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2g Logging water temps of 210-217. too hot?

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spoold

15+ Year Contributor
260
4
Dec 20, 2003
Indianapolis, Indiana
Ok so lately ive been trying to tune my car in some colder weather at night (52-60 degrees air temp).

However, ive noticed im NEVER under 209 degrees water temp? and im having lots of pulled timing even with optimum settings for my injectors?

My car sits at 217-219 in traffic? when cruising i still see 209-213 degrees?

I installed a new 180 thermostat, removed the a/c condensor in front of the radiator, and cut my bumper to flow more air (i do havet he XSpower FMIC)

I flushed the coolant and did a 30% coolant 70% water mix, with a bottle of redline water wetter.

I have no idea why its running so hot all the time, any suggestions? the radiator was new 3 months ago.

Is this affecting my timing, and if so, how can i go about lowering my temps more? I did almost everything the tech article says to do, yet still cant get lower than 206 degrees water temp?
 
dnhieu said:
210 at idle is fine. i ushally see 209 when im sitting in back to back traffic. if you want to via dsm link is run both of your coolant fans all the time. its what i do. it just takes forever to warm up and forever for my fuel trims to move but its worth it to me to keep my car cool. i would much rather see 200 over 209 but 209 still isnt that bad at idle. i ushally see 196-199 while driving...

Your thermostat is bad. It should only open after your car (and coolant temps) have reached a certain temperature. Right now it sounds like it's stuck open, thus the increased time to warmup.
 
Ya, I seem to get hotter at cruise speeds then at idle, not the opposite....In traffic, slow moving speeds, I will run colder than when I am cruising at 75mph
 
olmytsi said:
Have you tried flushing your cooling system lately? How about running a bit more water than coolant? Are you running the stock fans still?

I think you can do the whole fooling the ecu with dsmlink but keep in mind it will affect other parameters which are determined by coolant temp. (timing for example)

Hey, Well I did wire my fans to come on together, but not by a switch just when the ECU thinks it should kick on the the fans. I did it the right way also.....Low and High are both available for use by the ECU. I see what your saying about fooling the comp them getting timing pulled, I didnt think of that so I think Ill stay away. I wasnt sure if between 200 and 210 was ok at idle...as soon as my fans come on it drops....Maybe Ill have to keep them on a switch. Thanks for the help guys.
 
im having a similar problem with highway cruising.
As high as 222* at some times
ususally around 113*-117*

I have a Extreme Intercoolers 9"X33"X3" intercooler that im blaming for all this.

Im gonna bridge the 2 power wires on my stock fan to make it run on its high setting as a second thing to attempt (first was a new t-stat).

whats with the high pressure radiator cap? what does it do different that helps keep the temps down?
 
i hope we get some help
Im gonna try to make a decent airdam to replace the one i took out durring the FMIC install.
Maybe directing the air again will help some.
 
siceclipse said:
i hope we get some help
Im gonna try to make a decent airdam to replace the one i took out durring the FMIC install.
Maybe directing the air again will help some.

I just did that today. If what I think happens to the air then this will help alot. Ill make a paint pic really quick to show you guys.

Heres the pic. Basicly what the sheild does is go OVER the FMIC to take the air that is deflectied straigh up the IC face and put it back into the rad instead of having it go all the way up the inner bumper and out over the support and the rad. Ill get REAL pics when its not raining.
 

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Just throwing it out there, but where does everyone tap into for the heat reading? I would think that makes a difference whether it's directly on the head or the housing.
If you have a 180 deg stat, perhaps the fluid never reaches below 180 and it stays open all of the time, which means it doesn't stay in the radiator long enough to cool off, which would lead to higher driving temps even when you cruising. A 190 might work better?
I have no idea if it would work, but in my race car we run these little restrictors instead of thermostats. They slow the water down long enough to cool off in the radiators but are always open. Probably not a good idea in the winter though..
How bout just getting a bigger all aluminum radiator?
How much horsepower are you really loosing at 206 deg? It can't be that detremental. Stock these things probably run at 225?
 
95talon_in_ma said:
Just throwing it out there, but where does everyone tap into for the heat reading? I would think that makes a difference whether it's directly on the head or the housing.
If you have a 180 deg stat, perhaps the fluid never reaches below 180 and it stays open all of the time, which means it doesn't stay in the radiator long enough to cool off, which would lead to higher driving temps even when you cruising. A 190 might work better?
I have no idea if it would work, but in my race car we run these little restrictors instead of thermostats. They slow the water down long enough to cool off in the radiators but are always open. Probably not a good idea in the winter though..
How bout just getting a bigger all aluminum radiator?
How much horsepower are you really loosing at 206 deg? It can't be that detremental. Stock these things probably run at 225?

Were using the ECU's signal and just logging it. Theres no variable between our cars as far as the sensor goes. The ECU's reading is the ECU's reading. Also It does matter to most of us, those couple degrees will retard timing and rob power.
 
siceclipse said:
looks like a really good idea

Awaiting pics.

Well I though it would be easy to get pics, but it wasnt so I get these 3. First is a transparent green block of where it sits in the bumper, which is about 2-3 inches above the IC.

The 2nd is an underside shot from the front and the green ( really black ) is the metal vent/deflector.

Lastly Heres a Pic of the shape it is when I was painting it just before install. The rectangular cut out if for the bumper support . It needed cut out to fit around it. Anyways heres the pics.
 

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Interesting idea...I was told to make one and put it under the car, under the front bumper and intercooler...I was told to make the bracket upwards like yours, but to have it cover the bottom so air on the ground goes under the intercooler and towards the radiator instead...
 
Thats almost exactly what my shield looked like as well. I also put weather stripping between the AC condenser and the radiator (the top part you see when you pop the hood). I had also put sheet metal going from the bottom of the front bumper to the bottom of the radiator, but it has been knocked off on some curb somewhere.

To whoever asked about higher pressure radiator caps, the higher pressure raises the boiling point of water. The downside to this is that it puts another 3psi load on your cooling system so any worn out coolant lines may be pushed to their limit and burst.

From all of the experiences I have had with cooling fans and overheating, I find the stock radiator fan to operate the best. If at all possible, I would keep that and replace the AC fan with a slimline. I'm running a 50-trim, SBR manifold, and TiAL external wastegate and I was able to keep both stock fans. I didn't like how close the exhast parts were to the AC fan so I ditched it for a slimline pusher mounted in front of the AC condensor.
 
kraka said:
Interesting idea...I was told to make one and put it under the car, under the front bumper and intercooler...I was told to make the bracket upwards like yours, but to have it cover the bottom so air on the ground goes under the intercooler and towards the radiator instead...

Between the FMIC and RAD theres the RAD support and thats to thick. Theres is no way my car is getting ducting comming from the ground for that reason, and not to mention the roads here. I want to log some temp while crusing, but I swear the battery on my laptop sucks. Ahh well Ill keep you guys posted.
 
thats soo odd.. every car ive put a fmic on i have never had a cooling issue... and i usually dont see anything over 205ish total cruise or idle... no watter wetter just 50/50 anti freeze and water.. to the origional poster of this thread my bet is going twords a head gasket issue.. i think thats where your problem lies..
 
jott5555 said:
thats soo odd.. every car ive put a fmic on i have never had a cooling issue... and i usually dont see anything over 205ish total cruise or idle... no watter wetter just 50/50 anti freeze and water.. to the origional poster of this thread my bet is going twords a head gasket issue.. i think thats where your problem lies..

If that was the case we would all have a head gasket problem.
 
or due to high milage.. and worn out parts probally.. low compression number all that good stuff will contribute to a lil heat.. 1 2400cmf fan should fix most issue's i use 2 12' 1300 cfm's on the front of my radiator.. and never had an issue.. i guess if people wanna get anal.. you can also ceramic coat your hard water lines behind your turbo that will help keep coolant temp down
 
well i have the same problem i can drive around town for years with my 90 tsi awd t and my temp is fine...i get on the highway and 10 mins later my car starts to over heat idk i dont get it i pressure tested my rad and its fine theres no coolant leak i did a leakdown test head gasket is fine and myfan comes on and i also put another fan in...idk fellas i dont get it but im sick of it but good luck with it
 
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