So I havent driven my car in a while an I dont remember what normal operating conditions are for the water temperature gauge. I think I remember it staying pretty steady just to the left of the centerline or on the "cold" side.

Now, when driving up hills it gets as far as the second further to the right; the one next to the H marker. Is this normal? What could it be? Coolant levels appear to be fine... and the temperature regulates itself such that it goes back to the left side under light loads.

TIA
gary

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gary201147 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So I havent driven my car in a while an I dont remember what normal operating conditions are for the water temperature gauge. I think I remember it staying pretty steady just to the left of the centerline or on the "cold" side.

Now, when driving up hills it gets as far as the second further to the right; the one next to the H marker. Is this normal? What could it be? Coolant levels appear to be fine... and the temperature regulates itself such that it goes back to the left side under light loads.

TIA
gary</TD></TR></TABLE>

you don't want to be driving your car like that, you'll end up damaging someting easy. how many miles on radiator? make sure fans are working, you still got both fans? right?

 

Haha the second I roll into AZ I'm 15 minutes from home and watching my temp gauge climb like an F-15 on full afterburner. Apparently the last time I bled the radiator I didnt get all the air out and as the air expanded from all the heat it kept pusing the coolant into the overflow container (actually over-flowing the over-flow , a few guys witnessed this at Expo). I was down nearly a gallon of coolant in the radiator!

Id also check the thermostat, and re-bleeding the system.

 

I agree with the posts above. Make sure fans come on and coolant is full and bled.

 

So coolant seems fine but I noticed the fans arent operating correctly. Even when Im several clicks beyond the halfway marker, the fans are still not running.

However, I know the fans are operable because they work when I turn the AC on. I also dont think the thermostat is the problem because temperature is still, although poorly, regulated; once it gets hot, it does EVENTUALLY return to normal. I also changed out the cooling fan relay, no difference.

So...two questions:

1. What is the regulated "reference" temperature the engine is supposed to run at; that is, where should the computer try to keep the engine gauge; where is your temperature gauge at?

2. I've attempted to narrow down the problem to two sensors. Now the terminology is ambiguous so dont quote me on the exact terms. But according to Autozone, I have a "coolant temperature sensor" and an "engine temperature sensor." The former apparently attaches to the radiator and the latter attaches to the block. Any idea which one I should be looking at? I forgot my manual back at home; can someone post figures from the manual regarding cooling?

Thanks again,
Gary

 

You may even want to change coolant. And make shure its bled good

 

I assume the bleed/flush is to check for air trapped in the system but I noticed that even after heavy load and high engine temperatures, I still dont experience any coolant overflow; so i guess i'm ruling that out.

I did smell and see indications that coolant was being burned/vaporized after lots of driving. I'm starting to question if its the thermostat or the water pump.

Question: When not properly functioning, will either of these cause the car to overheat uncontrollably; that is, if they werent working properly, I would see the car continue to overheat until I shut off the engine correct?

Gary

 

Kind of on topic here... I have a temp gun and went out to the middle of the street I lived on. Waist high 133 degrees, knee high 141 degrees, and inch from the ground 157 degrees... Ridiculous.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gary201147 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So coolant seems fine but I noticed the fans arent operating correctly. Even when Im several clicks beyond the halfway marker, the fans are still not running.

However, I know the fans are operable because they work when I turn the AC on. I also dont think the thermostat is the problem because temperature is still, although poorly, regulated; once it gets hot, it does EVENTUALLY return to normal. I also changed out the cooling fan relay, no difference.

So...two questions:

1. What is the regulated "reference" temperature the engine is supposed to run at; that is, where should the computer try to keep the engine gauge; where is your temperature gauge at?

2. I've attempted to narrow down the problem to two sensors. Now the terminology is ambiguous so dont quote me on the exact terms. But according to Autozone, I have a "coolant temperature sensor" and an "engine temperature sensor." The former apparently attaches to the radiator and the latter attaches to the block. Any idea which one I should be looking at? I forgot my manual back at home; can someone post figures from the manual regarding cooling?

Thanks again,
Gary

</TD></TR></TABLE>

sounds like an issue w/ your cooling fan switch. it's a brown sensor that screws in near the thermostat. when the sensor gets hot enough it turns the cooling fans on. to bypass this you can unplug the sensor and use a paper clip to "jump" it. cooling fans should come on. if it works it's either a bad sensor or possible corrosion on the plug not allowing a good connection.

 

Thanks ******* but still two questions:

1) When i get on the freeway, my fans should be more or less off, but the temperature gauge still reads a very high value. Tell me I'm wrong but doesnt this indicate my problem involves more than the fans?

2) Fan comes on, just not at the right temperature. Does this have to do with the switch? Is there something in the switch that could cause the fans to come on late?

thanks errbody

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KOALA YUMMIES &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Haha the second I roll into AZ I'm 15 minutes from home and watching my temp gauge climb like an F-15 on full afterburner. Apparently the last time I bled the radiator I didnt get all the air out and as the air expanded from all the heat it kept pusing the coolant into the overflow container (actually over-flowing the over-flow , a few guys witnessed this at Expo). I was down nearly a gallon of coolant in the radiator!

Id also check the thermostat, and re-bleeding the system. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gary201147 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks ******* but still two questions:

1) When i get on the freeway, my fans should be more or less off, but the temperature gauge still reads a very high value. Tell me I'm wrong but doesnt this indicate my problem involves more than the fans?

2) Fan comes on, just not at the right temperature. Does this have to do with the switch? Is there something in the switch that could cause the fans to come on late?

thanks errbody</TD></TR></TABLE>

is your thermostat opening up? feel the lower radiator hose. just before the temp gets to the halfway mark the thermostat should open up and the lower hose should get very hot. also possible you could have air in your cooling system. how high does the temp gauge get before the fans kick on?

 

Temp gauge gets to the third marker after the halfway point before fans kick on and promptly shut down when the engine gets cooler than that.

I'll try the hose and get back to you. Thanks bud.

 

When thermostats go bad, they normally remain open all the time. At WOT at highway speeds you will see your temps decrease,

Your fans come on so that tells me that the thermoswitch is doing its job.

So that brings us down to 2 possible things IMO. Faulty water pump or radiator.

EDIT: Normally when a water pump goes bad it begins leaking. However, I have only seen this once but I was involved in swapping out a water pump that sheared it blades off somehow.

 

Also, make sure all your wires and connectors leading to your fans are hooked up and working properly. I almost burnt up on the Parade lap at Expo due to a loose fan wire.

 

like i said, the fans come on but they CERTAINLY dont come on at the right time. So for me, that rules out a dead fan motor and dead fan connections. fan switch may still be suspect though.

no leaky on the water pump but i can definitely "smell" the coolant after a long drive. so is there any visual indication that thermostat isnt working? if its open all the time then *******'s suggestion about a hot lower radiator hose is moot?

Gary

 

You are probably smelling coolant because it is hotter than normal. You can check the leaky w/p by removing the upper cam cover and looking down at the lower timing belt gear (crank).

If no leaking, you can try and start the car and once up to operating temps, the thermostat will open. You can try and squeeze the lower radiator hose to see if there is pressure, but that is not always a good way to tell.

For now I would not be so concerned about the timing of the fans kicking on.

 

thermostat and flush did the trick. fan now comes on at the appropriate time too. not exactly sure why it was coming on late with the broken thermostat...reading temperatures from the "cooler" coolant maybe?

 

SO it was the flush. As I mentioned, thermostats are open all the time when they go bad. Glad you fixed your problem.

As far as the fans... maybe they were coming on at the appropriate time but your car was overheating so rapidly that it appeared they were coming on too late??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Comp97GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">SO it was the flush. As I mentioned, thermostats are open all the time when they go bad. Glad you fixed your problem.

As far as the fans... maybe they were coming on at the appropriate time but your car was overheating so rapidly that it appeared they were coming on too late?? </TD></TR></TABLE>

if the thermostat was stuck open wouldn't it NOT overheat and run on the cool side since coolant would constantly be flowing from the engine to the radiator? sounds more like it was either sticking closed and opening up late or there was air in the cooling system.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ******* &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

if the thermostat was stuck open wouldn't it NOT overheat and run on the cool side since coolant would constantly be flowing from the engine to the radiator? sounds more like it was either sticking closed and opening up late or there was air in the cooling system.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not to argue, but when a thermostat fails (goes bad), it will remain open constantly rather than remain closed constantly.


I know what you mean by the sticking closed comment, but I have neglected the cooling system in my GSR and the condition of the cooling system remained in good shape.... ie, no corrosion to cause a sticking thermostat.

IMO the OP needed to flush the air from his cooling system. FTW


Modified by Comp97GSR at 5:14 PM 7/9/2007