You could run the heater to bring it down.

Rad and condenser fins are probably plugged or even a plastic bag got in there.

You could start by using a waterhose.
Pulling the rad out is best for thoroughly cleaning it.
There's also the Tractor Genie air and water wands.

 

you need to get up under the front of the car and see whats blocking the airflow....if you don't see anything then its likely just clogged with dirt....those temps are NOT good and you will cause engine damage


if your radiator and AC condenser are not clogged you can possibly have a water pump going bad...

 

 

I agree cleaning is a good idea but it may not solve the problem you are having, the way the cars are designed from the factory they get pretty hot just sitting at idle for extended periods of time... have a tuner set your fans to come on sooner and you can make the car run around 200 degrees at idle

 

A forum vendor sells a switch that will turn on the fans, on demand (manual). Temps start to rise in heavy traffic, no problem just hit the switch to turn the fans on. Traffic subsides, car is moving again, turn the fans off. Sounds appealing.

 

The cooling fans have the following programming:
Cooling Fan Control
The engine cooling fan system consists of two electrical cooling fans and three fan relays. The relays are arranged in a series/parallel configuration that allows the powertrain control module (PCM) to operate both fans together at low or high speeds. The cooling fans and fan relays receive battery positive voltage and ignition 1 voltage from the underhood electrical center. The ground path is provided at G102.

During low speed operation, the PCM supplies the ground path for the low speed fan relay through the low speed cooling fan relay control circuit. This energizes the cooling fan 1 relay coil, closes the relay contacts, and supplies battery positive voltage through the cooling fan motor supply voltage circuit to the left cooling fan. The ground path for the left cooling fan is through the cooling fan 3 relay and the right cooling fan. The result is a series circuit with both fans running at low speed.

During high speed operation the PCM supplies the ground path for the cooling fan 1 relay through the low speed cooling fan relay control circuit. After a 3-second delay, the PCM supplies a ground path for the cooling fan 2 relay and the cooling fan 3 relay through the high speed cooling fan relay control circuit. This energizes the cooling fan 3 relay coil, closes the relay contacts, and provides a ground path for the left cooling fan. At the same time the cooling fan 2 relay coil is energized closing the relay contacts and provides battery positive voltage on the cooling fan motor supply voltage circuit to the right cooling fan. During high speed fan operation, both engine cooling fans have there own ground path. The result is a parallel circuit with both fans running at high speed.

The low speed cooling fan is commanded on when the coolant temperature reaches 108°C (226°F). It is turned off if the coolant temperature lowers to 104°C (219°F). The high speed cooling fan is commanded on when the coolant temperature reaches 113°C (235°F). It is turned off if the coolant temperature lowers to 108°C (226°F). When the A/C is on and the coolant temperature reaches 85°C (185°F), the low speed cooling fan will be turned on at vehicle speeds less than 56 kPh (35 mph).


Are you sure your cooling fans are operating correctly? If you have a failed cooling fan you will have no low speed cooling fan operation at all since in low speed operation the two fans are connected in series across 12 volts. In high speed operation both fans are connected in parallel across 12 volts so you would have one fan running at high speed instead of two fans running at high speed.

Failure could be in a fan motor or in the relays required too switch the connections from series to parallel. If you don't hear the fans running when the coolant temp is between 226 and 235 degrees but do hear them above 235 degrees you more than likely have a cooling fan circuit issue. The car is 18 years old and it isn't uncommon to have that type of problem in the cooling circuit at that age.


Bill

 

/\ this is very true, I have had a few issues with the factory fan circuit wiring on my car

 

he shouldn't have to have anyone adjust his fans on a stock car.....all that will do is cause them to come on sooner and run longer which doesn't fix the problem its just tries to mask it

another issue he may have is one fan not running, if he has to drive to move air then the fans are not doing their job...he doesn't mention if this is with the AC running or not, with the AC on one fan runs immediately......hopefully the OP comes back and answers some questions

 

even if everything is working perfectly the car is still going to get well over 200 degrees at idle, adjusting the fans will fix that problem and drop the temps considerably... if he does in fact have another issue then I do agree that he should fix that first, I wasn't suggesting to have the fans adjusted to cover up an underlying issue

 

over 200 yes but he shouldn't be seeing 230-240 just sitting there with no underlying issues. Its obviously a flow issue since driving the car helps alleviate the issue until he stops.

I didn't mean to imply that was what you were suggesting.

with no further feedback we are simply left to speculate

 

, we are all just brainstorming but usually that ultimately leads to issues getting fixed

 

 

Oil should cool off at idle.

What oil and weight are you running?

 

Really? Ive looked up the issue before and remember reading that oil temps rise when idling/traffic? Anyways mine always rises when idling and slowly starts to go down when driving?
Mobil 1 5w30

 

well at this point the OP has 1 post.....(this thread) and has not come back so we can either assume he figured it out, doesn't care or maybe he read the thread, jacked it up and the car fell on him(j/k) .....I hate it when people ask and never return..