Thread: 04 gtp runs really hot, normal or something wrong?

Hey everyone so I'm still worried that my gtp has some type of issue that I can't figure out, it runs super hot , not quite over heating but often a tick or two above middle on the temp gauge, and trans temps getting to 220 after 50 miles of driving..is this normal for this make and year model? Or should they all be similar? Someone on here told me they drive around in ambient temperature similarly to me, and there gauge stays below halfway, so that makes me think something is going on with mine? I've recently replaced almost every part of the cooling system except heater core, done tons of flushes , new LIM gasket. Almost seems to run slightly hotter now than before all the work. Any ideas here? Thought about intercooler but not sure it's worth it at this point, 150k miles.

1) Make sure the thermostat is opening at the correct temperature.

2) I assume you have filled appropriate coolant amount and bleed air out of the system.

3) Make sure your radiator fans are coming on at the right time/temp. Do you feel hot air being pulled through the
radiator when the car is up to temp. and the fans are "ON"?

4) make sure you have good coolant flow in the radiator, sometimes water pump impellers wear out
due to neglect of the coolant and it no longer adequately pumps the water, or thermostat is stuck shut.

5) verify you have heat exchange from the water to the air, when car is up to temp., and the fans are "ON",
the top hose will feel hot (should be about 195-210 degrees depending on thermostat), and the bottom hose
going into the water pump should feel cooler (to the touch). Get something to measure the temp of the hoses
(top and bottom) and compare the difference, should be around 30 -50 degrees difference, the larger the difference,
the better. If your radiator is working properly, you will be able to feel the difference in temp just by touching them.
Best thing to do is get a little hand held thermal infrared temp gun, they are not expensive, and are great tools
for diagnosing all kinds of problems.

Hope this helps!

Hey quicksilver thanks for your reply always appreciate you being one of the only to try and help me out with this..

I believe the thermostat is opening correct, it's new and I've pulled it out and dropped in boiling water to watch it open, and I can feel the upper hose gets hotter when I believe it to open.

Also pretty sure I've filled it to the correct amount of coolant, up to the cold marks on my reservoir, radiator full. And yes bleed the system few times didn't see any air bubbles.

Fans coming on about a notch above half way mark on my temp gauge, and drops slightly to half way or so once they come on.

Water pump is brand new as well, so think I have good flow there. Although I have bought the laser temp gun as someone else recommended a couple weeks ago, possibly you that told me to? Took a temp of upper and lower hoses and there is a difference in temp, about 20° at most though, not 30-50 like you mentioned here? So is that my problem? And if so, any idea why? Is the water pump not up to par? I did opt for a cheaper ac Delco version from rockAuto...maybe the fans weren't on when I took this reading, I will do another check with fans on and report back.
Also just noticed some water dripping from below my heater hose inlet/tensioner unit that has hoses running into it if that makes sense? I was running the heater on my drive home and noticed this. Continued to drip with engine off, is this normal?

1) There should be NO drip from the cooling system with the engine on or off, ever. Although if you run with the a/c there will be water (condensation) dripping from the evaporator drain tube, which is normal.
You might need some maintenance on the coolant elbows, it is pretty common on the 3800 for coolant elbows to give trouble.

2) 20 degree difference between the top and bottom radiator hoses is no enough change in temperature for an efficient cooling system. Do this check with the engine running, fully warmed up,
and the fans "ON", idle in park. I just double checked mine this afternoon for a comparison, (2000 GTP), measuring the thermostat housing I get around 195-197 degrees, and for the lower I check
the lower hose inlet on the timing cover (metal part) not the rubber hose, and it is around 160-165 degrees, this is in the FL heat (mid 90's degree) with the a/c ON, I do have a brand new a/c condenser
and a new radiator so they work very well even in the summer in FL.
Since you report only about a 20 degree difference between the hot and cold side of your radiator, I would start to investigate why the heat exchange efficiency is low. Is there adequate airflow from in
the front of the car throught your a/c condenser and radiator? If you do have adequate airflow, then it is possible the radiator is partially clogged on the inside and there is not enough surface area to
extract the required amount of heat from the water for proper efficiency, (clogged).

Hope this helps!