Idle temp too high?
02-29-2016, 05:17 PM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Idle temp too high?
So I got stuck in a long line at Panda Express Saturday night for nearly 15 minutes. I noticed my car's temps went up to 230 then the electric fans kicked on and dropped down to 220. This process repeats over and over while sitting at idle. Once I began driving again it dropped to about 195 eventually. It was about 65 degrees outside and the sun had gone mostly down. I've had the car for 3 years and never noticed it going this high before other than when open tracking the car. It's a 2001 Z06 with 45k miles. I'm sure it's got to be the stock/original stat in there, so I'm thinking it must not be opening all the way. What temps are your C5s at when at idle?
02-29-2016, 05:36 PM
#2
Burning Brakes
That is absolutely normal.
If you want it to run cooler, You can put in a "tune" that will kick
the fans on earlier. I cooler T-Stat will only open earlier, but it will still
get that warm sitting still for a long time.
Nothing to worry about
If you want it to run cooler, You can put in a "tune" that will kick
the fans on earlier. I cooler T-Stat will only open earlier, but it will still
get that warm sitting still for a long time.
Nothing to worry about
02-29-2016, 06:08 PM
#3
Drifting
100%
02-29-2016, 06:42 PM
#4
Le Mans Master
Had mine lowered 10deg with my tune. Peace of mind...
03-02-2016, 09:30 AM
#6
Drifting
Thread Starter
More or less normal for C5 temps when idling for long periods. When was the last time you cleaned the radiator cooling fins? If you have had the car 3 years and have never cleaned the fins that is too long. These cars are bottom feeders for cooling air and suck up everything on the road and throw it against the cooling fins for the radiator and AC condenser. Get the front end up in the air and look under it up into the pocket where the radiator and AC condenser can be seem. Alternatively remove the plastic cover that is over the top of the radiator and AC condenser (4 bolts, two on each side) You will find plenty of crap against the cooling fins. 
A bandaid fix would be to have the cooling fans programmed to come on at a lower temps. From the factory the low speed cooling fans come on at 226 degrees and shut off when the coolant drops to 219 degrees. (Both fans run in both low speed mode and high speed mode) If the coolant temp continues to climb to 235 degrees then the cooling fans go into high speed mode. When the coolant temp drops to 226 degrees the fans revert to low speed operation. If you turn on the AC then the cooling fans come on in low speed mode at 185 degrees. If the coolant temp reaches 235 degrees with the AC on then the fans go into high speed mode and will fall back to low speed mode when the coolant drops to 226 degrees.
The fans are commanded OFF irrespective of coolant temp when the vehicle speed exceeds 35MPH.
If you decide to have the fans come on at lower temps, be carefull how low you set the turn on temps. Easy to cause the fans to run continuously when the vehicle is moving slowly and the fans were NOT designed to run continuously.... Read that lack of durability............
A bandaid fix would be to have the cooling fans programmed to come on at a lower temps. From the factory the low speed cooling fans come on at 226 degrees and shut off when the coolant drops to 219 degrees. (Both fans run in both low speed mode and high speed mode) If the coolant temp continues to climb to 235 degrees then the cooling fans go into high speed mode. When the coolant temp drops to 226 degrees the fans revert to low speed operation. If you turn on the AC then the cooling fans come on in low speed mode at 185 degrees. If the coolant temp reaches 235 degrees with the AC on then the fans go into high speed mode and will fall back to low speed mode when the coolant drops to 226 degrees.
The fans are commanded OFF irrespective of coolant temp when the vehicle speed exceeds 35MPH.
If you decide to have the fans come on at lower temps, be carefull how low you set the turn on temps. Easy to cause the fans to run continuously when the vehicle is moving slowly and the fans were NOT designed to run continuously.... Read that lack of durability............