Question about water temps [Merged 5-8] temperature coolant running

[dsmtrance]

What is considered getting too hot? I have heard diff. #'s. I ask b/c I noticed that my car got up to 212 at idle last night after a few hard runs (check out my other posts for more info on my car's rebirth!!!). At a "start-up" idle it'll stay between 194-197 though. FYI, I have a 16psi rad cap, 180 deg. therm, 12" 1400cfm rad fan, and a Fluidyne rad. I'm just wondering what would cause it to run hotter at idle like that (didn't before with the RRE kit....has the IRC street kit now). Any ideas???

 

[BGRIPTP]

Lol, you lucky sob.

 

[Talontsi150]

Best believe i've had my share of overheating. It was so bad to were Every pass I made at the speedway, I had to put 1 gallon of water back in the radiator.. My head was crack in 3 places, car never blew out white smoke either. It just burn up all the radiator water.. But now with this new Head, Radiator and Thermostat. Its holding steady @ 178 curzin, and it makes it to 185 in stop and go traffic, but once the fans come on it drops to 180 and hold until the fans go off or traffic starts to flow...

 

[BISHILVR]

I dont run a stat and mine will run decently cool on the open road too, until you get in town that is. Seems to run just fine this way since i dont run it in winter anyway.

 

[Defiant]

I went to Napa and they gave me a Stainless Steel thermostat 180 temp, life time warranty. I have never seen a thermostat made so well. Napa also assure me that it will never rust!!.

The brass ones don't have much trouble with rust, either.

 

[tsitalon03]

Can someone quickly fill me in on the engine temperatures of a 2g.

Normal:
Hot:
DANGER:

 

[Apeximprt2nr]

Normal: 180*- 205*
Warm (I wouldn't say Hot): 206*- 224*
Hot: 225* +

206* The car will pull 1* of timing.
224* The Car will pull 2* of timing.

 

[LRS95TSI]

i installed a new pte turbo and had to get rid of the stock passenger side fan and replace it with a slimline. currently i am running a slim line on the passenger side and no fan on the drivers side. during cruise i see coolant temps as low as 165 and at idle around 217. the slimline fan, when running, pushes air onto the motor. should it be throwing air into the engine pay or taking it out (blowing it through the radiator)? as far as the coolant temps being high, i am assuming i need to install another slim line on the drivers side to help with cooling.

 

[hun6over]

The radiator fan should be sucking air from the radiator and blowing it towards the engine. If you think about it, when the car is in motion, air will come flowing in through the radiator towards the engine so if the fan is blowing outwards then the passing air would force the fan to spin in the opposite direction which isnt good.

Its pretty obvious that you need another fan. My car for example, will overheat if only 1 of the 2 fans is running.

 

[LRS95TSI]

yea i had read in other threads that both fans should throw air onto the motor to follow the wind direction as you drive, but i wanted to confirm , mainly because i was skeptical about my wiring on the passenger side.

still like to hear input for low coolant temps, it's kind of odd because it causes my car to idle at 850 because it think it needs to warm up.

 

[GS-T_Newboost]

if you have clearance issues then you could install slimfans on the front side of the radiator

 

[ShadeTreeDSM]

it happens each time i drive the car somewhere, it'll start to get above 220* and will keep rising. i shut the car off while im driving and wait about 10 seconds then turn it back on, all the sudden water temps immediately drops to 180* and stays there until the next time i drive it later on in the day. its not the thermostat, i just put a brand new 180* in there (verifying it's not a dud i checked the radiator hoses to make sure both lower & upper arm hot at normal operating temps) also have a new radiator cap, water pump is good, 155psi across all for cylinders, cooling fans work. also the overflow sometimes
pushes coolant out but thats not my problem.

there's got to be some reasonable explanation for all of this and im not seeing it, what could this be ?

 

[jessesgsx]

How long had this been happening. Maybe it’s just an air pocket. I had similar problem in a mustang I had. I ended up draining the coolant, and refilling it with the engine running.

 

[Jetrosr]

Are you using a manual gauge or the factory (in dash) one? (Best to see the temp the ECU is receiving, if possible) Also if you've recently had the cooling system open (repairs) you could have an air bubble.

 

[Pursuit]

it happens each time i drive the car somewhere, it'll start to get above 220* and will keep rising. i shut the car off while im driving and wait about 10 seconds then turn it back on, all the sudden water temps immediately drops to 180* and stays there until the next time i drive it later on in the day. its not the thermostat, i just put a brand new 180* in there (verifying it's not a dud i checked the radiator hoses to make sure both lower & upper arm hot at normal operating temps) also have a new radiator cap, water pump is good, 155psi across all for cylinders, cooling fans work. also the overflow sometimes
pushes coolant out but thats not my problem.

there's got to be some reasonable explanation for all of this and im not seeing it, what could this be ?

BAD HEAD GASKET that's your problem.
I have the same problem with blown headgasket with out white smoke.

 

[97 gst turbooo]

i had air in my system easy fix. Start the car and open the radiator cap, let the engine heat up to temp, add coolant so that is runs throughtout the engine and purges it self out, turn heat on full blast to cycle the coolant throughtout the coil and hoses to elimnate all chances of air. I did this for about 15 mins of letting the engine run with the heat on to purge all the air. Hope it solves your problem.

 

[tqmx1]

Man that sounds more like a guage malfunction. Fire it up let it come up to temp (with the cooling system closed) put your hand on the upper hose, when the engine gets up to temp the upper hose will get warm (and fast!) Next step keep it running and check when the right fan comes on. from that point on the fan should cycle.(from the time the thermostat opens to the time the fans start should be 5min or less)

If all that is working and your gauge is showing somthing other than normal you guage is not right.

If the cooling system starts to make werd noises or starts spitting coolant somthing else is going on and it ain't good.

 

[skeeter4200]

I would try new temp sending unit cause thats what it sounds like to me , just my 2cents

 

[Defiant]

Well, just to add to the mass of guesses, I'd throw in a factory spec thermostat. Your "test" does nothing to verify your isn't hanging up.

 

[ShadeTreeDSM]

its not the thermostat, it does it without a thermostat too, no thermostat = no air pockets. not the gauge either, i have an autometer mechanical temp gauge, so thats not going to lie, its brand new.

 

[drewvr4]

the easiest way to check if its a head gasket is try to find one of the Snap-On trucks rolling around town, or go to a shop that you know Snap-On goes to as I think they are the only one that makes this.

Basically you take a sample of coolant with their little clear dooohiggy and add some of their special liquid, if it turns a certain color then you have enough exhaust gas in your coolant to justify a head gasket.

When it gets hot take a pocketlogger if you have one, or go to a local shop and have them hook either the big red brick up or whatever diagnostic machine they have and see what the ECU is reading.

 

[Jetrosr]

There is a tool that fits where the rad cap goes that will check for a combustion leak that anyone shop worth its salt will have. You can also pull the plugs and look for white buildup around the electrodes. The ceramic on the plugs should be a light tan if your fuel mix is on target. One or two that look different would be cause for further investigation.

 

[ShadeTreeDSM]

BAD HEAD GASKET that's your problem.
I have the same problem with blown headgasket with out white smoke.

i dont have white smoke, no oil in coolant, if it was a head gasket problem my car should be getting hotter, no maintain temps of 180*-190* after i shut it off

 

[ShadeTreeDSM]

There is a tool that fits where the rad cap goes that will check for a combustion leak that anyone shop worth its salt will have. You can also pull the plugs and look for white buildup around the electrodes. The ceramic on the plugs should be a light tan if your fuel mix is on target. One or two that look different would be cause for further investigation.

my motor has 4000miles on it, car still isnt tuned yet, but my plugs do look good, no white build up, black/tanish, i am running a little rich, but im getting it tuned in 3 weeks

 

[Jetrosr]

A combustion leak won't always be burning coolant, as it may only leak compression into the cooling system, cylinder pressure is WAY higher than cooling system pressure.

 

[Jetrosr]

Sorry, overlapped posts. Has this been consistent since this engine build, or something that just developed? Your profile says you're a mech. Try compression test with your cooling system pressure tester installed. If you have a compression leak the gauge will spike or jump around. Does it ever overheat/boil over? Any signs of preignition or other overheating symptoms? Or do you shut down before it gets to that point?

Just to clarify, starts getting hot on a cold start, 10 sec shutdown, then drive as long as you want @ 180F? Repeats on next cold start? Will do it if it you just idle it, or only when you drive it?

Just curious how driveable these things are with heavy mods? All of my expirience is with small block V8's, once you pass a certain point, they're not practical to drive every day. Mine is bone stock and not running, but I'd like to build a little sleeper out of it.