Hot Running Wagon

I have been monitoring my temp while driving and it seems to stay at 190F during my drive to and from work. This seems way too high . The car has a mechanical fan with electric secondary. I do not believe the secondary is working but shouldn't the car be cooler than 190 with only the mechanical running?

not if you are running a 195* thermostat.

Krzdimond wrote:

not if you are running a 195* thermostat.

Is that the stock thermostat? I would think the temp gauge should be around 1/3 not 2/3 during normal operating conditions?

stock is 180*, but Autozone tried to sell me a 195*. Z-net has wrong # on file. Looked at the stat before I bought it (past problems- wrong part in box)

My car is a 305 TBI car with mechanical fan delete. On the freeway, it runs right at 190-195 with no A/C on. The fans don't even kick on.

Now, I have been having "issues" with my electric fan controller (Hayden adjustable dual fan controller) and am now on my 3rd one in less than a year. Last week before my trip to Massachusetts, the fan controller went goofy and I had a "small" electrical fire underhood via my primary fan going up in smoke... Happy with them? NO... Thinking of returning to mechanical fan? YES but for now I am running an OEM 3rd gen F-body fan(actually fits pretty good) hooked to a 50 amp toggle switch with 10ga wire and a 35A Maxi Fuse. Oh, the fan controller is in the trash...

This is normal. I would only start to worry if you were seeing sustained temps over 200.

I spent about two years off and on chasing a high-temp issue with my wagon. It ended up being the thermostat, which slowly degraded over time to the point where the engine was running at 210F all the time (even when it was 20F outside). I will say that this was a huge benefit in the winter as the heater was roasty toasty, but the bad thermostat also made the engine take longer to warm up, and I DON'T miss that part of it. FWIW, only an AC-Delco thermostat gave me the quick warmup time and stable operating temp I was after. The Autozone thermostat didn't perform as well. Your mileage may vary.

Don't be afraid to let your car's engine run at the stock 190-200F temperature. It's actually better for engine longevity. The other thing people forget when they start playing with fan temps is that the manufacturer spec'd your cooling fan motors to run XYZ% of the time with the stock thermostat setting. If you start playing with the fan turn-on temps, you might want to stock up on spare fan motors because they may wear out a lot quicker than if you had left the temps stock.

sherlock9c1 wrote:

If you start playing with the fan turn-on temps, you might want to stock up on spare fan motors because they may wear out a lot quicker than if you had left the temps stock.

I agree with that. Do you know how old your coolant is too? Might be time for a good flush and refill? Nasty
Is your fan clutch good? Not slipping? BUT as Sherlock9c1 said...under 200 is ok

Chris

Thanks for the information guys. I have taken it from Rochester to Syracuse and back this weekend and she stays right at 190-195. Guess everything is alright.

I will probably do a coolant flush because I do not know when the last owner performed one.

Thanks again!

on a safety note,be careful of the used a/f sitting around .animals love the stuff,and a nasty death soon after,so question is ..the best way to dispose of..??

I use the pet/eco safe stuff so I can just drain it onto the driveway