Am I running hot or is it normal?

[2G_DSM_Kid]

Okay I am new to DSM I have my 95 TSI not many mods. But cruising down the road at about 60 or so I run about 240 degrees on my temp gauge I have a digital temp gauge thats fairly new and same brand oil one and its accurate. but it doesn't show signs of overheating runs just normal fans seem to kick in about normal time but it just keeping climbing to 240 and stays steady there unless getting in boost or pulling up a hill. I am really unsure of what could cause this. I don't have coolant loss and there is no mixing of the fluids. I have the temp sensor for the gauge right at the water neck where it comes from the turbo and the block in the stock location. Am I freaking out but this just doesn't seem right I think 210 is about the right temp.
I need help fast due to this being my daily driver.

 

[hazmat6135]

I'd def stay outa boost. Thats really hot. Temps should stay below 200 when off boost on a 70* day. 240 is way over. Probably a stuck thermostat if nothing else is leaking. I would replace it with a lower temp one like a 160* and see how much that helps. Pretty sure the stock ones on our cars are 180* or 190*.

 

[JusMX141]

Bad thermostat or head gasket- if your head gasket wasn't originally bad, it probably is now that you've been driving down the highway with 240*f coolant temps. Count on getting the head machined if you pull it to do a head gasket job.

Make sure there's no calibration needed on that gauge you have....honestly I'd trust whatever you read on a logger over any gauge because that's the temp the ECU is seeing so it knows when to turn the fans on and off. At 240*, the fans should be running constantly.

 

[DSM1G90]

Drain the system, take a garden hose, undo the lower radiator hose from the radiator and flush the radiator out that could be full of crud and junk.

Pull the t-stat out and shove that garden hose in the t-stat housing and flush out the block and heater core.

You want clean water to exit out of the block and radiator as the same as you put it in.

Buy new T-stat and gasket and install. Use 50/50 premix of coolant and water to fill the system back up.

See what happens afterwards ... been there and done that with creeping temp gauges.

DSM

 

[blackeagle92]

Do you have access to a logger...just to see what the stock coolant temp sensor is reading. Where is the stock gauge reading at on the dash?

 

[gieri002]

I'm guessing it's an issue with the gauge sender, 240 degrees is very hot. If your car is not blowing out white smoke I doubt it's actually running that hot.

 

[2G_DSM_Kid]

So what I did was put a 13 lb radiator cap on instead of the 1.1 bar then then backed out the sensor a tiny bit thinking it was just touching the metal and cruising I got 230 degrees.
What time does the factory fans turn on?

 

[johnmel]

around 202-206F i think.

 

[GSTurbo1]

Even though you see no mixing of fluid you could still have a blown head gasket. If it's been a while since you have changed it go ahead and do it and check you tstat while your at it.

You are warping the head and possible internal damage if you keep running your car like that.

 

[2G_DSM_Kid]

Well I checked the temp the fan came on compared to my Gauge and it kicked on at 223

Fixed! New thermostat put in an it ran perfect. Right at 200 then at idle at a stop its between 210 and 220 when the fans kick on

 

[DSM1G90]

T-stat was sticking closed ... common to happen when they get the age on them.

 

[2G_DSM_Kid]

It seemed like it was opening just not enough

 

[dsmBear]

Hey guys I'm having trouble with my car overheating. I changed the thermostat about a month ago and it worked for a while. Now about every week my temp gauge goes up at idle. I'm pretty sure its an air bubble because when I roll on the gas it drops slowly. If I down add water or coolant it will progressively get worse. I see no coolajt leaks under my car after it sits all night. I need help or ill take it to a mechanic and that's a last resort

 

[DSM1G90]

Take the T-stat out and drill a .050 hole in the flange and have the hole at the 12:00 position. This hole helps prevent the "airlock" that is common with vertically mounted T-stats - why the temp rises at idle and goes down when you get on the gas.

..or, your WP is on it's way out and needs to be replaced. Is it leaking pass the pump shaft - why you should be using 50/50 coolant since the antifreeze is what lubes the pump shaft.

 

[dsmBear]

Thank you so much. My t stat that I put in already has a little flapper hole thing on it. So it needs to be angled a certain way? And no it seems it doesn't leak and coolant. I let it sit in my garage and it leaks nothing. When I turn it off after driving around, it spits coolant into the coolant tank and boils. When it overheats it spits out of the relief valve. And all I use is 50/50 coolant antifreeze. If you think its the waterpump ill get it done. I wanna do it myself though so if you have any pointers I could use some . I've done a t belt on a diamante but I'm sure its different on my gst :S

 

[talon3394]

Did you overheat the car when the old thermostat went bad? Does the car smoke at all at idle or under boost?

 

[dsmBear]

No I changed the thermostat immediately after seeing the temp gaige rise. It fixed it for the most part. But before changing the thermostat I changed the radiator cap. The new thermpstat has a little flapper hole thing on it. I just slapped it in there added coolant/antifreeze and was good for a while. On my was home from work today it started overheating right once I got close to home. And I just refilled the system last night.. like wtf .

 

[Mischif]

Thank you so much. My t stat that I put in already has a little flapper hole thing on it. So it needs to be angled a certain way? And no it seems it doesn't leak and coolant. I let it sit in my garage and it leaks nothing. When I turn it off after driving around, it spits coolant into the coolant tank and boils. When it overheats it spits out of the relief valve. And all I use is 50/50 coolant antifreeze. If you think its the waterpump ill get it done. I wanna do it myself though so if you have any pointers I could use some . I've done a t belt on a diamante but I'm sure its different on my gst :S

Your cap could possibly be bad. I know you said you put a new one on but those ones from the parts store generally suck most the time. That or where the rubber part of the cap sits against in the filling neck is dirty and not allowing it to make a good enough seal.

 

[DSM1G90]

it spits coolant into the coolant tank and boils

Dang, hope you don't have a crack in the head gasket that's causing your overheating....

True, take some emory cloth and smooth off both gasket mating surfaces in the fill neck so the gaskets in the cap can ensure a tight seal. The rubber in the old caps will break down and adhere itself to the fill neck surfaces along with coolant corrosion that accumulates around there.


Before we get too crazy, have you done a total system flush? Take the radiator hoses completely off, shove a garden hose in the radiator and flush out the radiator to rid of the gunk and crud that settles in the lower part of the radiator. With the hoses off, shove that hose in the coolant fill neck and flush out the block and heater core - where you got clear water coming out as it's going in.

Put it all back together, fill with the 50/50 mix and see what happens.

Good luck - DSM

 

[TurboLaserRS]

If you really were running that high of a temp, your cylinder head could be roasted like a turkey. Except not golden and delicious. I would definitely be getting that checked for warpage. It could be leaking on the backside of the motor under the intake manifold where you can't really see.

You might also check your heater core lines. I had a mystery leak on my Laser where the return line runs from the firewall back to the thermostat housing. The clamp had worn through the line over the years.

 

[dsmBear]

I could live with that. I don't want a blown head gasket though is it true that the hole on the thermostat needs to be at the top? I just adjusted it and now I'm bleeding the air out of the system.

 

[dsmBear]

Your cap could possibly be bad. I know you said you put a new one on but those ones from the parts store generally suck most the time. That or where the rubber part of the cap sits against in the filling neck is dirty and not allowing it to make a good enough seal.

Your right I pulled off the cap and it was dirty as shit. I just flushed out the whole system and added all new antifreeze/coolant. And I'm working on bleeding the air out. Any recommendation for what cap?

 

[TurboLaserRS]

I just got a cheap $4.99 cap from Autozone. It hasn't let me down yet.
I've never heard about positioning any hole a certain direction with the thermostat. I plopped mine in, and screwed down the top part of the housing and that was it. Never paid any special attention to it, and it's never given me problems. I also never *had* to bleed my cooling system. Car has never overheated. I'm pretty sure that if the 2g is even remotely similar to the 1g you shouldn't have to.

My friend once convinced me that I need to bleed the system by taking the cap off and running the car for awhile to let the bubbles out. Car had been run earlier in the day. I started it up with the cap off and went around the corner behind the barn. I come back and the car looks like the old faithful antifreeze geyser.

 

[M4s73r]

Hey, Thanks for the little tip on the thermostat. Never thought about throwing in a little air bleed off hole. Next time I change out my thermo im going to have to do that.

 

[DSM1G90]

I learned that trick moons ago working on the Chrysler "K" cars with their huge problems of "airlock" - by drilling that .050 hole in the flange (they had vertically mounted T-stats-why I have the hole at 12:00. No, it's not an official requirement, but figured that the airlock is at the highest in the chamber, so why not get the hole up there to really eliminate the airlock issue) and that really took care of the 'airlock' problem.

..and no more "leaving the cap off and letting bubbles out" trick. This took care of that, but check the level when it cools down.

Last year, my father's Chev S-10 with the 4.3 V6 was having overheating problems and I did the same task as mentioned above .. along with putting that "peehole" in the T-stat flange. Cured that problem real quick and has been going great since.

I still do it when doing T-stats that don't have the jiggle valve .. and still no "air lock" issues.

-DSM