How Hot is too Hot?
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 842
Likes: 4
From: Corpus Christi TX
St. Jude Donor '05
How Hot is too Hot?
My car runs consistantly at 230 to 235 degrees... Every so often... it will touch 238... but that is rare. I understand the LT1 is designed to run hotter than most.... What is the threshohold of being too hot for this engine? My car is a 1995 six-speed.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 62,171
Likes: 1,735
From: Athens AL
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
C4 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
Its going to be optimum at around 200-210 oil.
Hitting these hot temps consistently is not the best for the head gaskets, nor your peace of mind.
Hitting these hot temps consistently is not the best for the head gaskets, nor your peace of mind.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 40,156
Likes: 45
From: San Pedro CA
The fans are supposed to kick in at 228 or so.
Check the condition of the radiator and the area in the intake that brings air to the radiator. That area gets blocked by all sorts of crap. Also, drain and replace coolant and add a bottle of Redline Water Wetter.
Check the condition of the radiator and the area in the intake that brings air to the radiator. That area gets blocked by all sorts of crap. Also, drain and replace coolant and add a bottle of Redline Water Wetter.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,830
Likes: 1
From: atlanta Georgia
YOU CAN BUY A HYPERTECH... SO YOU CAN ADJUST WHEN THE FANS COME ON. MINE DID SAME THING AND NOW IT NEVER RUNS OVER 200!!!!! 
ALSO CHECK THERMOSTAT MAY NEED A NEW ONE. dang caps
when I let my engine sit for awhile the thermostat dried out and wouldnt open... best test for this... take out the thermostat and run without. and see if the temp goes down. if it does there is your prob.
a car doesnt need a thermostat. thermostats are jsut so the car isnt running too cool!
good luck
thanks alot
your friend
Sean
ALSO CHECK THERMOSTAT MAY NEED A NEW ONE. dang caps
when I let my engine sit for awhile the thermostat dried out and wouldnt open... best test for this... take out the thermostat and run without. and see if the temp goes down. if it does there is your prob.
a car doesnt need a thermostat. thermostats are jsut so the car isnt running too cool!
good luck
thanks alot
your friend
Sean
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by redbullapril23
a car doesnt need a thermostat. thermostats are jsut so the car isnt running too cool!
good luck
thanks alot
your friend
Sean
good luck
thanks alot
your friend
Sean
RACE ON!!!
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 842
Likes: 4
From: Corpus Christi TX
St. Jude Donor '05
Originally Posted by vader86
Its going to be optimum at around 200-210 oil.
Hitting these hot temps consistently is not the best for the head gaskets, nor your peace of mind.
Hitting these hot temps consistently is not the best for the head gaskets, nor your peace of mind.
Sorry... Those are coolant temps.. not oil temps.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 62,171
Likes: 1,735
From: Athens AL
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
C4 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
I know they are coolant temps, oil would be optimum at 200-210, coolant typically runs 10-15F below that at optimum. Thats what you asked for.
Anything more is unnecessary.
Anything more is unnecessary.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 5,727
Likes: 47
From: Waukesha WI
St. Jude Donor '15
Originally Posted by CFI-EFI
Thermostats are to get the engine up to a proper, efficient, operating temperature, within a reasonable time. Delayed warm ups waste gasoline and increase wear and tear on the engine. A C4 with no stat or too cool a stat won't run any cooler than with a properly working stock, or close in temp, stat.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
I still think running with no thermostat is dumb and nothing more than a band-aid for a deeper problem. My excuse: it was summer and I thought the gauge was broken (like my tach that is off by a few K). I was in for a shocker when winter came and I had no heat. -20F for 5hrs in the car is no fun at all.
Edit: I should mention that the gauge actually works fine.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
A failed, open, thermostat is very similar to no stat. No stat will allow coolant to circulate more quickly than an open stat. Was this on a C4? If so, there must be more to the story. I can't imagine a C4 running that cold for very long. Your engine didn't even get hot enough to go into closed loop. There HAS to be an explanation.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,830
Likes: 1
From: atlanta Georgia
Im not saying to leave the thermostat out!
Im saying that maybe its a problem thats an easy fix.
take out the thermo run it noramally once so it gets up to regular op temp. and if it runs cooler than its been running aka less than 230... then theres your prob. thats what I did. it went down to 210. then i purchased a new thermostat. problem fixed.
I agree i wouldnt run w/o a thermo stat. I jsut ran my once. and it showed me that my thermo was bad aka too old and had dried out.
your friend
Sean
sorry for the confusion. I was just trying to say he could still run it once to test it with out the thermo.
Im saying that maybe its a problem thats an easy fix.
take out the thermo run it noramally once so it gets up to regular op temp. and if it runs cooler than its been running aka less than 230... then theres your prob. thats what I did. it went down to 210. then i purchased a new thermostat. problem fixed.
I agree i wouldnt run w/o a thermo stat. I jsut ran my once. and it showed me that my thermo was bad aka too old and had dried out.
your friend
Sean
sorry for the confusion. I was just trying to say he could still run it once to test it with out the thermo.
Last edited by redbullapril23; Mar 31, 2005 at 09:15 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 5,727
Likes: 47
From: Waukesha WI
St. Jude Donor '15
Originally Posted by CFI-EFI
A failed, open, thermostat is very similar to no stat. No stat will allow coolant to circulate more quickly than an open stat. Was this on a C4? If so, there must be more to the story. I can't imagine a C4 running that cold for very long. Your engine didn't even get hot enough to go into closed loop. There HAS to be an explanation.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
The car never warmed up. I think it may have warmed up once while waiting at McD's for 20min when it was 90 out but it dropped once I got back to the highway. I replaced the thermo and coolant and all is well now.
I wasn't (still ain't) all that bright regarding cars so I did not dig any further.
I agree that it is wierd for a car (especially a vette w/ no grill) to never heat up. My dad said the same thing and that is why we came to the conclusion that the gauge must be wrong.
Also, if you are going to all the trouble of pulling out the thermo, why not just replace it? They only cost a couple bucks and the trouble is just not worth it (too me anyway).
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 2,923
Likes: 1
From: Las Vegas NV
Originally Posted by vader86
I know they are coolant temps, oil would be optimum at 200-210, coolant typically runs 10-15F below that at optimum. Thats what you asked for.
Anything more is unnecessary.
Anything more is unnecessary.
When I was living in Pennsylvania, the temp. were a couple degree lower I think.
Driving around Las Vegas with traffic light all over the place both temp.
are higher
Since the fan start at above 225, I would be worry when the temp. is above 240.