I had a faulty thermostat replaced today on my 06 MCS which most of us know is a known issue. On my drive home I noticed the gauge reading a little over 200F and never went past ~210. My question is what would be a normal operating temperature? I know in some cars I've had in the past, different thermostats had different temperature ranges e.g. "summer" and "winter" temps but assuming they replaced this with a factory one, what should I expect? I seem to remember never being over 200 until it started leaking a few weeks ago.

Thanks

 

If you replaced it with a factory one, it is 90.5*C or 195*F...meaning it opens at this temp.

My car runs pretty much at 198*F...read from the OBDII connector via a ScanGaugeII.

How are you reading the temps? stock gauge? aftermarket? OBDII?

 

Double post.

 

Thanks for the quick reply with the exact reading. I am reading from the stock gauge and the workorder states factory thermostat w/ gasket. The fact it almost went to 210 on the drive home worries me but I'll keep an eye on it.

 

To add to Partsman's post, you should never see the temp go over 220F, but it's quite OK for it to hang around between 200 and 220 in stop-go traffic. You didn't tell us how you are reading the temp. The Scanguage or equivalent is prolly the best measure, and if you are reading actual numbers you aren't using the guage on the dash.
It should stabilize around 198F during highway cruising, and I would suggest you have a problem if it doesn't. The rest of the time variation should be expected.

 

I am curious to know if the system was air bleeded after the thermo change. If not, then the needle can go a bit higher. You can double check it by bleeding it again if you want to be sure.