kopbet89c4

Just now I got back home and was a little concerned, especially with the oil temp being a little up there. Does this sound ok when you are driving spiritedly? I had to let some extra energy out on a nice "road course." Then I got stuck in traffic again on the way back and the car idled extensively, right after many WOT runs. After the long session of bumper to bumper traffic, I was smelling a slight coolant smell inside my car. Well, the 225 degree coolant temp was quite hotter than usual, and oil pressure was normal, but when the oil is 287 degrees, could it hurt the engine??? Since I'm home now, the car has already cooled down a bit and I checked the oil and coolant. They both look normal and the car starts just like it used to. The current oil I'm using is 10w-30 Mobil 1 synthetic since I made the switch back from the old synthetic 20w-50 I've been using. Should I be concerned getting the oil temp this hot?? :

vader86

If it stayed that high on the way back, then something could be up with the cooling system. I think you shouldve stopped and let it cool down because with temps staying consistently high youre asking for a head gasket problem.

But I have had temps run that high during a day of racing, and it wont hurt anything. M1 can handle it.

Nico

I may have that problem here in the south of Spain where it really can be very hot in Summer and I have to drive traffic and village most of the time. Therefore I made a variable temperature sensor for the Fan of my 84 that keeps it down in such situations. I did run 108 - 112 degr. C H2O, now I run 94 - 100. Did solve a few problems. The fan runs a little more though, but cooling has to come from somwhere, and it is better than blowing a gasket. You can find about it at the crossfire injection forum, in the section unknown problems.
Good luck

Casethecorvetteman

That is pretty high temps mate. If you had your heater on then the smell of coolant may have come from there.

kopbet89c4

Well, I was out again doing some errands and I noticed the coolant temp didn't even hit 200 degrees today. During stop and go traffic again, My coolant temps were 185 and the oil temp was 190 degrees. Fans seem to work normally as well as my 180 degree t-stat so hopefully I didn't hurt anything last night.

Could driving it hard last night cause the oil temp to be way up there??? So far, everything seems normal. :

Casethecorvetteman

Mate id think youd have to have been really flogging it hard to get it up there like that!!! But then im really not sure either, ive honestly never seen either my 87 or 94 get up to anything like that oil temp

mikey whipreck

The fan doesn't even come on till 225, and if you have an aux fan, that's not even programmed to come on till 238 (or is it 235?).
These engines were designed to run hot... you're fine

cv67

Run mine hard/extended idle to the same temps, no harm done.

c4cruiser

Those temps are a bit too high for the driving you described. What was the outside ambient air temps?? If they were in the 80-85 degree range, that may be reasonable but IMHO, that's still too hot.

I've done track days in my 87 where the air temps hit 100 and only saw those temps after 6 or 7 laps then they stayed there.

I would look for any restriction in the flow of air thru the radiator. Look up under the front plate where air goes into the radiator. It's important that as much air as possible goes thru the radiator and A/C condensor. You may also want to do a pressure test on the cooling systemto see if there is any leaks given the fact that you detected a coolant smell although this may hve simply been overflow back into the expansion tank.

Is the coolant level in the tank up to the proper level? It may be something as simple as an air bubble in the cooling system due to low coolant. Remove the radiator cap when the engine has cooled down and the level in the radiator should be high enough to slightly spill out when the cap is removed.

Getting garbage in front of the A/C condensor or radiator is common with C4's. Use a garden hose from the fan side of the radiator to flush out andy dirt or debris. Chances are you will find dirt, leaves, paper, and other trash there.

rick lambert

with c4cruiser-maybe you picked up someone elses garbage.
I wouldn't have been to concerned with water temps-except at
cruising-but the oil temps were up there. Check for debris.

vader86

it shouldve immediately come down with coolant temperature being 50F lower

but hard driving will run it that high, yes

kopbet89c4

Hosed down the rad and yes, there was actually quite a large amount of dirt there that made a darkish dirty puddle on my driveway. Its kinda like that thing was purposely rigged to suck road dirt. Should I put a nice wire screen there to prevent dirt from accumulating there? Or would this then again affect the cooling system? With my fan settings of 185 degrees on, 175 degrees off, its kinda hard to see 200 degrees, unless my fan last night just didn't feel like working.

Coolant and oil look and smell normal. I think the coolant overflow tank was the coolant odor that I was smelling. For some reason that smell always concerns me.

John's '07

I had a similar problem in my '01 tonight. I was stuck in traffic for a half hour or so and just happened to check my gages. My coolant temp was 227 and climbing and oil temp was at 210, transmission was around 200. It's a plesant evening, temps in the low 70s, and I've been driving at normal highway speeds. I made a U-turn, got out of the traffic and cruised down the highway. The temps began dropping immediately. How hot can you run those fluids without hurting the engine?

vader86

M1 doesnt begin to break down until 300F. If coolant ever gets over 260 then you're asking for a blown head gasket. Coolant is the one you have to watch in most everyday driving.

Those would be the strictest upper limits to me.

John's '07

Thanks, Vader. I was amazed at how quickly the temps increased in so short a time. Would the fans cool them down if I had continued to creep along in traffic? In other words, do you think it wouldn't have gotten any hotter? Would the AC fan help? I'm going to check coolant level tomorrow and check for debris, too. Thanks again.

rick lambert

hope you did more than just put a hose in there-plastic bags can get sucked right up against it and block it-remove the schrouding and check for sure.

larryfs

did an idiot light come on?
NO, of course not, the motors are designed to run like that.

If you run your motor hard, the oil temps will hit 300 degrees. at 300 oil temp, the idiot light comes on.

drive down the highway in 3rd gear, and what the oil temps climb, it's the RPM's that cause the oil temps to climb.

keep on pounding that motor, it'll run better and better each time !

kopbet89c4

287 degree oil temps really beat the crap out of the oil though right?? I'm surprised that since my synthetic oil is only 1500 miles old, it still looks pretty clean. If I ran regular dino oil this hot, would it be harmful?? Coolant at that temp would certainly kill something though!

vader86

Dino oil will break down starting at 250F, but M1 can handle these temps just fine. So theres no reason to change the oil after a track day, unless youre doing full road races, which take extended continuous times (half-hour->hour+). Autox is no big deal. I know some guys do it anyway though.

vader86

If this is an '01, you'd be better asking in the C5 areas. But if its anything like the C4 then the AC will cause a fan to come on, and that 'should' make them drop. Once the fans go off, then it'll go right back up.

If everything works properly (stat, fans, WP) then it shouldnt go much further than fan starting temperature.

Temps here are about the same as whats in FL right now, so while it will stay warm in traffic, it shouldnt skyrocket but will steadily rise to fan temp, but no further. In about 2 months, it could be a different story.