I was reading another post concerning coolant temps (OK to drive with hood unlatched?), and it got me to thinking about the temps our C5 runs at. I see mention of some C5's running in the 210-230 range. Our 2000 (MN6, with no major performance mods) seems to consistently run at 192-195 with occasional increases up to 205 in heavy, slow traffic. Are these unusually low temps? Granted, we have not driven through Death Valley, but temps of 192-195 seem exceptional.

Our `96 C4 always ran at 198-207.

 

Mine's 194-198 with A/C in Summer.

 

Summer in New England at highway speed low 190's.

 

Your temps seem about right. My 00 M6 with a 178* thermostat runs at 183 on the highway and up to 195 in heavy traffic. Winter is at 178 to 183.

Fred

 

Mine stock was 200-210, but with the 160 stat it stays about 170-175

 

same here. have fans set to come on early. Temps in stop and go traffic no higher than 192

 

Ill let ya know this coming summer when it hits 120

 

I think all of the above temps are normal. It helps to understand how the system works to get a better feel for if your car is abnormal.

When the car starts and the coolant is cold, the thermostat will remain closed so the fluid doesn't circulate to the radiator so it heats up faster. The thermostat will open at about 194 or so allowing fluid to flow to the radiator. Once your car is warmed up, the thermostat thus sets the low temp because if really cold air flows through the radiator cooling the coolant below 194, the thermostat will go towards shut, reducing flow to the radiator and the coolant will remain at about 194.

On the high end, the temp is controlled by the fans. Though the fan setpoints appear to have varied slightly over the years, they are about: low speed on at 226, off at 219; hi speed on at 235, off at 226. So in stop a go traffic, it is not abormal to see temps in these ranges.

Other things to consider are that when the AC condensor is on, the fans will run, thus if it is hot enough out for the AC to run and the fans are on, but the load on the engine is low or airflow through the radiator is high, the temp will go down to the 194 range where the thermostat will go closed again.

The car can reach an equilibrium inbetween 194 (thermostat closes) and 219 (fans come on) dependent on engine load and airflow/airtemp flowing through radiator, thus you see many guys say their car runs near 200-210.

 

Good write up. From some of the past questions, I often wonder how many people really understand the modern Vette engine's cooling system operation.

 

My 03 mn6 runs in the 190-194 range most of the time. If I sit in heavy traffic it will gove up toward the 220 mark. But when the fans come on it will go down, or when I finally get moving it comes down quickly. I have run 75 to 80 mph for hours on the highway and it will never go above the 190-194 range. Mine is totally stock.

 

I see " PIZZANO" shares my summer grief. I too am in Vegas. In traffic I will get up to 225, then fans will kick in and temp will drop. Highway speeds, no matter what time of year, are at 190 - 192.

 

194 while driving, 225 in traffic.

 

Same here ... coolant 194 to 199 in winter and 196 to 200 in summer.

Oil 198 to 208 in winter and 209 to 219 in summer.

 

When you turn the air on, the fans will run all the time. I never see above 200F coolant even when its 95F here in the summer. Now, if I turn the air off, the coolant will go to 225 even in the winter when you sit long enough at a stop light.

Oil goes up to 219 in the summer, but stays under 210 all the time in the winter.

 

194 for me. I see 230 in bumper to bumper traffic.

 

I've been seeing 195-230. what concerns me more is higher temps on the oil side. coolant will be 199 and the oil 214

 

That's also normal for the C5 which doesn't have an oil cooler. You actually want your oil to get to about 212F so the moisture it may have picked up boils off and leaves the engine.

Many of us that track the car regularly add an oil cooler to help cool the oil as it can easily approach 300F in a 20 minute track session in warm weather.