Coolant Temps
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 163
Likes: 26
From: West Hills CA
Coolant Temps
I am probably being paranoid but when in stop & go traffic on the frwy or spirited runs in the canyons (90 +outside) my coolant temps easily run 203-22 is this what others are seeing?
thanks
thanks
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,058
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From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Not a big issue. When they get into the 240 and up range you should pay more attention. Over temp occurs at 262 degrees. Pay close attention to oil temp as it can overheat before coolant if you are running hard. It sounds from your description like you really aren't pushing the car all that hard. How much time do you spend at triple digit speeda withbthe tach in the 6K region?
Bill
Bill
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2001
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From: Admit Nothing, Deny Everything, Make Counter Accusations.
I was driving around yesterday in the North East and the ambient temps were in the mid to high 80s. It was fairly humid out and I had the AC on the entire time. My temps hit a max of 210 in traffic and they dropped down to 192 on the highway. My oil temps were in the low 200s and I was not pushing the car very hard.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,643
Likes: 633
From: Lake Bluff IL
On 90 degree days I run around 210-225, although I do have a front mounted license plate right in the center that undoubtedly restricts air flow a bit. I must admit that I am also surprised at how long the fans run after shutdown. Not always, but when hot. --Bob
Last edited by ZR1Bob; Aug 6, 2016 at 11:55 AM.
Team Owner
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St. Jude Donor '03, '17
Senior Member
Cruise-In V Veteran
I have never seen mine go over 206 even on 100 degree days with top down sitting in traffic stop and go. I have tried to make mine overheat before and the most was 206 coolant/206 oil temp
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 10,709
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From: Fulshear, TX
You've effectively cut your radiator airflow in half. I would suggest using the license plate bracket rather than the aero panel in the warmer month.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2007
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Completely normal nothing to be concerned about. Enjoy.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,398
Likes: 858
I have the bracket on my car (not the aero bracket). This is the second summer with the Z06.
Last year I data logged when it was over 100* in heavy traffic under many conditions. I never saw the temp exceed 219 and the fan never exceeded 50% or so. I would say it fluctuated mostly around 202-216*.
Also ran it relatively hard on some mountainous twisties in 95* heat and never saw it go above 214*.
In my opinion the front bracket and plate poses no problem unless you are really pushing the car hard for long periods at relatively low speeds.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,398
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The fan can run up to 18 minutes after shutdown. Mine has never run for more than 3 or 4 minutes. Basically it runs until the coolant temp is below 214* with the ignition off.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2012
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I went with the Top Flight Repro low profile mount to avoid blocking so much cooling airflow. On my level 1 aero it took less than 5 minutes to install. With this the plate sits low and a ways out from the grill so it blocks far less air than the grill mounted plate. I think mine has hit 210 once in stop and go and I have never had the fan continue to run after engine shutdown.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,398
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I don't know but I am pretty sure it isn't because the only water pump I am aware of is the one driven by the serpentine belt.
The fan on my C6 and many other cars with mechanical water pumps run after shut down as well.
I understand where you question leads us.
Though I haven't read it anywhere I am pretty sure even without the water pump, the cooler water from the radiator has the ability to cool the engine block water through convection and the fans airflow over the engine. Wouldn't work well enough to cool a running engine but an engine not running is slowly cooling down already. The fan just accelerates the process. Back in the day before electric fans the engines where not able to take advantage of this and they were fine.
The fan on my C6 and many other cars with mechanical water pumps run after shut down as well.
I understand where you question leads us.
Though I haven't read it anywhere I am pretty sure even without the water pump, the cooler water from the radiator has the ability to cool the engine block water through convection and the fans airflow over the engine. Wouldn't work well enough to cool a running engine but an engine not running is slowly cooling down already. The fan just accelerates the process. Back in the day before electric fans the engines where not able to take advantage of this and they were fine.
Last edited by dar02081961; Aug 6, 2016 at 09:09 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,643
Likes: 633
From: Lake Bluff IL
True dat and probably not a bad idea to switch to the higher plate bracket in summer months. But as far as I know, getting up to 225 is not bad for the cars and I haven't seen it higher yet. It is my understanding that most modern cars are made to run hotter than they used to in order to help emissions. My last ZR-1 ('95) ran cooler and we even set it to run no higher than 205 when the fans would turn on. --Bob
Last edited by ZR1Bob; Aug 7, 2016 at 12:23 PM.
Racer
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 256
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From: Liberty Lake WA
Coolant temps
At 90 deg+ I'm running 190 normal freeway driving. Maybe 195 in traffic. Pushing it I'll hit 205 or so. I have a stick with the GMPP secondary rad. I'd say it runs about 10 to 20 deg cooler than it used to before the upgrade.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,436
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From: Overland Park KS
The car has a 192dF thermostat, so since the oil is 'water cooled', in normal driving you'll see both water and oil temps stabilise at 192dF. When you get on it and rev the ***** off the car, you can pretty quickly spike both temps higher, but on the street they will quickly come back down to the above range when you slow down.
Bish
Bish
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From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
Racer
Joined: Mar 2006
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Similar here. In 95 degree humidity cruising at highway speeds Im usually at 188-192. Sprited highway around 195-199. Stop and go traffic never gets higher then 206. 2016 A8. Now in manual mode with same conditions etc, it seems to climb up and stay at around 200-206 until I drop back into auto or gear 7 or 8.
