Hey there. I have a strange issue with my stock water gauge on my car. It works, and seems to respond to temp changes pretty quick once fully warmed up (I notice on the highway my temps go up because I need to get a new under-tray, that's another story). Anyway, its takes quite a while before it starts to show any temperature rise after a cold start. It's summer now and even after driving around 10 minutes (I even let the car idle 2-3 minutes before any driving) the gauge does not rise. Eventually it will show me the correct temps for an S4 (about 1/3 the gauge). What is causing this? Why is this taking so long?

Previous owner said it was like this for him too, but the haltech (with the laptop hooked up) would read the temps right away. Obviously I am not going to drive around with a laptop hooked up and on all the time.

I plan on soon enough to install an after market temp gauge, but it's nice to have a reason

 

Bad thermostat (stuck open) or no thermostat?
Stock fan viscous clutch locked all the time?


-Ted

 

My money's on stuck thermostat. Replace it with a new one form Mazda. Only Mazda...

 

oh my!