Running a bit cold

[jimed]

I was in the IoM last April and the car ran quite a bit colder than usual nearly all the time. Could be to do with the lack of traffic lights, etc. which meant it wasn't stopped too much; anyway going up the mountain from Ramsey and the temp just dropped away on the gauge. I did 400miles or so and got something around 19 mpg as a result of the cold running. The car had run at the normal temp to and from the ferry but that had been in some traffic and it warmed up OK. When I got home I replaced the thermostat but to be honest it now seems to take longer to warm up - so what is everyone else's experience - does it take a while to warm up and at this time of year does it run colder? (My normal running is with the temp gauge needle horizontal but recently its hardly got above twenty to when the car is on the move).
I suspect another new thermostat is pending!!
Jim

[page3]

Mine definitely takes longer to warm up at this time of year, but the needle sits nicely horizontal after about 20 minutes or so. Stays fairly constant from then on, except the odd dip when I get a clear run.

[mep12345]

Mine as per "Page3" but it sits about 5 degrees colder than in the summer when on a dual carriageway or motorway with heafty air flow (exactly the same around town though). It will also still get up to temperature and cycle with the fan when sat in a traffic jam though

[Gerald-TVR]

Wot he said ^^^^

[Orophin]

Bit annoying because is it warmed up quick in the winter, it would keep me warm! The heater is rubbish. Can you upgrade em?

[tvrgit]

One point - some thermostats have a small bypass valve (can't remember if the 2.9 does or not - I think it does though). That valve needs to go at the highest point of the thermostat, ot it stays open a little and can increase the warm-up time dramatically.

[jimed]

Thanks for the inputs guys; from what you say mine is very similar. The little bleed thingy was put at the top as per the previous thermostat so that's OK. I will be replacing the antifreeze as part of the service this winter so I may just get a new thermostat anyway as this one does seem to be a bit slower to warm up than the previous one - maybe the QH one will be a bit better.
Jim