What's Your Engine Temp? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

rick3000 · 06-20-2008, 01:13 PM

I've had some coolant issues, but since then the needle has not passed the edge of the zero. Unless you get a flashing light or are always significantly past the zero I wouldn't worry.

CJ, what plastic cover are you talking about? Do you have a picture of it?

Quickurt · 06-20-2008, 02:42 PM

My 987S runs dead square on 175 degrees, like above, no matter the outside temp or how hard I run it.

CJ_Boxster · 06-20-2008, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick3000

I've had some coolant issues, but since then the needle has not passed the edge of the zero. Unless you get a flashing light or are always significantly past the zero I wouldn't worry.

CJ, what plastic cover are you talking about? Do you have a picture of it?

This is the cover circled in red that i removed.

rick3000 · 06-20-2008, 04:00 PM

Thanks! I wonder if drilling some holes in it would help with lower my temps. Not that they are bad, but I would prefer to see them lower, especially when it's 100° outside.

chitowndad · 06-20-2008, 06:11 PM

Guys,
A long time ago I had an 80's Camaro that would always run in the 220 degree range. Wanting better performance I dropped in a cooler thermostat 180 degrees and the car did run faster because the air going in was cooler, etc. After a year of running the cooler thermostat (below the mfg specs) the heads were badly carboned up and it cost a lot to regrind the heads...

My advice is stick with the stock thermostat. Opening the engine bay and removing plastic parts might be ok, just don't change the thermostat.

My 2001 Boxster runs 182 consistently!

-Steve

Lil bastard · 06-20-2008, 06:12 PM

Don't know as if I'd want to remove or drill any holes into the plastic covers under the car, or remove them.

Aside from playing a role in the car's aerodynamics (which probably have little effect at legal speeds anyway), these covers are designed to direct airflow to the proper places, ie around the engine bay.

The primary source of cooling for the engine is the oil and the coolant, not ambient air, probably like 95%.

But, consider that the only source for cooling ancillaries like the alternator, AC compressor, drive belt pulleys and tensioners is the airflow through the engine bay. Loosing a few degrees on the temp gauge (which is nonetheless operating in the OK range) may not be worth compromising the service life of these components.

Jaxonalden · 06-20-2008, 08:02 PM

Thanks for all the replies, looks like 182 degrees is the overall winner. Man that sure seams cold when thinking about engine temperature. I've always been taught that proper engine temp is in the 200-215 degree range. At that temp all the different metals in the cylinder wall, piston, rings and valves are all properly expanded and sealing the combustion chamber.

Porsche must ether be using special metals or someones been lying to me.

2000SoCalBoxsterS · 06-21-2008, 12:19 PM

My 2000 S runs slightly above 180 degrees.

Lil bastard · 06-21-2008, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaxonalden

Thanks for all the replies, looks like 182 degrees is the overall winner. Man that sure seams cold when thinking about engine temperature. I've always been taught that proper engine temp is in the 200-215 degree range. At that temp all the different metals in the cylinder wall, piston, rings and valves are all properly expanded and sealing the combustion chamber.

Porsche must ether be using special metals or someones been lying to me.

You're confusing coolant temp with engine temp. The coolant keeps the engine within the proper operating temp range.

If you use an infared thermometer and check temps on the engine at several places and average it out, you're likely to find those temps in the 500° - 600° range, and of course, the combustion chamber temps reach upwards of 1200°-1300°.

Lil bastard · 06-21-2008, 01:00 PM

Just an observation, there does seem to be a lot of obsession about coolant temps by Boxster owners - just do a search to see how many times this issue has been brought up.

I've owned several 50's and 60's brit and '70's japanese cars which were notorious for overheating and never saw a degree of obsession amongst their owners as I see here.

Given the inherent inaccuracies between gauges and the number of variables which can affect slight increases and decreases of the gauge, so long as you're operating in the OK range, you're not adversely affecting anything.

Individual engines all have their own 'unique' operating temps within a range and a 3°-10° variation means nothing.