Thanks to Simon for posting this update. A drive starts off well, and Simon was optimistic that this gremlin had gone. But from my drive to his this morning I too got my hopes up, and of course it turned out to be a flash in the pan.
There appears to be no correlation between speed, gradient and coolant temp. In fact, Simon remarked today that he would have expected the temp to reduce when driving briskly, but in fact (sometimes) temp fell to normal range when driving at just below 30 mph.
I'm throwing out this puzzle to anyone interested to solve it. Today the coolant level was just a bit higher than it has been in the last week. I know it suggests an airlock, but where would that have come from?
If the thermostat is opening, closing and half-closing erratically, could that fault be responsible for creating enough turbulence in the coolant to create an airlock?
On my way home, I reached 111°C, but a little later reduced to 92, then up again.
The other thing I would be interested to find out is how the hell did the garage access the thermostat housing in order to fit another one? Looking around there is no evidence that screws or other retainers have been removed, and there's dust where you would expect it to be. Even with the air filter housing removed, and working sideways, it seems an unlikely route. Therefore, what is the famous 'sideways' approach?
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