Recently it has been very hot and while I've been tuning my car I've noticed that my ECT can get as high as 211 degrees, but it doesn't rise any higher. It will stay at 211 for a while.

On a normal temperature day, it only climbs to about 201-205 and only at idle. Once I start driving, it will cool back down to 190-195.

Is this too hot? At what point should I be worried?

 

You're fine.

 

What type of fluid are you running in your cooling system? Is it a coolant (Ethylene glycol) mix or just straight water? Ether way just keep an eye out for any loss of coolant from possible boiling.

 

Thanks. I am keeping an eye on my coolant. I had a fan for a while that couldn't do the job and an untuned high-comp motor and it was always overheating so I'm kind of paranoid. Now I have a tuned low-comp motor with a Ford electric 40A fan but I still worry.

Anyone know how hot is too hot? 220? 230?

 

Not enough air flow, poorly flowing fan

 

Yeah I wouldnt worry TOO much, but yes your coolant system isnt being efficient...

If it was setup (the system) like it should be, you should still be able to get your water temps down to exactly where your thermostat opens...which is 180-190 all the time.

 

Thanks, my fan works great, but I don't have a shroud on it right now. I should fab one up. Could running a VTEC water pump result in slightly higher temps at idle?

 

Is it a new radiator or an old one? There could be crap in the radiator that's restricting the water flow.

 

It's an aftermarket aluminum civic (half width but it's deep) radiator in a '94 Integra. It has been checked by a shop in the last year while it was being repaired and was completely clear.

 

Well moving to a full width radiator would definitely help. I think they also make dual core ones that would help also. You have to remember that you're essentially halving the cooling ability of the engine so of course ECTs are going to go up a bit.

 

**** all the newer GM cars run 210-215. Hell the fans arent even triggered to come on til 215.

 

And Formula 1 cars don't have fans on their radiators. That doesn't mean the OP should remove them from his car. Each car is different.

 

who said anything about formula 1?

 

You brought up a completely different, unrelated vehicle so I did the same.

 

actually, you brought up a completely out of this world setup compared to the everyday street car.

lets not try to be the smart ***. I brought up a point that if GM aluminum block/head engines can handle it everyday, so can a honda.

if that hurt your feelings of being a "smart" guy on honda-intertech. i am so sorry.

 

Which is most likely false. The engines share nothing in common and were most likely built and calibrated for different operating temperatures. Some engines are designed to run higher coolant temperatures to increase efficiency and some are designed to run cooler. Just because one motor runs at one coolant temp doesn't mean that all other similar motors are capable.

Additionally, F1 engines are aluminum block/head engines.

 

could your fan be wired wrong

i had to fix the wiring on my friend GF car cause it was rotating backwards, it gave me a brain fart cause i was looking at it and knew sumthing was wrong but couldn't put my fingure on it

 

A full width radiator would help, but this still points to another problem IMHO. The radiator is only half width, but twice as deep. I was also under the impression that the aluminum radiator would cool better than factory.

I'm still not completely convinced where my problem is, but my temp doesn't rise any higher even with the A/C on.

 

check your thermostat,kink in hoses, and are you running the factory fan or aftermarket,is the plug going to the fan cut or modified

my friend car was doing exactly the same thing until i rewired the fan to turn properly, they are dc fans and if you mix up the polaritys it goes backwards

is the fan swicth coming on at the right temp if not change it

just read ford fan well check and make sure the air is being pulled thru the rad jump the fan swicth for a sec and see which way it is turning or else you could be blown hot exhaust air into the rad and when the car stats to move the air pressure counteracts the fan and pushes cool air thru just check and make sure

 

The fan is wired properly and has plenty of power. Maybe I should check / replace the thermostat. I want to say it's been replaced in the last 2 years, but hey, who knows?

The fan switch would never cut the fan on so I used a Crome plugin to make it come on based on ECT temp. It comes on around 175-180 degrees. I would recommend everyone to do this because I've never had a fan switch that worked.

 

im sure its wired properly but it dont hurt to check to make sure