2013 Ford Territory Titanium

Hi,
About to do pre-purchase inspection on a Diesel AWD LZ Titanium and noticed when test driving that the temperature gauge moves from about 1/3 to just under 1/2 when going up hills or otherwise under load.

I checked with dealer and he said its normal for temperature to move when under load, especially when towing. It will fluctuate and as long as it doesn't move into "red" its ok. We are purchasing to tow a caravan, so its going to be under load more when hauling up hills etc.

Question is - is this correct (fluctuation), and is it likely that a pre-purchase inspection (AA conducting) will pick up any issues with the radiator and thermostat? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Assuming that the cooling system has been well maintained then chances are it is OK. The gauges are only a vague indication of what the engine temperature actually is, it could be that only a 4 or 5 degree rise is causing significant movement of the needle. Before you commence towing with it a coolant flush if it's not been done on the last couple of years and thermostat change would be worth doing, get the front of the radiator checked to see if the isnt any external blockage and get whoever is doing the work to check that the fan or fans appear to be working as they should, and monitor what the engine temp actually is with a scan tool.

I have one. The temp does fluctuate on the gauge a little bit never goes above half and I tow a heavy caravan. The dealer is correct- completely normal. It likely hasn’t had a coolant flush which it should have had. Make sure you do get Ford to do it as it is an extremely involved job with multiple steps including bleeding air out of specific areas. A local garage is unlikely to be familiar with doing it.
Also get them to replace the transfer case fluid, cheap to do and good peace of mind.
Another important thing to remember with the AWD setup in that model is the system is VERY sensitive to different tyre sizes. I.e rotate the tyres regularly (once a year or more if you do a lot of kms) as even a relatively small change in tyre diameter caused by uneven wear will result in the transfer case activating and prematurely wearing out.

I diagnosed a couple of them as requiring a thermostat when I worked at a ford dealership. I didn’t end up the tech doing the repairs but pricing it up it was from memory not cheap because it looked like an octopus and came with all the hoses.
It was for running cold not hot though.
We had three large workshops in the complex so I didn’t see the final result.
Price up a thermostat replacement if you’re worried.

Another thing that may be possible is getting a digital readout of the temperature in the instrument cluster. This means putting the cluster in an "engineering mode" which allows you to view the data data being transmitted into it from the other modules in the car and not just a buffered reading that is used for the gauge display. A bit of a google may reveal if it's possible and how to go about it.