This summer in Texas has been pretty hot. Pretty much every day it gets over 100F.

My car's temperature stays between 190-200 all the time except on the way home from work at 6pm when I am idling in stop and go traffic on the freeway and I turn on my A/C. The temp starts rising to around 230-235

This is the temp I get from my scanner NOT the stock guage, the stock guage reads around 210 right in the middle when my scanner says 230

with the outside temps at 100+ I know the air being sucked into my motor from the road has to be 120+ at least.

I have flushed my Radiator, installed a new 180 Tstat and cleaned any debris from my condenser and radiator, also have a trans cooler installed in front of my condenser so I know that is adding heat to the air.


My question is how hot is normal for these conditions and what kind of temps are other guys getting under similar conditions. I usually turn my A/C off when it gets to 230

Would like to hear from the guys reading scanners or aftermarket gauges

 

I have done everything you have with regard to flush and clearing debris. I went 50/50 with distilled water and DexCool, fans are working properly and are programmed to start at 180. I have also installed a 160 degree T-Stat. My morning commute will have coolant temps around 185 - 190. Afternoon commute is hell, as the car gets upward of 225-240.

 

mine always stays barely below the 210 mark or whats ever in the middle i would say mine runs 190-200 all the time but mines stock. if i was you i would go with a 160 slp stat it would really help cool it down a little bit

 

Mine never goes over 185

 

Mine was doing the same but the temperature was getting up to 240(HPtuners). I went ahead and took out the SSRA or whatever it is and found some old grass and a small plastic bag, the gauge now stays at the 210 mark, as to before it was going to the 3/4 mark(whatever temp it is).

 

03Sssnake, are you running a trans cooler?

 

Are you still in Illinois? Things are a little hotter Texas. Just a few days ago my exterior temp display was at 109!

 

No transcooler on mine, fwiw this is on my 03 Z06. My F-body ran cooler even with the FTRA it never went much if any past 210.

 

Mibes stays around 190-200 never above 210. I have full bolt ons untuned. I think driving past the 210mark is dangerous n bad on ur car...

 

i heard over 240 your aluminum block can crack

 

Mine gets to about 210 on a Phantom gauge, My fans run all the time (just on/off switch) I have LS1 Fans mounted on a LT1 Rad and a factory thermostat. Im gonna try that Additive to see if it helps any but these afternoon rides home over black asphalt is killer....I also have no AC....Joy

 

some of you guys are judging your car's temperature by where the needle sits on your stock gauge and that's just not accurate.

Carlos, when my gauge is at 210, my car is actually in the 230-240 range so you might not be running as cool as you think.

normally my gauge sits halfway to the first mark and thats in the 185-200 range

 

I have the stock cooling system on my iron 408. I usually go against the grain of traffic as I live in town and work @ BW8 & 10. Recently though, I have been running errands and getting stuck in traffic so I can sympathize.

In the morning, I am around 190-200*F with my Autometer gauge in the DS front head. Stock sensor in passenger rear head. In traffic in the evenings, I am at 220-240*F.

I had an oil cooler in front of the radiator, but moved it horizontally between the radiator core support and sway bar brackets this past weekend. With that in the former position, the heat load on the radiator in stop & go traffic got up to 250-260*F last week. The high temp shutdown on the AC compressor shutoff the AC for me, haha.

 

He is right mine was sitting at 210 on a hot day till i installed a aeroforce and found out that ment 230. Mine does the same thing runs cool in the am but heats up on the drive home cleaned the radiator and the condensor,160 stat everything checks out fine.I put in some purple ice and that helped but still wants to run hot in traffic. the only thing i have notice is no matter how hot it is outside if don't turn on the AC she runs cool no matter what but with the AC on in traffic she starts to get hot so i have narrowed it to some thing with the AC thinking the condensor is cloged on the inside it getting hot and pushing that hot air though the radiator... any way that's what i know so far but it would be nice if we put our heads together and figure this out.

 

There's more than likely nothing wrong with your car. In the AM, the interior of your car is cool, it is ambient temperature while in the PM after sitting in the sun for some or most of the day, is very hot. The condenser and AC system attempts to transfer that heat into the already relatively hot outside environment. The heat load placed on the radiator from the condenser is incredible. All the air rushing over the radiator has already picked up quite a bit of heat from the condenser. I would venture to say, your case is normal and why a lot of manufacturers use "dummy gauges." The gauge shows you that everything is fine because it is.

All those with the stock ECT sensor and gauge cluster on 99-02 f-bodys will have a dummy gauge while the 98s will have a functional gauge.

 

I use a scan gauge... typically my car (6 speed) runs around 185-195 with ac on. But with this 100 degree heat running around town in stop n go, the car will go as much as 211. It's only been higher when water/coolant level was low.

 

ive got a 96 lt1 and it seems to be backwards than most of you guys. When the stock needle sits at 210 (halfways) my aeroforce gauge reads between 199-202. I dont trust my stock needle gauges anymore. Sometimes the temp reaches the red mark and the aeroforce reads it at around 230-235. Even my rpms are off by a little bit. The only one that reads accurate is my speedometer so far.

 

On the highway with the AC on at 4pm I see 222-226. With AC off I see 206 or so.

As for stop and go traffic, you want ac? LOL! get a daily

 

Mine has gotten hotter than normal a couple of times this summer. Turning the AC off returned it back to normal both times. Everything seems to be in good working order. Yes, our gauges lie when in the "normal" range.

 

i guess my car isnt so bad , mine gets hot in stop and go because im procharged and only have one fan .