Mileage update after Day 9

Todays mileage : 5 miles
Total mileage : 1505 miles

Not much sightseeing

We had been looking forward to Durango, initially we were going to take a trip on the Durango to Silvertown railway, however, when we realised the length of the trip we decided that it didn't sound so much fun, it was going to be a days round trip with a lot of that time spent on a train. Our second choice was to head out to Mesa Verde and the cliff dwellings. Unfortunately the trouble with the car put paid to that. So we had a wander around Durango instead.

Thermostats.......aaaaaaggggghhhhh!!!!

So the car has been running at 90 degrees all week. I hooked up the laptop to check a few things and the peak coolant tell tale was at 118..........I then ran the engine up and found the stat wasn't opening under the control of the ecu. I presume it was opening mechanically at 100 (the rating for the duratec stat) which by the time it opened would equate to a coolant temp of approx 108 which would read as 118 on the Emerald as it seems to read about 10 degrees over. So I thought the stat was bust so spent the morning trying to locate a new one, the nearest one being a 60 mile drive away, got back with thew stat and decided to check wiring before draining the coolant. When we grounded the wire which goes to the ecu the stat opened. It turns out the ecu is not controlling the stat. I`m not sure how long this has been happening but I suspect it has been like that since the start of the tour.......yikes. There is a spare ecu on tour but we couldn't locate it today and it doesn't have a baro sensor fitted which is a problem given that we have 4 10000 ft passes to cross tomorrow. So in the end I have retained my ecu and wired the earth for the stat to a switch on the dash. I can allow the engine to warm up in the morning, then flick the switch to open the stat. I took it for a blat and it seems to stabilise at 60 degrees which is a little cool but it will have to do. I`ve asked some local guys to source me a Mazda 82 degree non electrical stat which I`ll stick in at GFrand Junction in a few days time where we have access to a workshop. All fun and games...................