air conditioner and running hot - question - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

rwgottar · 05-31-2011, 04:47 AM

Hi everyone,

hoping I can get some help here.. im driving a 97 boxster, in traffic it seems to run a bit hot, the temp gauge will begin creeping up from between the 8 and the 0 on the "80" (Cecilius) in normal conditions. it will reach the far right edge of the 0 in the 80 when the fans will come on.

The other day I was driving with the A/C on and the temp held steady between the 8 and the 0 regardless of driving conditions...

anyone know what is going on here? is there a prob, with my low speed fan setting, or the temp gauge? or is this normal?

Thanks,
Richard

tonycarreon · 05-31-2011, 06:16 AM

when you turn on the A/C the fans are turned on as well so it keeps the engine a little cooler. with the A/C off, the fans only kick in when necessary.

normally, it sits just over the 8 and sometimes between the 8 and 0, but in stop/go traffic i've seen my temp guage reach the far right side of the 0...

shlim8 · 05-31-2011, 06:31 AM

I've got a 01 2.7 boxster. The normal running temp is usually between the 8 and 0 mark, usually closer to 8 mark when pottering around and in the 0 mark when pushing it or stuck in traffic for a long time - meaning the max water temp is slightly above 90 celcius.

This is with a LN low temp thermostat and new original water pump.... It used to be closer to 80 (82-85 ??) previously when the weather was afew degrees cooler but it's gone up since the weather became hotter..

BTW, will both fans come on when the a/c is on ? or just one ? I checked the other day and only driver side (for RHD, passenger side for LHD) was on... WHen the water temp went up more both fans came on.

Is this normal ? Or do I have a fan problem ?

rwgottar · 05-31-2011, 06:31 AM

thanks for the reply

this is the temp when my fans kick in.. is this normal? it seems a bit high to me..

shlim8 · 05-31-2011, 06:51 AM

My radiator fans comes on earlier than that...

My box's temp almost is as high as that ONLY when I'm pushing it very very hard going up a mountain, but like I mentioned, I have a low temp thermostat. I usually back off when the temp gets that high.

When I'm pushing it on the highway >200kmh, it'll go up to about 90 C or slightly more.

I wish the temp was more stable and close to the 80 mark hence I'm comtemplating retro fitting the 3rd radiator.

I think the temp in Toronto would be cooler than in Singapore / Malaysia, except for the one or two super hot weeks in summer.... (I lived in waterloo, ont for 4 yrs).

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwgottar

thanks for the reply

this is the temp when my fans kick in.. is this normal? it seems a bit high to me..

rwgottar · 05-31-2011, 07:14 AM

yeah i had a feeling they were coming on a bit late... anyone know how to fix that??

i heard temp sensors wear out over time and need to be replaced.. but could really use some more info

PS: highways in singapore sound a LOT more fun than here in ontario lol

tonycarreon · 05-31-2011, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shlim8

BTW, will both fans come on when the a/c is on ? or just one ? I checked the other day and only driver side (for RHD, passenger side for LHD) was on... WHen the water temp went up more both fans came on.

Is this normal ? Or do I have a fan problem ?

assuming the needle positions are the same, regardless if it's F or C on the guage, that's about when all of my fans are on high...

there are three fans.
1. the engine compartment fan is the one you describe - on the right side of the car, looking forward. when the car is put away hot, you'll more than likely hear this one come on even if the car is switched off. the other "vent" is the air intake. if you feel air blowing out of that vent you have a bigger problem.

2. radiator fans. there are two, one for the L and R radiator. they come on with the a/c and have a low and high speed. on high, i swear the car sounds like a hover craft. more than likely you'll only hear the engine fan kick on when you're in the car.

i believe there are some threads about the car running hot because the front fans either do not come on, or do not spin up to high. this is usually the result of resistor problems.

if you have a duramtric (enthusiast works) you can test it by turning them on and off. otherwise your porsche dealer may be kind enough to test it with a porsche diagnostic tool.

shlim8 · 05-31-2011, 06:31 PM

Oh Oh, that means I have a problem ? With the aircon on, I only have one radiator fan coming on and feels like it's on low.

When the engine is pretty hot, I have 2 "hovercraft-sounding" fans coming on (still with aircon on) - ie on high.

I thought that was strange and checked with one of the mechanics (not my regular as he was out) and he said it was normal, so I left it as that without further investigation.