Hi all,

Sorry for a first post being a plea for help!

My 3 series is off the road after hitting a pothole and snapping a droplink, so I've been trundling around in my parents 57 plate 1.6 petrol Focus.

Ever since they've owned it, the fuel economy has been quite poor (40mpg at a push - I've managed 39.* mpg (on the gauge) doing 60 miles from Aylesbury to Oxford and back while driving carefully, whereas my old Polo GTI would manage this without much effort at all. . .), but I've noticed the the temp gauge never sits properly upright, it's always about 10-20degrees left of vertical.

I connected the car up to the Torque app on my phone and watched the coolant temp readings - it never made it above 87, but usually sat around 85ish. Given my 330d sits at a higher temp than this, I assume something's not right.

Does anyone know what temp the 1.6 engine should be running at? I have looked, but can't find anything useful.

As an aside - the lowest marking on the temp gauge is 60, but the needle will be upright before the car has even reached 60! Either the gauge is screwed, or the dash calibration is way off! (I know on my BM it ranges from 7* - 10* while staying in the 'normal' position, but for this to read over 60 before it's got there seems a little strange IMO!)

Anyway, cheers for any help.

Joe