Well after installing the new Autometer water temp gauge, I was looking forward to getting some accurate water temps. However what the gauge shows is not good.

Temp Levels:

Freeway (70mph): 205°
City Driving (stop & go): 215-220°
Backroads (constant 35mph): 210°
Dead Stop Idle: 235°-240°!!!
Stock Gauge: 208° all the time
Outside Temp: 93°


I refilled the coolant a couple weeks ago and have checked it after every drive, about five times. I even added some of that Water Wetter stuff. At idle, I dont think I hear the fans on. Hopefully wiring up the gauges didn't mess up some other wires.

Is there any way I can find out what's going on? Thanks!

 

Did you get all the air out of the cooling system when you refilled the radiator?
I had a water pump fry becuase there was air in the system after putting in a 160 deg. stat.

 

I felt the radiator hoses and they are flaming hot, you can't hold on to them more than a second. The radiator is also very hot, indicating that coolant is probably flowing.

I didn't think there was much air in the system, after the first drive, I only had to add about 100ml to get it back up the right level.

But I'm still curious about the fans not going. What temp are the supposed to turn on?

 

210F is stock fan turnon temp, you look to be fan
limited. Run the low speed full time and see about
195F (give or take) thermostat-limited temp. I
like thermostat temp better, it is faster acting
and forcing an overcooled radiator tank is not a
bad thing if you can stand the fan noise. I can
stand the low speed, it masks that diesel rattle.

Only half kidding.

 

I only understood one of two things of what you said....

 

You still have the stock thermo & fan settings. Those temps are not far off from what stock is.

 

So my car is supposed to be running at 240°? I dont think so...

What does your gauge say on average?

 

Update: I started the car and let it heat up to see if the fans turn on. The water temp gauge got up to 230° and the fans never turned on. The water pump appears to be working, the coolant lines got pretty hot real quick, and some pressure developed in them. I also noticed an SES light, which I think is from my ported !MAF ends. I disconnected the battery and I'll hook it back up and see what happens.

Another thing came to my mind. What if the fuses are bad? They actually look like circuit breakers, they are the grey box things that are like 1" x 1" in the fuse box. Could these be bad? Are they fuses, or breakers. If the latter do they need to be reset manually?

Thanks

 

A couple of things - first, the stock thermostat is 210 I believe, so that's when it opens and so to have the temperature reach 215 to 220 is not unusual.

Second, to check your fans, turn on the AC - one fan should go on with the AC. Third, be careful to get all the air out of the system - there is a specific procedure for doing this.

Hope this helps.

 

I believe the stock thermostats open at 195*. The first fan comes on at 210. For rference; my temps (w/ a 160* t-stat) will be anywhere from 180 to 200, with in the conditions you described above. That is upwards of 40* difference. Not a far cry off from what you are seeing.

 

I just bought a Thermostat from the Dealer and it was OEM Specified at 186 degrees.
What kind of wires did you have to mess with to install the gauge?
Sounds like you need a Fan Switch.

 

Ok, I emptied the radaitor and filled it up again. This time I had the hose that goes from the TB to the engine block up in the air. I refilled it according to Install Univesity. I will check the coolant level as soon as it cools down. I opened the radiator cap right after driving it and coolant boiled out. I hope this is normal. I let the car idle after drving and the temps again got up to 235°, but I checked and the fans were on, both of them. Not sure if they were on high or low, I couldn't hear them over the engine.

Is it possible I have a bad thermostat? Should I get a new one just in case?

I will look into the SLP Fan swtich, not sure what good it will do.

To install the gauge, I only tapped into the violet signal wire coming off the fron passenger oxygen sensor, and the green wire coming out the the dimmer switch, so I can dim my gauges.

 

I think you're chasing a problem that doesn't exist. With stock t-stat and fan settings, the numbers you report are about right. Especially for 90+ degree ambient temps.

Stock t-stat is 195, stock fan settings are I believe 215 and 240 or something like that (low and high speed).

I added a coolant temp gauge to my car when it was stock and I was amazed as you now are. I left it idling at work one time for 5 mins and I came back to hear the high speed fans going. As I said, high speed fans are around 240 degrees or more. The low speed fans aren't really noticable unless you listen for them, but the high speed fans can be heard from 10-20 ft away - very obvious.

What I did was change the fan temps with LS1 edit. I think I did 200-205 for low speed and 210-215 for high speed. In the summer, after the car warms up, the low speed fans pretty much stay on constantly, and the temps hover at 205 no matter what.

Completely stock cooling system, never even been flushed, 34k miles.

I'd only be worried about coolant temps 250-260+, because that would mean the fans aren't working or you have a real cooling issue (believe me, if the high speed fans come on and the coolant temps keep going up, there's something majorly wrong).

Dope

 

Thats kinda what I was thinking. I think I'll still get a 160° thermostat, should do it sooner or later, and change the fan settings, or get a fan switch.

Thanks

 

Mine is doing the same thing. My main problem was it would run hotter that normal and if I killed it to make a quick stop for food or something and start it back up the gauge would shoot over and peg out. The SES light would come on and then immediatly turn off and the temp would drop. Turned out being the 40amp bus fuse (all the way to the left but not the square grey ones). I think that's the fan that stays on when the car is off. Now it doesn't get to the red but it still gets close.

I only have this problem with the AC on. Also with the AC on the car runs real ruff. I can feel vibration in the pedal and the shifter. Does it run like that with some high temps or is this a problem? I don't know if a compressor going out would cause a heat problem, so, I'm hoping mine is just thermostate. Any thoughts?

 

Your temps ARE normal for a stock setup.Get a cooler `stat and program your fans to come on sooner.

 

For an electrical temp gauge you should have a ground, ignition, and a wire to the sending unit that came with the gauge. When I installed my tranny temp gauge I tried to tap into a PCM wire to use as the sending unit and it threw my readings way off. I then used the sending unit supplied and installed it in the tranny fill hole. The gauge isn't designed to read factory PCM wires, you have to use the sending unit for it to work properly. Just a thought...

 

No, thats all the tapping I did for the whole gauge install... I'm not an idiot. The A/F gauge is the one tapped into the PCM wires.

 

This is why gm made it a dummy guage so people dont freak out by the ls1 changing temps alot. Looks normal to me also. change the thermostat and program the fans to turn on sooner.

 

With the SLP Fan Switch I can turn the fans on when the temp gets to about 185-190 and it will stay there.
P.S.......my '98 model has the accurate gauge.