What's Your Engine Temp?

[Jaxonalden]

In a post on Performance Talk someone said their engine was running hotter than normal after installing a set of headers. The explanation was that the O2 sensors were picking up more hydrocarbons because of no CATs and the ECU was compensating by leaning out the mixture.
If it was running warmer the thermostat would open more and the coolant would flow more and the radiators would do what radiators do and you would not see a change on the gauge, right?

What I do notice on my car is that my engine runs cooler than any other vehicle that I drive. It will read about 182 degrees no matter what. I know you can buy performance thermostats that open at 180 degrees, thus fooling the ECU into thinking the engine is cold and compensating that by adding a little extra squirt. So I was wondering about the rest of you, what are ya'll running for engine temp?

[pbanders]

FWIW, my water temp runs slightly over the 180 deg. F mark once warmed up, with essentially no variation regardless of how hard I drive the car or the outside temperature (which was about 112 deg. F yesterday). Stock w/Tip.

[Lil bastard]

The Tip S cars do run a little cooler (maybe 3°-5°F) because of their added air/coolant transmission cooler.

This is basically a 3rd (or 4th for the 'S') little radiator on the same circuit as the engine coolant.

The Tranny does add some heat, but the transmission cooler (in conjunction with the main radiators) more than compensates causing the coolant to flow just a little cooler.

FYI, those with '00 MY or earlier cars can access a digital readout of the actual coolant temp (as opposed to a somewhat inaccurate needle arcing across a mostly non-graduated gauge face) by putting the Climate Control Unit into diagnostic mode and reading the value for code 6c.

[Tom Blue]

I have a 2002 S which runs just a little over 180. Like pbanders, no variation with speed or outside temp.

[CJ_Boxster]

I noticed that when i didnt reinstall my plastic cover near the engine after i repaired my engine mount, my coolant temps have been down ever since... I think as im driving, alot more engine heat is able to disapate quickly without that last plastic cover installed.

[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?

[speedyturtle]

Hi, I know I'm bumping an old thread but this was the first thing to come up on the Google search and I'm a member here so I figured I'd ask here My 2000 Boxster when warmed up (it's been hot lately since I've purchased it 80+ everyday) but stays in the dead center of the 0 in the 180. Is this normal or running too hot? A lot of threads I've seen say that their cars run right at 180 whereas mine runs right a good bit past that but not quite all the way over to the other dash (like I said, right in the dead center of that 0).

[jotoole]

Originally Posted by speedyturtle

Hi, I know I'm bumping an old thread but this was the first thing to come up on the Google search and I'm a member here so I figured I'd ask here My 2000 Boxster when warmed up (it's been hot lately since I've purchased it 80+ everyday) but stays in the dead center of the 0 in the 180. Is this normal or running too hot? A lot of threads I've seen say that their cars run right at 180 whereas mine runs right a good bit past that but not quite all the way over to the other dash (like I said, right in the dead center of that 0).

That's right about where my needle stays year round. I've driven the car below -10 zero F and lately regularly 100+.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by speedyturtle

Hi, I know I'm bumping an old thread but this was the first thing to come up on the Google search and I'm a member here so I figured I'd ask here My 2000 Boxster when warmed up (it's been hot lately since I've purchased it 80+ everyday) but stays in the dead center of the 0 in the 180. Is this normal or running too hot? A lot of threads I've seen say that their cars run right at 180 whereas mine runs right a good bit past that but not quite all the way over to the other dash (like I said, right in the dead center of that 0).

I wouldn't say you're running too hot. The gauge is not the most accurate device out there, and really the only time you need to be concerned is if you reach or go past the 3rd mark (unlabeled, signifies 215° F), hit the 250° mark, or see a flashing or steady red light above the 250° mark. My car tends to never go back to touching the 180° mark once it passes it, and I find that most of the time I'm somewhere around the 0, either touching one of its edges or sitting in the middle of it. Unless I can get the car out in some clear air (no traffic in front of me) and 50+mph, it'll simply run in that range as I drive around the city or get stuck behind someone on the highway. When I'm cruising on the highway with no one in front and plenty of air getting to the radiators and ducting, the needle can run back down to just slightly to the right of the 180° mark.

I think I can safely assume that your commuting tends to be similar to mine if you're in any sort of urban setting in NJ, so don't worry about how the car's running right now from what you described. Do, however, take the advice I'm sure you've seen in some of your searches and remove the front bumper cover to clean out the ducts for the radiators. They collect all sorts of debris, and this will hamper their performance and eventually lead to corrosion.

[Crono0001]

It gets really hot here in Arizona (105+ every day), and if I drive the car in stop-go traffic, it tends to climb to the middle of the 0 of the 180 as well. If traffic gets really bad (backed up highway), the temperatures are able to climb even higher than that. As soon as I'm passed the 3/4th mark, I usually pull over and let the car cool.

I've had several mechanics look at it without being able to find any problem. Coolant level is fine, radiators work, water pump works... It works fine at night when it drops to the low 90's.

[speedyturtle]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

I wouldn't say you're running too hot. The gauge is not the most accurate device out there, and really the only time you need to be concerned is if you reach or go past the 3rd mark (unlabeled, signifies 215° F), hit the 250° mark, or see a flashing or steady red light above the 250° mark. My car tends to never go back to touching the 180° mark once it passes it, and I find that most of the time I'm somewhere around the 0, either touching one of its edges or sitting in the middle of it. Unless I can get the car out in some clear air (no traffic in front of me) and 50+mph, it'll simply run in that range as I drive around the city or get stuck behind someone on the highway. When I'm cruising on the highway with no one in front and plenty of air getting to the radiators and ducting, the needle can run back down to just slightly to the right of the 180° mark.

I think I can safely assume that your commuting tends to be similar to mine if you're in any sort of urban setting in NJ, so don't worry about how the car's running right now from what you described. Do, however, take the advice I'm sure you've seen in some of your searches and remove the front bumper cover to clean out the ducts for the radiators. They collect all sorts of debris, and this will hamper their performance and eventually lead to corrosion.

Originally Posted by jotoole

That's right about where my needle stays year round. I've driven the car below -10 zero F and lately regularly 100+.

Originally Posted by Crono0001

It gets really hot here in Arizona (105+ every day), and if I drive the car in stop-go traffic, it tends to climb to the middle of the 0 of the 180 as well. If traffic gets really bad (backed up highway), the temperatures are able to climb even higher than that. As soon as I'm passed the 3/4th mark, I usually pull over and let the car cool.

I've had several mechanics look at it without being able to find any problem. Coolant level is fine, radiators work, water pump works... It works fine at night when it drops to the low 90's.

Thanks for the reassurance guys was just a little concerned after reading up on it! Glad to know that's pretty standard

[jcb986]

I live in Florida, my temp during the summer is around 185...with original pump and thermostat.

[BruceH]

Mine stays just right of 180 as well, considering it is 100+ outside, I think it's fine.

[dbear61]

As I posted in another thread, I purchased my 01 S in May in Chico, CA and drove it back to Milwaukee, WI.

What I didn't post is that on day 2 of the drive the Eng Temp light started flashing, but temp never rose above a bit over 180. Next morning I added (cheap) coolant, which kept light off for approx 500 miles, then it started flashing again. More coolant to get home, recurrant problem with coolant loss, flashing light but never a temp greater than just over 180.

First opportunity I get it into the local dealer. 3 days later verdict is a cracked reservoir tank. I know some of you have tackled this, but I have neither the tools nor the patience nor the experience to handle this on my own. $1800 repair. The light no longer flashes, but temp still runs up to 180+ and holds.

Bear

[thom4782]

Wow...$1,800. I had an independent replace my tank a few years ago and they did it for less than $500.

[laphan]

I'm currently working as a cooling/heat manage ment engineer associated with one of the oem here in MI. The actual coolant temp exiting the engine or what we called top water temperature is not always the same with what the gauge is showing you. We actually can program the gauge to show temps range. So when you see 180 reading, it can be a real 180c or more depending on how the oem program the gauge. Customers does not like to see temperature gauge to show more than half way, depending on the situation (cost and styling restrictions) some cars run a bit hotter but still within the safe zone. The coolant temps limit are actually pretty high, it will not boil up tp 123C with 14psi cap. We do not want to run the engine to that temp not because the engine cannot withstand those temps as we can calibrate the hardware to work with that 123C/253F but the engine oil temp will go to unacceptable limit. We prefer oil temp to be below 140c for non synthetic or 160c for synthetic. Once oil goes to that high temp, many things can happen including accelerated engine wear. The bigger sump normally leads to higher oil capacity and lower oil temp but higher cost for oem. Another way is oil cooler which is not a cheap option, we like it but the finace group does not.... removing anything in the vehicle is not a good idea since we always design the vehicle to work with minimum cost to build. We try to build a car with least amount of parts possible due to cost, weight and fuel economy.

[Soetekouw]

2007 Boxster S. Temperature is steady at 175 degrees.

[JAAY]

Unless you are using a obd2 reader of some sort the stock gauge is worthless. In traffic on a 90+ deg. day I see over 215 sometimes.