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I've got an EA82 in a 91 L series, overall the engine is in good nick and I lose no water or oil. A new radiator was installed about 2 years ago.

Anyway, a year ago or so I bipassed the heater as it was starting to leak internally - one day I might replace it.

Since then, or at least some time after that I have noticed that the heater dash gauge shows temps significantly hotter than it used to. For instance I drove the 80km length of the Freeway today at 100km/hr with the air con on and it was about 33 degrees outside (+road temp). The heater needle was about 5mm from the red HOT point for much of the trip back.

For the first few years after I puchased the car the needle would never go much above 10mm from cold, even on a hot day with the air con on at high speed.

Any ideas? Maybe it's the thermostat?

Hey Enduro,
Try the thermostat but first check to see if your radiator air flow is blocked or partically blocked... there have been alot of insects around in some areas that people don't pay attention to, easy to clog up a rad's air flow over a few weeks (that was happening north of bendigo a few months ago)...

Are there any air leaks in the manifold? This could cause the engine to run lean, jacking up the engine temp...

Just my thoughts, hope its of some value...

Cheers

the air con does jack up the temp significantly. also radiator may be blocked from the inside- give it a flush.