Should I worry about engine temp
 

On my 2000 2.7. Needle arrives at 180 but can rise a few degrees maybe 190-5 range.

Try cleaning your radiators

Its normal to have the needle anywhere between the 180 mark and the center vertical position. If the needle passes the vertical position and gets towards the next mark (which could be 215 but its not labelled - between the 180 and 250), then start to look into the cause.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psya1ufbis.png

Yeah, it seems the highest it gets is the vertical. But these are cool 75deg days. I am just not used to a modern car with changing engine temps. Thanks

get one of those obd live readers. It'll give you an actual number than trying to guess based on the needle. In 50 degrees where it is nowadays, my temp stays between 188-195

Took a longer drive yesterday and def saw the needle past vertical. Gonna pull off the bumper cover today and have a look see. Hopefully it is a mess. At what temp should I hear the fans kick in? Will they blow with the engine off?

The gauge isn't very accurate so the OBD thing or a laser therm will help you determine what's going on. Mine sits in that blue zone.

check coolant level and top off.

+1 ODBII bluetooth app.
Fans come on with engine running around 215 F. On my Gauge that's just stating into the 0 of the 180 or right limit of the Blue zone.
Temps can swing 30-35 degrees from Hwy to stop and go.
So the Blue zone pictured seems to be pretty typical.

can also read engine temperature by accessing through the climate control display.

only on early cars

Testing fans and relays
 

saw on a YouTube that said the fans should kick in with the engine running and the AC on. Tried it and nada. On the same YouTube (which was excellent btw, posted by "Burner's Cars") he showed the location of the relays and how to jump them to test the circuit. Are the relays super cheap? Was thinking I'd just replace all 4 and see if the fans work.

Actually, if you had a Porsche diagnostic tool like the Durametric system, you can plug in and activate the fans to teat them.......

That needle on your dash may be way off. Mine sure was after I swapped gauge faces :)

Do take a Saturday morning and take your front bumper off and clean your radiators and make sure they both function properly... this helps a lot.

Where to buy the fan relays for a 2000 base 986?
 

If cheap enough, might buy all 4.

I've never had the relays go out in the 13 years I've owned my Boxster, which has had numerous radiator cooling issues.

There's a temperature probe attached to the radiators that goes out though, and the primary fan motor went out once too.

My fuse kept blowing because of this.

Yeah, I gave up on the relay idea. Too cheap and too easy as someone put it. I guess I could check the fuses. Man I am lazy.....

Caught in traffic leaving San Francisco this afternoon. Needle running on the '0' of 180 on the gauge. Suddenly the fans kicked in. So the cooling system is better than I thought. Still, the weather is cool here. Remain concerned about the warmer weather this summer.

Are both fans running? Just turn on the AC and both fans will come on. If not, then either the fan or the resister ballast is bad. The relays are very stout on these cars so I don't think it is a relay. I just changed the resister ballast on the right side as I was noticing the temp higher than normal. When I got home I noticed the right fan not running when the AC was on. Crawled underneath and could see the ballast was corroded and part of the housing gone. A new one will run you about $120-140 depending on where you buy it.

With my 1999 base both radiator fans run fine when i flip on the air, and come one when my needle on temp gauge starts into the Zero- they seem to be at high speed at that point. But they do not seem to run before that. What temp on the gauge should the low speed fans come on? My gauge shows the front side of the 8 on the highway and just barely into the zero in traffic.