its hard to wait :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay, just a quick update..

I fitted the VDO gauge and sender and you were all right, it appears I could be there all day at idle and the lump wouldn't get up to temp. Had a quick run up and down in first and it still didn't reach temp. Have to wait until it's taxed and tested until I get to find out if I wired up the X-fan controller correctly.

Thanks again for your responses.

martin

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