wyzard

Good morning.

As I'm new to the Corvette world, I'm trying to get myself as much information about my "new" Vette as I can.

What is the normal coolant temperature when running?

Thanks.

kalister1

200f

runner140*

C-4's and LT-1's run on the warm/hot side. 200 to 210 is considered normal depending on ambient temps, speed and traffic.

jett40

i do know per the manual is the primary coolant fan on the driver side go's on at 226 deg. and turns off when the temp go's down 5 deg.
i am assuming that normal temp is going to be around there. i to just purchased a 1993 vette and found that the fans where not working when it reached the 226 temp so per the manual it says if you gages are showing this temp and the fans do not go on than it is the engine temp sensor on the front of the water pump, i know it wasnt the fan itself because when you run the air conditioning the fan turns on. get the manuals for the car they are very helpful for diagnoising problems, will help you save some cash and answer all your questions about the car

vette's are cool

john

RollaMo-LT4

If not moving (sitting still at a stop light): 205 F. - 230 F.

Moving at speed over 40mph: 190 F. - 200 F.

The reason they get warm while not moving is because the electric cooling fan does not come on until approx. 227 F. (varies by model year).

In a modern pressurized cooling system with the proper ratio of coolant and water, the fluid won't boil until approx. 260 F.
So, temps. in the 200 F. 230 F. are safe.
GM states to shut the car off at 260 F. to prevent engine damage.

Now, if your seeing temps over 210 F. while moving down the highway then you have some obstruction in somewhere.
These cars tend to suck up all kinds of stuff off the road, and it's not uncommon to have the radiator fins get clogged up with dirt and debris.

Larry/car

I check my 1995 radiator often. I found a plastic bag once. Don't know where that came from.

soldierboy609

My 94 "normally" runs around 200, but it started running way to hot all of a sudden--I found a plastic bag against my rad too.

jaa1992

My 92 was running 240 - 260 when I got it - not normal temps
Flushed the coolant and cleaned loose debris from between rad and condenser - 220 - 240
Normal, but those 260 road course temps were disconcerting.
Put in a dewitts radiator and fixed a fan problem - 180 - 200 (even in heavy traffic or a 30 min session on a road course I can't get it over 200)

enventr

are those new temps with a 160 stat?-My 95 runs 200 with a dewitt and 180 stat

CStewTAMU

My cooling system is stock except for a 160 tstat.

Overview of the LT1 cooling system-things you should know:

1.) You have an analog gauge and a digital gauge. Those readings are from 2 different sensors. The digital readout is coming from the water pump right before the coolant enters the engine. The analog readout is from inside the block and will usually be a few degrees higher. Most people tend to refer to the digital readout when posting. Also, the LT1 is reverse cooling...so the coolant enters the heads first, then down into the block. The opposite of pretty much all cars. Allows for higher compression ratios.

2.) You have probably noticed the temp gauge moves around a little bit depending on your driving conditions. That's normal. Most car's have nothing more than a glorified idiot light for a temp gauge. Most cars you have probably driven, the needle on the gauge moves to the middle once the car is warmed up and doesn't move. That is because that gauge isn't linear. The middle hash mark on the temp gauge in most cars represents a wide range of temeratures...possibly 160 to 230 degrees for example. So as long as the temps are in that range, the needle wont move much if at all. I assure you, all cars temps fluctuate during various driving conditions.

3.) Probably the 2 reasons most LT1's run hotter than most would like is either the electric cooling fans are not working properly or the radiator is clogged externally and/or internally.

The fans should both run anytime your run your AC system. If the AC system is off, they should turn on at about 228 for the primary fan, and 238 for the secondary fan. I am not exactly sure if those are the exact temps, but they're within a degree or two.

If your fans are working then the radiator is probably clogged. The only way to effectively clean it is to remove it and run a power washer through the fins. Grass, leaves, etc. tend to get stuck in the fins since the LT1 is almost like a vaccum cleaner.

Also, the tubes (internal) could be clogged. Take it to a rad shop and they can pop off one of the side tanks and run a bar through each tube. My 94's were about half clogged. the radiator was only running at about 50% efficientcy or less. My running temps at highway speeds were usually okay, but it would get hot in a hurry in traffic. Also, if the car got hot, it usually was VERY slow at cooling down even after speeding up to highways speeds. That's a sign the radiator needs to be thoroghly cleaned.


And to answer your question as to what is "normal"? I would say a fully warmed up engine should be anywhere from 170-200 under most driving conditions. Idling in traffic or in racing/autocrossing, temps as high as 225-230 are not uncommon. The key is that the temps should drop quickly if you speed up to a cruising highway speed after that. If your car gets hot, and cruising at highways speeds doesn cool it down to about 200 or less pretty quickly, you have a cooling problem probably like what I listed above with the fans or dirty radiator.

That's my 2 cents.

jimyz

I sent my pcm to pcm for less and had it re-programmed so that the fans would come on earlier(190) with a 160 t-stat. Now in traffic I never see temps past 190 and 180-185 on the highway. Cost around 175$ total