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idle temp

L

lifedeerhunter

New member
what temp should the car go when its idling in traffic? mine heats up til the fans kick on. i just had the lower intake gasket changed, the water pump got changed before i bought the car and the radiator doesn't act clogged to me. how can you tell if the radiator is clogged? can it be a EGR valve?
 


What does your temp gauge read? Fans kick on about 210f, and should keep the gauge around half way point. Totally normal idling in traffic. Egr has nothing to do with temps. If anything all it will do is make your car run a little warmer in cruise. Maybe you meant ECT sensor?
 
It's possible you might have some air still in the system, top off the rad and bleed it, see if you get any air out. Bleeder screw is on top of the tstat housing, crack it open when it's at operating temp a few times.
 
i replaced the temp sensor. yes it was heating up to 210 degrees to kick on the fans. i been checking see if the air is fully out. too me it shouldn't be doing that when i go the lower intake gaskets replaced. i am going see if there is more air in the system in the morning. i was sitting at road construction for 15 mins and it got hot idk why. it took forever to get it go up to 210 degrees.
 
Thats not really hot either, the low speed fan temp comes on at 212º. New cars run at 200-210 as a standard now, the warmer the engine, the better it can use the fuel.

If you were idling and barely moving in heavy traffic, it's going to heat up some. Some cars don't heat soak as bad as others, some cars have a better flowing radiator or whatever but if the low speed fans comes on and cools it down it's doing exactly what the vehicle is suppose to do.

If the car was getting even hotter and far past 210 on the gauge and all the way to 226 to trip the high speed fan while sitting in traffic, you'd then have a pretty big issue on hand.
 
ok so its normal. its my first car that uses electric fans. i am so used to the old fans that are always on and the temp never moves at all. my brother has a vibe and i never see the temp move and he has electric fans
 


A lot of cars are set to not move the temp gauge until it really starts climbing. I like that for the most part the gp gauge moves, easier to tell just what it's doing. You can always get an aftermarket temp gauge or a scan gauge and see what it's doing. If you are truly concerned over it.
 
I did the lim over the weekend & mine also is now idling around 210. I put a failsafe 193 in so Idk why it would be getting to 210. I thought I remembered it hovering around 195 before I did the gasket replacements.
 
dwhite832003 said:
I did the lim over the weekend & mine also is now idling around 210. I put a failsafe 193 in so Idk why it would be getting to 210. I thought I remembered it hovering around 195 before I did the gasket replacements.
Click to expand...

Simple = Air in your system, bleed it a few times.
 
dwhite832003 said:
I did the lim over the weekend & mine also is now idling around 210. I put a failsafe 193 in so Idk why it would be getting to 210. I thought I remembered it hovering around 195 before I did the gasket replacements.
Click to expand...

You were not paying as close attention before but because you just changed the LIM and Stat you are more easily alerted to something different that is why you are noticing it now. The thermostat temp is only the temperature that it opens at, not the temp it will keep the engine.

Think of it like this. You start your car and just sit and let it idle the car is completly cold so lets say it starts about 75* well the coolant is going to circulate within the engine until the thermostat temp is reached, then as it opens it allows coolant from the radiator to enter the engine as the temp starts to drop the stat closes again and some if you are sitting in traffic you won't have a lot of cooling going on at the radiator as well, so as the temp rises again the stat opens and allows already heated coolant into the engine and it takes less and less time for the coolant to heat up. Once you reach a point where the coolant is hotter than the stat temp then the engine temp will start to raise as well. This keeps going on as it circulates hotter and hotter coolant until the temp sensor triggers the fans to come on, at that time. The fans come on and cool the coolant down a little but it's still traveling through the radiator and will not cool it to ambient temp, because there is not enough time, but it does pull a good amount of heat from the coolant so you will slowly start to see it drop. If you are in bumper to bumper traffic in the south and you have a 195* or so thermostat your temps are going to hover around 210*.

Now on my 05' I have a 180* stat in it and it will run around 196-205 with the AC running if I am not running the AC the temp will climb to 221 (I know a lot of you think that the fan comes on at 210, but on 05+ this is not the case, it's closer to 220) as the fans kick on and bring it back to about 206-208, then the cycle repeats. We are done with days in the 70's down here until December or so, but I don't expect the temps to get any lower.


Jeff
 


I started ran it for 5 min then dropped it, refill with the cheapest oil I could find. Ran that for about 5 miles then did the oil that's going to stay for 3 thousand.
 
should have drained the oil before starting it if you think or know any coolant leaked inside the engine.

at this point if its running well and the dip stick comes out with just new clean oil on it, your fine.
 


i been opening the bleed valves every morning a drive it good and i still keep getting more air out of the system. should there be no air by now? there is no leaks anywhere to put air in the system. the good news my temps is actually getting better now. i cant believe how much air is still in the system.
 
should i open the cap and bleed the system the old way to get the air all out? i open the valves 10 times i think and air is still coming out
 
Can you rephrase that, it sounds as though you are opening the bleeder screw and then going for a drive.

Jeff
 
Opening it in the morning is not the way to do it. Do it when it is up to temp and hot not cold. Just crack the bleeder open and allow any air to escape then close it off. Don't leave it open, don't open it as it cools.

the way the system works is that the coolant will flow as described and any air will end up in the radiator. When the engine is hot fluid is not compressible so as the pressure rises the water expands and once the cap pressure is reached (16#'s) it will vent any air and coolant in the system into the overflow. As the system cools it will draw only fluid back into the system, since air will rise. I would leave the bleeder alone and just let it work itself out.

i just changed my thermostat, both knock sensors and drained all of the coolant, flushed the system out and drained it. Replaced all the parts and used a 180* thermostat filled the system back up and started it with the cap open and AC on (for the fans). I opened the bleeder screw a total of 0 times and have no entrained air in my system.

Jeff
 
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