temp gauge reading on 2004 3L Terrano

[micktheshed]

I've been advised by someone who owns a much newer Nissan then me (not in the slightest jealous honest!) that a lot of newer cars (VW as well) have a 'driver pacifying' section to the gauge whereby if the actual temperature is within what the manufacture considers acceptable then there is no alteration to the reading, ie. the reading is not linear. This would appear to describe mine as it has yet to move from it's normal position (about 2/3rds) not matter what I'm doing. The Kenlow rad fan is set on max. (95C) but even so I've heard this activate.
To me this is just about useless, I expect the gauge to give me early warning when, eg. towing up hills, so I can manually operate the elec. radiator fan.

After use it also reads 1/3 as soon as key is turned turned, even after 2 hours or more standing: not something I've ever experienced on any car before (but this is my first diesel).
It has been suggested that the gauge has its own sender & the ECU has another more 'truthful' one.
Got any thoughts on this out there in Nissan land?

 

[rayf3262]

I've been advised by someone who owns a much newer Nissan then me (not in the slightest jealous honest!) that a lot of newer cars (VW as well) have a 'driver pacifying' section to the gauge whereby if the actual temperature is within what the manufacture considers acceptable then there is no alteration to the reading, ie. the reading is not linear. This would appear to describe mine as it has yet to move from it's normal position (about 2/3rds) not matter what I'm doing. The Kenlow rad fan is set on max. (95C) but even so I've heard this activate.
To me this is just about useless, I expect the gauge to give me early warning when, eg. towing up hills, so I can manually operate the elec. radiator fan.

After use it also reads 1/3 as soon as key is turned turned, even after 2 hours or more standing: not something I've ever experienced on any car before (but this is my first diesel).
It has been suggested that the gauge has its own sender & the ECU has another more 'truthful' one.
Got any thoughts on this out there in Nissan land?

I have both a Terrano and a VAG (Skoda Octavia).
When up to normal temp, the gauge on the Skoda barely if ever moves from the centre position. If I enable the in-built dash diagnostics in the car, I can monitor the temp digitally and it shows about a 5-6 deg change which the gauge does not show. You can pretty much see when the thermostat opens ~90 deg and then drops to around 85 deg, and the cycle continues.
My Terrano temp gauge sits slightly below the centre mark and really does not move from there under most driving conditions.
You are correct, the Terrano does have two temp sensors, one for the ECU and one for the gauge. I don't think that the ECU sensor is any more "truthful" though.
I suspect that when your thermostat opens the passive cooling/airflow through the rad is sufficient to bring the temp down without the fan kicking in. May behave differently if/when we get a warm summer though!

 

[AD Ent]

Temp gauge? Wifes new Mini doesn't even have one :lol
Terrano 2.7tdi never moves from just below half way, takes ages to get there.

 

[mr tickle]

Temp gauge? Wifes new Mini doesn't even have one :lol
Terrano 2.7tdi never moves from just below half way, takes ages to get there.

buy a new thermostat?

mine warms up in just a few miles.

 

[AD Ent]

buy a new thermostat?

mine warms up in just a few miles.

Ah, It's normal then, feels like ages. It's a big lump I suppose

 

[mr tickle]

The speed at which your water heats up is related to how much fuel you are burning.

On my Rover Diesel that does 50 MPG it takes about 4-5 miles before the water is hot enough to make hot air.

On my Nissan that does 25 MPH it takes about 2 miles before it is hot.

Of course having a stuck open thermostat will mean it all takes longer and will never reach it's optimum full working temperature.

 

[rhume]

This would appear to describe mine as it has yet to move from it's normal position (about 2/3rds) not matter what I'm doing. The Kenlow rad fan is set on max. (95C) but even so I've heard this activate.
To me this is just about useless, I expect the gauge to give me early warning when, eg. towing up hills, so I can manually operate the elec. radiator fan.

After use it also reads 1/3 as soon as key is turned turned, even after 2 hours or more standing: not something I've ever experienced on any car before (but this is my first diesel).
It has been suggested that the gauge has its own sender & the ECU has another more 'truthful' one.
Got any thoughts on this out there in Nissan land?

Hi have exactly same Terrano as yours. Mine drops to zero pretty soon after use. It rises to half way and never gets past that. All this despite having a water leak that means I have to top up before each journey.

 

[firebobby]

My gauge gets up to just below midway pretty quickly and doesn't move from there, this includes towing our caravan down into France. These are big engines, so don't stress so much.
My Vivaro van and Honda Jazz don't have temp gauges

 

[micktheshed]

I've been advised by someone who owns a much newer Nissan then me (not in the slightest jealous honest!) that a lot of newer cars (VW as well) have a 'driver pacifying' section to the gauge whereby if the actual temperature is within what the manufacture considers acceptable then there is no alteration to the reading, ie. the reading is not linear. This would appear to describe mine as it has yet to move from it's normal position (about 2/3rds) not matter what I'm doing. The Kenlow rad fan is set on max. (95C) but even so I've heard this activate.
To me this is just about useless, I expect the gauge to give me early warning when, eg. towing up hills, so I can manually operate the elec. radiator fan.

After use it also reads 1/3 as soon as key is turned turned, even after 2 hours or more standing: not something I've ever experienced on any car before (but this is my first diesel).
It has been suggested that the gauge has its own sender & the ECU has another more 'truthful' one.
Got any thoughts on this out there in Nissan land?

NB! should have said 1/5 & 2/5 (not 1/3 & 2/3), put that down to flue befudled brain LOl.

Some interesting views posted: looks like I'm stuck with what Lord Nissan provided! Can't say I'm too impressed though, as I do like to know what's going on before it's too late (result of Hillman Imp owning days for those with long memories LOL).
Looks like firebobby has very similar readings to mine.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[glanrichbex]

The speed at which your water heats up is related to how much fuel you are burning.

err......not entirely correct .....

You can overheat an engine without using any fuel - i.e going down a long hill in gear.

When you compress air, the latent heat drops out of the air and has to go somewhere ...... into the block. You will find the majority of heat produced by an engine is not by the heat of momentary combustion but by the compression.