High Temps
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 127
Likes: 1
From: Yorba Linda, CA,,,USA
High Temps
I was driving through the San Fernando Valley today and it was about 99 degrees outside. The traffic was at a stand still. The temp slowly crawled up to hi 240s. It didn’t settle down to 220 until I got moving at normal freeway speed (about 65-70). I can’t remember what the temp readings were through the summer because my wife usually drives the car (Until now since I bought her a new car). Does this sound right? It was hotter than blazes, and I’m not sure if the fans can pull enough air sitting in traffic to keep the temp down. I also remember I had an Aurora, that did the same thing. Let me know if any of you experience the same thing.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,955
Likes: 161
From: PNW
1) Crawl under the nose and inspect the front of the radiator for crap clogging it up. Your radiator probably could use a full cleaning, as they seem to get reduced flow with time due to the nose collecting crap off the road.
2) Make sure both your fans are running on high speed when it's that hot.
3) Is your coolant fresh and at a 50/50 mix?
Nice avatar ...
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,631
Likes: 2
From: Clever, MO aka SOMO
If you have the a/c on, the fans will run right away at very low speeds or when you're stopped. Because of emissions these days, our cars are designed to run hotter than the "old days" when we thought anything over 180 deg. was terrible. 220-240 is no problem for these engines, but be sure to check your radiator for debris anyway.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 127
Likes: 1
From: Yorba Linda, CA,,,USA
One of the first things I checked was something in front of the radiator. I didn’t see anything. I did check both fans and they are running. They seem to be pulling in a lot of air, but I’m not sure about this,,,THEY DON’T SEEM TO BE REALLY ROARING LIKE THEY USE TO. Also the coolant is fresh. I had to drain to replace the water pump and thermostat not too long ago.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,955
Likes: 161
From: PNW
One of the first things I checked was something in front of the radiator. I didn’t see anything. I did check both fans and they are running. They seem to be pulling in a lot of air, but I’m not sure about this,,,THEY DON’T SEEM TO BE REALLY ROARING LIKE THEY USE TO. Also the coolant is fresh. I had to drain to replace the water pump and thermostat not too long ago.
Also, I believe the fans are two stage speed. They have a low and high speed depending on the coolant temp ... they are supposed to run on high speed above a certain coolant temp. You might want to verify to make sure they are kicking in to high speed when they are supposed to.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 127
Likes: 1
From: Yorba Linda, CA,,,USA
Coolant temp problem solved. Thanks for everyone’s help. I took off the cover of both the air conditioner condenser, and the radiator. Between both of them I found what looked like the lint blanket you get from your cloths dryer lint screen, plastered against the radiator. I fabricated a small wand and attached it to my shop-vac to get between the radiator and the condenser to vacuum it out. I then fabricated a wand to attach to my air compressor to blow the rest of the debris out. WOW what a difference. Car runs cool now. If it hits 225, the high speed fans kick in and quickly cool the engine down, even in 95 degree weather. I initially kept looking for some sort of air blockage inside the scoop. I would not have thought that it would suck air up from under the car between the condenser, and the radiator.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5,955
Likes: 161
From: PNW
Excellent ! 
And good point about removing the top cover and looking between the radiator and AC condenser, as I mentioned earlier it can look pretty clean on the front side, but still be clogged up with crud from normal use on the road.
And good point about removing the top cover and looking between the radiator and AC condenser, as I mentioned earlier it can look pretty clean on the front side, but still be clogged up with crud from normal use on the road.
