First Line has made some significant additions to its comprehensive cooling range by introducing 15 temperature housing units and almost 30 temperature sender units.

As vehicle manufacturers seek to reduce weight wherever possible in order to meet emissions targets, more and more thermostat housings are now made of plastic. These can be prone to fracture as they are subject to enormous heat variation and vibration due to the fact that they are often mounted on the engine. It is as a response to this problem that First Line has introduced a range of thermostat housing units to cover the most common applications, with the FTS1015 used on the Ford Focus and Maverick perhaps the most in demand.

First Line say technicians need to check for signs of a fracture, such as a shinny residue left on the engine surface where the coolant has run and has been evaporated by the heat. Sometimes it can run into the engine under tray, which means that the first the driver will know about the problem is when the temperature gauge on the dash rises sharply toward the red zone.

Temperature sender units can also be prone to failure, generally due to their age or because of damage to their wires. These units are usually located in the thermostat housing unit and communicate with the vehicle’s ECU to ensure that the correct engine temperature is maintained by regulating the cooling system. The temperature sender unit should be one of the technician’s first ports-of-call before changing the thermostat. They can be checked using an oscilloscope or with specific diagnostic equipment.

First Line’s range of 29 temperature sender units will cater for the vast majority of likely failures with the two most popular part numbers being FTS3001 for VAG group vehicles including the Audi A3, A4, A6 and Golf MKIV and FTS3007 fitted to vehicles such as Alfa 156, Citroen Relay, Fiat Ducato, GM Astra G and H.

For more information concerning the complete range of First Line’s cooling products, call the sales team on: 0044-1869-248484 or visit: www.firstline.co.uk