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Those temps are normal, but not necessary. I run a 160* thermostat, and have re-programmed the PCM to lower the fan on/off temps to 190/180 primary, 195/185 secondary. The car runs much cooler now, typically around 180 at cruise.
As others have noted, these cars are bottom-feeders, and they will suck an astonishing assortment of crap into the cooling stack. Clean yours out, and consider adding a screen to stop the majority of debris before it gets in there:
Live well,
SJW
I have an LE2 build, pretty hairy cam that idles at about 900rpm. When I had my PCM tuned I gave PCM4Less the cooling fan parameters I wanted. I have the stock radiator with 50k and I removed and flushed the radiator during my build and flushed cooling system. Now it runs from 185-190 even in stop and go traffic. And I live in south Florida. I really think if the radiator is clean, and you've flushed the cooling system, then programming of the fans on/off in the PCM is the key...IMHO
I have an LE2 build, pretty hairy cam that idles at about 900rpm. When I had my PCM tuned I gave PCM4Less the cooling fan parameters I wanted. I have the stock radiator with 50k and I removed and flushed the radiator during my build and flushed cooling system. Now it runs from 185-190 even in stop and go traffic. And I live in south Florida. I really think if the radiator is clean, and you've flushed the cooling system, then programming of the fans on/off in the PCM is the key...IMHO
Just remember to keep the fan-off settings at least 20* or 25* above the thermostat, so that the fans don't run all the time at idle or in slow traffic. I've found that 160* thermostat, with fan settings of 195* on / 185* off (primary fan), and 200* on / 190* off (secondary fan) works quite well.
