[Majkl]

In my case, If I am driving through the town, it takes around 25 minutes to heat up. If I go to the Highway (130-160 km/h), it heats up in 3-5 minutes and gauge stays there. We had quite a cold winter last year and no hint of the gauge moving from the center anywhere.

 

[KIWI-1]

summation of this thread: "it's winter, I only drive a short distance, my car temp gauge isn't reaching the middle of the display"

then all sorts of theories about a new car with a stuck thermostat, or some sort of mechanical problem...

the solution: "It's cold in Canada in the winter, if you only drive a short distance (while heating the cabin), your temp gauge isn't going to hit the middle. Your short trips are also going to increase wear and tear on your engine (severe driving oil change intervals required), because if you don't regularly reach operating temps your water vapor enhanced engine oil is not going to lubricate properly all the parts that are continually exposed to condensation during your cold starts."

Definitely worth a trip to the dealer so they can tell you that there is nothing wrong.

Next thread is inevitably going to be, "My Mazda (that I drive in the winter less than 10 miles each way to work on a cold engine) gets terrible gas mileage, not at all what is advertised..."

I agree.
I'd add that without knowing the exact temp the gauge is detecting it's pretty meaningless.
Your car has plenty of sophisticated electronics monitoring dozens of data points... it will tell you if there really is a problem.

 

[Majkl]

I agree.
I'd add that without knowing the exact temp the gauge is detecting it's pretty meaningless.
Your car has plenty of sophisticated electronics monitoring dozens of data points... it will tell you if there really is a problem.

It Will not tell you, if thermostat is doing bad job. This is utopia.

 

[arathol]

It Will not tell you, if thermostat is doing bad job. This is utopia.

Yes it will. Monitoring the actual temps being generated by the sensors will tell you if the proper operating temperature is being reached and when. It will also tell you how long it takes to get there. The coolant flow has to be restricted by the thermostat for the temps to go up. If there is constant flow to and from the radiator that temperature increase is not going to happen as the coolant isn't staying in the block long enough for proper heat transfer to occur. When the thermostat is not closing properly the engine may not ever get to 185°, especially in cold weather. So, if you can see the actual numbers, you can tell if the thermostat is working right.
All those sensor are there for a reason - to make it easier to detect and diagnose problems. Its just silly not to use them and guess .....

 

[Majkl]

Yes it will. Monitoring the actual temps being generated by the sensors will tell you if the proper operating temperature is being reached and when. It will also tell you how long it takes to get there. The coolant flow has to be restricted by the thermostat for the temps to go up. If there is constant flow to and from the radiator that temperature increase is not going to happen as the coolant isn't staying in the block long enough for proper heat transfer to occur. When the thermostat is not closing properly the engine may not ever get to 185°, especially in cold weather. So, if you can see the actual numbers, you can tell if the thermostat is working right.
All those sensor are there for a reason - to make it easier to detect and diagnose problems. Its just silly not to use them and guess .....

I have been saying that about thermostat not closing all the time here. Sure, you can read out temperatures from diag. We have missunderstood each other. I thought you have meant that There Will be some error messages popping up with info about wrong temperatures or something like this

 

[KeepingHatchbacksAlive]

Got an OBD-II scanner and these are the results I got on multiple drives. As you can see it is 20°F(-6.7°C) outside. The needle does not move from the bottom of the gauge until the coolant is above 100°F(37°C), it is out of the blue at 133°F(53°C), and 1/3 of the way is 163°F(67°C). No matter how hard I accelerated or even if I went as fast as 80mph(127kmh) the needle did not go any higher and the temp rarely went above 190°F. It liked to stay around 185°F. Keep in mind the average speed limit here is 60 or 65mph. In the warmer months the needle will sit exactly in the center of the gauge which is suspect is 210-215°F(100°C). Also the top third of the gauge is where the red starts, not just the top 1/6 which I thought was interesting, haven't seen that type of marking on other cars. I suspect the too 1/3 is a warning zone and the top 1/6 is critical.

Based on my readings the car will take a very long time to hit 185°F at city speeds and on my average drive the temp would fluctuate between 165 and 185°F. I do also have the climate control set to 68°F in full auto because I like being warm and comfortable more than my engine temp gauge.

 

[MeteorGray]

I follow coolant temperature on a Scangauge, given digitally. My observations are that the blue light indicating low coolant temperatures stays lit until 128F to 132F, at which point the blue light goes off. After the engine is fully warmed up, the normal coolant operating temperature ranges variously from 176F to 192F in cool to hot weather. At normal highway speeds in 90F ambient conditions, it runs 182F to 184F. In slow, stop-and-go traffic it can be at ~200-210F.

 

[Brooksy11]

So I just had my car in at the dealer and they say everything is normal. The skyactiv engines take a long time to warm up and it’s not unusual to drive for 40 mins in the city to get it to full operating temp.

 

[Majkl]

So I just had my car in at the dealer and they say everything is normal. The skyactiv engines take a long time to warm up and it’s not unusual to drive for 40 mins in the city to get it to full operating temp.

Hah, bullshit. What about dropping temp on the Highway? That is normal aswell?

 

[arathol]

So I just had my car in at the dealer and they say everything is normal. The skyactiv engines take a long time to warm up and it’s not unusual to drive for 40 mins in the city to get it to full operating temp.

If you are sitting with the car idling it might take a while for the temp to come up, but if you are driving, no....
I did a quick test a couple nights ago. Ambient temp 35°F, car stone cold, had not been driven all day. Drove to the the grocery store, 2.7 miles, no highway, took about 5 minutes. Coolant temp was ~160° when I got there. Shopped for 20 minutes, went home. Coolant was ~170° when I pulled in to my driveway.
Your dealer is full of crap and incompetent. Get the Torque app for your phone and monitor the temps for yourself....

 

[Brooksy11]

Hah, bullshit. What about dropping temp on the Highway? That is normal aswell?

My engine temp doesn’t drop when on the highway.

 

[Mike C]

"it’s not unusual to drive for 40 mins in the city to get it to full operating temp. "- simply not true. The whole time the engine is running cold it needs a richer fuel mix- reducing mpg and increasing emissions- no manufacturer would ever design an engine to do this. All manufacturers' have aim over the last 20 years to minimize warm up time.

 

[Hawke]

Mazda recently updated this service alert to include Mazda3 2018-2020 models, it might be applicable to some issues described in this thread.

 

[Brooksy11]

Mazda recently updated this service alert to include Mazda3 2018-2020 models, it might be applicable to some issues described in this thread.

Thanks for that! I wonder if I can take it back to them and tell them to replace this part. My check engine light doesn’t come on though so not sure if they’ll go for it.

 

[Hawke]

Thanks for that! I wonder if I can take it back to them and tell them to replace this part. My check engine light doesn’t come on though so not sure if they’ll go for it.

Yes good question, maybe worth a try, but I'd guess they want the DTC code to be active.

 

[arathol]

Thanks for that! I wonder if I can take it back to them and tell them to replace this part. My check engine light doesn’t come on though so not sure if they’ll go for it.

The DTC and CEL are part of the TSB requrements.....

Some customers may experience the CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON with DTC P0126:00 (Thermostat stuck open) and one or more of the following symptoms:
 The engine takes longer to warm up.
 The engine temperature gauge fluctuates.
 The low coolant temperature indicator (blue) light stays on longer or comes on while driving.
 Poor heater performance, especially at idle.
REPAIR PROCEDURE
1. Verify customer concerns and DTC.
2. Replace the engine coolant control valve (1)

 

[Brooksy11]

The DTC and CEL are part of the TSB requrements.....

I guess I’ll have to wait until my car is more broken before I take it in 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[paulff3]

The heat in my 15 2.5 is one of my favorite aspects of the car. Almost immediate heat, quickly getting to hot as sun temp.

 

[zeeper25]

The TSB is indicating that if there is a problem, there will be a check engine light. It sounds like winter and short trips starting with a cold engine are the only problem.

 

[Brooksy11]

So I did a little experiment today. It was a pleasant -27C showing on the dash(-17F). After a short trip I picked up my wife and dropped her off at the grocery store for a bit and said I’d wait in the car because it’s fricking cold. I went and parked the car and at this point the car was just above the blue cold range on the temp gauge. I had the heat on high temp and fan speed 4 and the engine temp dropped to JUST on the upper range of the blue zone after a few minutes. I went to fan speed 5 and it started to dip into the blue just slightly so I went to fan speed 3 and the temp started climbing slowly. Fan speed 2 and it kept climbing. So I turned the fan off completely. I’ve never seen my engine warm up this quick before. I watched it climb all the way to almost half on the gauge within a couple minutes then started playing with fan speeds again but it seems that 0-1 speed the engine will heat up in no time. Anything 4+ speed with a cool engine it does not like being robbed of all that precious heat. Anyways just thought I’d mention how HUGE of a difference putting the heat on 0-1 for a few minutes makes.