Am I worrying needlessly about engine temp?
 

A few points first. My perfect 2000 S with 33k blew up 10 years ago. Am still scarred. Baffling to my family, I bought a 2000 2.7 this year. Love this car. But worry as I sit in the horrid Bay Area traffic and watch the gauge rise into the 0 of the 180. Took it to Gavin’s Porsche in Oakland (most honest mechanic I’ve ever worked with). Checked out the cooling system and fans, all good. Just wondering tho, while I don’t track this car, could I beef up the cooling system by adding a lower temp thermostat and maybe a 3.2 S oil cooler?

Isn't the 0 of the 180 the normal running temperature? That's where my 2003 S is all the time. If you want more cooling you could also add the third radiator in the center up front, but you would need to have a center opening in your bumper cover.

When stuck in traffic, ever try running your heater on high? Regardless of how heat is disapated, via radiator or heater core, the result is the same....heat transfer from one environment (engine) to another (atmosphere). Granted, this works best with top down... ;)

Yes................

Let me share my personal experience.
First Porsche- 01 boxster S. 3.2L engine, with center radiator from factory. Installed low temp stat.
Second Porsche- 99 Boxster base. 2.5L engine. No 3rd rad, no low temp stat.
Current Porsche- 02 Carrera. 3.6L engine. No 3rd rad, no low temp stat.
Go figure out why the 3.2 comes with extra cooling and the larger 3.6 don’t.
Anyway, in all three cars, the needle was always between the 8 and the zero on normal driving, or right of the zero on traffic.
You have nothing to worry about.
BTW, a low temp stat is good to have, although it is not going to affect the operating temperature of your engine. It’s just going to start the cooling cycle sooner, preventing hot spot at the no1 cylinder, and will get the engine to operating temperature faster.

If you really want to provide additional cooling, install the S model center radiator.

Porsche Boxster Center Radiator Installation - 986 / 987 (1997-08) - Pelican Parts Technical Article

Ive done all the cooling mods, including oil cooler, low temp thermostat, and third radiator and the car still gets to 104c in heavy traffic. Runs about 97c on the highway regardless of temp. On the track, no issues, stays below 100c.

In my experience, the cars just run hot.

180 is the correct operating temp for these cars. I have every engine cooling trick and more on my Boxster and it runs at 180. On those days on track where it is 90+ degrees and 120+ track temp it hangs 180 - 195.

160 degree stat.
Third Radiator
Extra ducting to wheel well from front radiators (racing hack + down force)
997 Oil cooler
manual switches for cooling fans.
Oil cooler with 2 6" fans.

It runs 180

Thanks for response
 

Lot’s of good ideas here. I like the manual fan switches idea. But it seems the S oil cooler is the best bang for buck for simply keeping the engine temp down. Is it a simple bolt on proposition? Easily accessible from the top? Had an estimate of 2.5hrs labor to do install.

If someone is going to take 2.5 Hrs. to do this, they are factoring in a long nap into the process.

Your car is at normal operating temperature. Just drive it and enjoy it.

Bay area...low temp thermostat...needle is on the dash above "18" for 90%+ of the year or when the car is moving 20 mph or higher. Needle rises to the dash above the 0 when stuck in the commute moving less than 15 mph on days when the temp is 80 degrees or higher.

I like that biggest smile of the day. :cheers:

Normal for stop and go
Get a phone app with bluetooth ODBII sender
You can get better temp data how it relates to gauge. You also see temps the fans come on the drive speeds where temps start to go down

If your car starts to run hot, turn on the A/C...
 

Sounds counter productive, but it turns on the radiator cooling fan. I do that all the time when I drive in stop and go traffic. It works.

"Get a phone app with bluetooth ODBII sender" ... this! Worrying about anything from the inaccurate gauges is a waste of time. At least get a cheapo ELM OBD2 device from amazon ($10) and the Torque app for your phone. You'll then have all the error codes and fuel trims and other fun stuff to worry about as well!

Am I worrying needlessly about engine temp?
 

Considering the boiling point of Antifreeze is approximately 223 degrees F and the normal operating temperature of combustion engines is roughly the same, I'd say 180 to 190 degrees F is worrying over nothing. Even pure water requires 212 degrees F to boil.

If 180 actually was 180
When my needle climbs into the 0 then rhat typically means 200+ low speed fans come on around 212-215

not only it turns the fans on, it turns it on the high speed.

AC turns the fan on at low speed. I added a 3-position toggle switch to manually control the fan at low or high speed without AC. With the low temp thermosta and proactive cooling fan at my finger tip, I can keep the temp at indicated 180F or slightly below for most of driving cond. When I let it past '0' then flip the fan at high speed, it comes down to 180F in 3-4 minutes.

New Boxster (and Porsche) owner here, about a month with my 987.1 BS.

I have been surprised how cool it runs. I have gotten used to modern cars running at 200+ °F (for "efficiency"). So to see the temp gauge at 175 or so is quite a shock.

I would not be in the least bit worried with any engine running at 180-200. For an everyday vehicle. run "normally" or even "spiritedly", unless you're seeing well over 200°F under "typical" (under 100° ambient and "just driving") conditions, I wouldn't bee the slightest bit concerned.

OTOH, if you have had the car for 10 years, are very well aware of the historical "behavior" of the engine, and are seeing statistically different readings, that's a whole 'nother story.

Coolant temp sensor is located right where the fluid returns from radiators, so it is basically the coolest point and coolant would be a lot hotter at head or oil cooler... This is why people pays special attention to be safe.

I've done this too. My car sits on the rightmost edge of the 0 in 180 in hot weather in heavy traffic, but will go down if I turn on the AC.

The low temp thermostat is a good idea IMO (haven't done it yet myself), but I suspect it won't help lower your coolant temps - just delay the system's reaching max temperature. I actually noticed my temperatures go down a bit after cleaning my radiators. 3rd radiator is probably the best permanent fix, if you think it's a problem to begin with.

Geez, dont know why it hadn’t dawned on me early. Just turn on the AC. And as many pointed out here, the low temp thermostat doesn’t really add to the cooling capacity. Just begins the process a little earlier. Am thinking now that the S oil cooler is the first order of business. That should add cooling and not as expensive as the 3rd radiator.

Slightly different issue with my 2002 S. The mechanic during an inspection told me the engine fan ran when he put power to it, but that it didn't come on on its own. The gauge reads just a little right of 180. Anyone have any ideas why it doesn't engage on its own?

Thank you.
Bill...

By putting power to it does that mean jumping relay?
Turning AC on will telll you if low speed operation is working

resistor for fan under front bumper

whoops, you mean engine compartment fan. I agree sensor may be shot as mentioned below

Engine fan in the engine compartment? Then the temp sensor on the intake manifold may be shot or not wired right? If you meant radiator fans, then likely those registers as mentioned earlier.

I drove it today before reading about the idea to turn on the air. When i drove it, the temperature never got past the 8. However, when it was idling on a warm day a couple weeks ago it did spike up a bit higher. I'll reach out to my mechanic and share your feedback below. He has been working on these Porsches for years and hasn't seen this issue where it didn't come on. Just trying to understand how these cars typically run as this is my first one. Haven't had any issues since it only has 16K miles. Just got it, everything else checked out perfectly after a 4 hour inspection. 16 years old and its like going into a time machine. Even still smells new. Really appreciate all the feedback. Thank you !!

quote: Engine fan in the engine compartment? Then the temp sensor on the intake manifold may be shot or not wired right?