Coolant Temp and Ambient Temps
Discussion
Took my tuscan out for a run this morning, around 10 am the car was running low to mid 80's once warm.
Drove home around 12pm was on the motorway for about 40 mins then came off on to some A roads. I noticed that the temp now was flickering from 89 to 91.. it did this all the way back for 10 mins or so till it was on the drive. At one point briefly pulled up at a round about and noticed the fan had kicked in.
I left it running to see if i could get it to boil over but, the temp stayed a constant 91 with the fans flicking in at around 93 and the temp dropping again.
Will the air temp have that big an impact on the collant temp
Drove home around 12pm was on the motorway for about 40 mins then came off on to some A roads. I noticed that the temp now was flickering from 89 to 91.. it did this all the way back for 10 mins or so till it was on the drive. At one point briefly pulled up at a round about and noticed the fan had kicked in.
I left it running to see if i could get it to boil over but, the temp stayed a constant 91 with the fans flicking in at around 93 and the temp dropping again.
Will the air temp have that big an impact on the collant temp
Yes it will. Mine goes upto about 91/92 and the first fan will kick in, at 93/94 the second will come on, I've never seen it go over 94 even when tuck in stand still traffic and the weather is 28C sunshine. The temp will have a lot of variation depending on air temp, how you are driving the car (using full rev range or keeping it down low) and also how fast you are going. Out on the open road it tends to stick around 75 on a hot day and 55-60 in the winter. When it's v hot I keep the revs down just to help regulate the temps.
Hi Matt
Mine has the decat chip so at 92 both fans come on, which if you ask me is better. Can get up to 94 before mod but no higher. The higher ambient temps make it harder for the rads to transfer the heat to the air running through the grill/bonnet. I have also swapped to a higher rating on the thermastat. I think they should all have the mod to kick the fans in together. I wonder how many head gasket failures were down to the fans not kicking in and those silly connectors?
Mine has the decat chip so at 92 both fans come on, which if you ask me is better. Can get up to 94 before mod but no higher. The higher ambient temps make it harder for the rads to transfer the heat to the air running through the grill/bonnet. I have also swapped to a higher rating on the thermastat. I think they should all have the mod to kick the fans in together. I wonder how many head gasket failures were down to the fans not kicking in and those silly connectors?
Hi neill,
What concerns me is the fact the fan was coming in after being stationary for 20 seconds and the temp remained at 88 to 90 even driving at low revs with no traffic.
Having said that it was dam hot today when I came home, I've never driven the car when its that warm before. I couldn't see any leaks and coolant was still in the neck of the header tank.
What concerns me is the fact the fan was coming in after being stationary for 20 seconds and the temp remained at 88 to 90 even driving at low revs with no traffic.
Having said that it was dam hot today when I came home, I've never driven the car when its that warm before. I couldn't see any leaks and coolant was still in the neck of the header tank.
Matt,
Due to a c**p coolant pressure cap at LeMans Classic in 2010, my car lost a lot of coolant. However, once a replacement was sourced and the system topped up and bled, everything was fine.
I did the parade laps on the Saturday, ambients were hovering around the 36-38 degC. Even whilst waiting to get on the track in this sweltering heat, the coolant did not exceed 97 degC, both fans cycling as they should. Once on the move, the coolant came down to the usual 75-78 degC. It is quite a big system (11 litres) I think, so, there is quite a bit of heat soak to dissipate. I guess, for this reason, it makes sense to drive the car to cool down/normalise after a period of high temps?
Nick
Due to a c**p coolant pressure cap at LeMans Classic in 2010, my car lost a lot of coolant. However, once a replacement was sourced and the system topped up and bled, everything was fine.
I did the parade laps on the Saturday, ambients were hovering around the 36-38 degC. Even whilst waiting to get on the track in this sweltering heat, the coolant did not exceed 97 degC, both fans cycling as they should. Once on the move, the coolant came down to the usual 75-78 degC. It is quite a big system (11 litres) I think, so, there is quite a bit of heat soak to dissipate. I guess, for this reason, it makes sense to drive the car to cool down/normalise after a period of high temps?
Nick
Hi Nick,
thanks for that, think I'll monitor it. Yesterday after coming off the motorway driving along at 40 wouldnt bring the temp back down from 90, although it didnt go above that and left idling on the drive wouldnt go above 94ish.
My temp numbers flicker a lot on the display aswell is this typical behaviour?
thanks for that, think I'll monitor it. Yesterday after coming off the motorway driving along at 40 wouldnt bring the temp back down from 90, although it didnt go above that and left idling on the drive wouldnt go above 94ish.
My temp numbers flicker a lot on the display aswell is this typical behaviour?
Matt,
yep, flickering/rapidly changing numbers on the display is the same as mine.
Don't forget that the display sensor is different to the ecu temp sensor - but if the fans are on then that must indicate a temp >92 degC (at least, as measured by the ecu sensor).
I suppose you could always borrow an infra-red thermometer probe thingy, and point it at the water pump/rad hoses to make sure you had good circulation/cooling from the radiators?
Nick
yep, flickering/rapidly changing numbers on the display is the same as mine.
Don't forget that the display sensor is different to the ecu temp sensor - but if the fans are on then that must indicate a temp >92 degC (at least, as measured by the ecu sensor).
I suppose you could always borrow an infra-red thermometer probe thingy, and point it at the water pump/rad hoses to make sure you had good circulation/cooling from the radiators?
Nick
Well took the car out tonight, did 10 mins of driving at 80, came off bypass, booted it up a hill in 3rd to try and replicate sundays shennanigans but just cant get the fan to come on while driving again.
Sat it round my mums going for 15 mins fans cutting in at 92 and 94, which takes the temp back down to 89/90.. couldnt get it to boil in that time.
Sat it round my mums going for 15 mins fans cutting in at 92 and 94, which takes the temp back down to 89/90.. couldnt get it to boil in that time.
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