car will not get up to operating temp
03-05-2011, 06:41 PM
#1
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car will not get up to operating temp i have an 1998 camaro ls1, and the temp gauge will not go above about 170, im pretty sure its not the thermostat my car almost overheated one time and it was reading hot then (thank god.) other than that the car runs fine, gas mileage seems reasonable, nothing out of the ordinary exept the engine running cold, so im stumped please help if you know about this or have had this problem before thank you.
Last edited by shane0328; 03-05-2011 at 06:51 PM.
03-05-2011, 08:44 PM
#4
If the stat sticks open....you will overheat or run hotter than normal. Unless its stuck open and you're driving on the highway in 10*F weather.
If the stat sticks closed....you will over heat in a hurry and the temp needle will bury into the red in 15 minutes.
These guages are not accurate at all. They are just guides. Maybe your coolant temp sensor is failing or your guage is just showing something different.
Get a scanner on it and see whast the true temp is before you start going nuts chasing a problem.
.
If the stat sticks closed....you will over heat in a hurry and the temp needle will bury into the red in 15 minutes.
These guages are not accurate at all. They are just guides. Maybe your coolant temp sensor is failing or your guage is just showing something different.
Get a scanner on it and see whast the true temp is before you start going nuts chasing a problem.
.
03-07-2011, 06:41 PM
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If the stat is stuck open you will not overheat. However you will never get up to true operating temp unless you sitting in trafficmon a hot day. If it didn't open you'll overheat
03-07-2011, 09:13 PM
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it can overheat if it is stuck open because the coolant stays cycling in a hot motor. The thermostat closes to get the coolant to stay in the radiator and cool down. so +1 on what ls6427 said.
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03-07-2011, 09:22 PM
#8
You have it backwards, the coolant circulates through the motor AND the radiator when the t-stat is open. When the motor is cold the t-stat closes to keep the coolant in the motor so it warms up faster, then it opens when it gets to operating temp so the coolant can circulate through the radiator to cool it down.
While the thermostat is closed, there is no flow of coolant in the radiator loop, and water flow is instead redirected back through the engine, allowing it to warm up rapidly while also avoiding hotspots within the engine. The thermostat stays closed until the coolant temperature reaches the nominal thermostat opening temperature. The thermostat then progressively opens as the coolant temperature increases to the optimum operating temperature, increasing the coolant flow to the radiator. Once the optimum operating temperature is reached, the thermostat progressively increases or decreases its opening in response to temperature changes, dynamically balancing the coolant recirculation flow and coolant flow to the radiator to maintain the engine temperature in the optimum range as engine heat output, vehicle speed, and outside ambient temperature change.
While the thermostat is closed, there is no flow of coolant in the radiator loop, and water flow is instead redirected back through the engine, allowing it to warm up rapidly while also avoiding hotspots within the engine. The thermostat stays closed until the coolant temperature reaches the nominal thermostat opening temperature. The thermostat then progressively opens as the coolant temperature increases to the optimum operating temperature, increasing the coolant flow to the radiator. Once the optimum operating temperature is reached, the thermostat progressively increases or decreases its opening in response to temperature changes, dynamically balancing the coolant recirculation flow and coolant flow to the radiator to maintain the engine temperature in the optimum range as engine heat output, vehicle speed, and outside ambient temperature change.
Last edited by RedHotG8; 03-07-2011 at 09:32 PM.
03-07-2011, 10:30 PM
#10
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well i dont know much about thermostats never had to mess with them but ur saying the thermostat closes and cuts off coolant flow? and i have had a scanner on it and it has no codes for thermostat or anything like that.
03-07-2011, 11:58 PM
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easy test let the car run for 10-15 min in your driveway and the put your hand(be carefull) on the radiator or on the top rad hose and see if its cold and if it is the tstat it stuck closed.
03-08-2011, 10:13 PM
#16
So that test is good to detect a completely stuck "closed" t-stat.
Even if the hoses get hot, if you suspect a bad t-stat, it needs to come out and go into a pot of boiling water to fully test it.
.
03-10-2011, 02:39 PM
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If you want to know some true temperatures, get a infrared temp. gun and go at it.
My 98 reads normal now, but for a while it would read 180 or so on a hot *** day. . . . The gauges are just not that accurate in these cars.
My 98 reads normal now, but for a while it would read 180 or so on a hot *** day. . . . The gauges are just not that accurate in these cars.
