Stock radiator?
Engine Temp????What does yours run at??
21 - 40 of 43 Posts
Mine runs at 250 oil temp in traffic or pushing it on the highway. The dealer says that is OK however I would never run my old air cooled motor at 250. I think 250 is the cut off point if you use dino oil like I do in my old car. Not sure how high I can go with the Mobile synthetic I use in the V.
I hope either the gauge is not accurate in my car or the dealer is going to buy me a new motor if I kill rod or main bearing.
I hope either the gauge is not accurate in my car or the dealer is going to buy me a new motor if I kill rod or main bearing.
I have done a little research on optimum coolant temps, and found no real agreement. For instance, Smokey Yunick liked to run as hot as possible. Nevertheless, it seems the LS motors are sensitive to intake air temps, which is heavily influenced by coolant temps. Keep in mind also that coolant temps are not measured at the hottest areas of the motor, around the exhaust valves. For many years it seemed that coolant temps were maintained by 180 degree thermostats. With emission controls we have seen hotter running motors, which survive boiling-over through higher pressure radiator caps.
My experiences in a temperate climate are my CTS-V normally ran at about 192F. It ran hotter on idle and slow traffic like all cars do.
I tried a Lingenfelter "180" thermostat. Lingenfelter's themostats are a no-name brand that do not have the temp rating engraved on them. The result of the so-called "180" was to RAISE temps to 198F.
Then I installed a Lingenfelter "160", which I have now. My cruise temp is 182F.
Another problem, which was prevalant in the LT motors was steam pockets in the heads. Little hot spots would occur. Temps would rise well past boiling in these hot spots. Steam would occur, which in turn prevented coolant form contacting the metal. The LS series motors have addressed these problems better, but they still exist. As long as their is water in the coolant it is subject to possible steam pockets.
I addressed this problems by changing to Evans Coolant, which is waterless. It is expensive at about $30 gal. No change in coolant temp, but no pressure cap is needed now.
I have seen some posts worrying that a cooler temps will prevent the motor from going into a closed loop mode. The LS motor goes to closed loop very soon after light-off, and long before the coolant reaches "cruise temp." This can easily be verified by using a ScanGauge.
My experiences in a temperate climate are my CTS-V normally ran at about 192F. It ran hotter on idle and slow traffic like all cars do.
I tried a Lingenfelter "180" thermostat. Lingenfelter's themostats are a no-name brand that do not have the temp rating engraved on them. The result of the so-called "180" was to RAISE temps to 198F.
Then I installed a Lingenfelter "160", which I have now. My cruise temp is 182F.
Another problem, which was prevalant in the LT motors was steam pockets in the heads. Little hot spots would occur. Temps would rise well past boiling in these hot spots. Steam would occur, which in turn prevented coolant form contacting the metal. The LS series motors have addressed these problems better, but they still exist. As long as their is water in the coolant it is subject to possible steam pockets.
I addressed this problems by changing to Evans Coolant, which is waterless. It is expensive at about $30 gal. No change in coolant temp, but no pressure cap is needed now.
I have seen some posts worrying that a cooler temps will prevent the motor from going into a closed loop mode. The LS motor goes to closed loop very soon after light-off, and long before the coolant reaches "cruise temp." This can easily be verified by using a ScanGauge.
i need to put my 160 T-stat in.. its been bouncing around in my back seat for like 3 weeks. you should come over and help me install it lol. i need somoe motivation
I had that car too ('96 Mystic), and I got the heating fix. Not because it really needed it per se, but mostly because I knew I would have it on the track and wanted the extra cooling capacity. Basically they would only replace your stuff if you hit a "thermal shutdown" or limp home mode. I can't remember how I did it, but I spoofed that to get mine replaced. Of course when they did that they tried to do some other "fix" to a wiring harness and screwed it up before my first ever road-course event, resulting in me taking my warranty-provided rental (4 door Chevy Cavalier with 3 speed automatic tranny) to Louden.
The tech-inspection guys thought it was awesome that my brother and I were racing a rental, kinda like the old days when people used to rent Shelby GT-350Hs to race for the day.
Today was about 75*F. Mixture of stop/go traffic I was watching the gauge occasionally and I never saw it go over 221*F. As soon as it got on the highway it quickly dropped to 192*F.
bpitas:
Ford/SVT wanted 3 documented thermal shutdown conditions before they would perform the 'cooling fix.' Really? Does it have to get close to death 3 times in order to save its life!? Then I've heard enough horror stories of the dealers hacking up a perfectly nice car to speed up the installations. Anyway, I learned to live with the high engine temperatures under extreme conditions. Those days that I had my scan tool, I never saw the temp go over 238*F. When I was on the track, I watched the gauge climb just shy of the red zone but the car never failed me. I have no idea what the actual temperture is when the gauge reads there. After driving the Cobra for 113,000 miles, it never left me stranded. It was just as fast the day I sold it compared to the day I bought it.
The '96 Mystic Cobras had a cool color scheme unlike the Mystic-Chrome on the '04 model in my opinion.
In the Caddy, I can't recall any moment that the analog gauge ever passed the 12 o'clock mark no matter what the digital gauge reads. I bet when the temp exceeds a value then gauge will move again. I can't stand "smart clusters."
bpitas:
Ford/SVT wanted 3 documented thermal shutdown conditions before they would perform the 'cooling fix.' Really? Does it have to get close to death 3 times in order to save its life!? Then I've heard enough horror stories of the dealers hacking up a perfectly nice car to speed up the installations. Anyway, I learned to live with the high engine temperatures under extreme conditions. Those days that I had my scan tool, I never saw the temp go over 238*F. When I was on the track, I watched the gauge climb just shy of the red zone but the car never failed me. I have no idea what the actual temperture is when the gauge reads there. After driving the Cobra for 113,000 miles, it never left me stranded. It was just as fast the day I sold it compared to the day I bought it.
The '96 Mystic Cobras had a cool color scheme unlike the Mystic-Chrome on the '04 model in my opinion.
Are there instructions somewhere for installing the thermostat? I heard you have to drain the coolant and also heard that if you do it quickly you don't have to drain it.
i havnt looked around yet, i talked to a fellow member the other day that just installed the 160 and he said he lost about a gallon of dexcool. its easy to access so i am assuming its just like every other t-stat in the world. sucks that the dexcool is so expensive.
yea thats what i am gonna do. i have nothing to do monday so maybe i will tackle it then
put the 160 stat in and with StageUp tune modding the fans. added WaterWetter, I would not count on that helping, but what the hey. stock radiator. today temps were 105 and with the A/C on full, car never saw 185.
Installing my Billet Prototypes PCV can on Saturday, maybe even my BMR pinion suppot.
Last Weekend: STAGEUP tune, 160 stat, Cutout the bottom 1/4 of stock airbox and panel K&N with alll the plastic removed in fender and rubber snout. Unhooked the cooloant hoses to the throttle body.
I am telling you my car has NEVER run as good as it does right now. NEXT UP, Full B&B exhaust and Fidanza FW.
Installing my Billet Prototypes PCV can on Saturday, maybe even my BMR pinion suppot.
Last Weekend: STAGEUP tune, 160 stat, Cutout the bottom 1/4 of stock airbox and panel K&N with alll the plastic removed in fender and rubber snout. Unhooked the cooloant hoses to the throttle body.
I am telling you my car has NEVER run as good as it does right now. NEXT UP, Full B&B exhaust and Fidanza FW.
The below numbers are for the C5/C5 Z06 Corvette, but I suspect that GM uses about the same programing in the CTS-V and its other LSx engined cars.
:cheers:
When the car starts and the coolant is cold, the thermostat will remain closed so the fluid doesn't circulate to the radiator so it heats up faster. The thermostat will open at about 194 or so allowing fluid to flow to the radiator. Once your car is warmed up, the thermostat thus sets the low temp because if really cold air flows through the radiator cooling the coolant below 194, the thermostat will go towards shut, reducing flow to the radiator and the coolant will remain at about 194.
On the high end, the temp is controlled by the fans. Though the fan setpoints appear to have varied slightly over the years, they are about: low speed on at 226, off at 219; hi speed on at 235, off at 226. So in stop a go traffic, it is not abnormal to see temps in these ranges.
Other things to consider are that when the AC condensor is on, the fans will run, thus if it is hot enough out for the AC to run and the fans are on, but the load on the engine is low or airflow through the radiator is high, the temp will go down to the 194 range where the thermostat will go closed again.
The car can reach an equilibrium in between 194 (thermostat closes) and 219 (fans come on) dependent on engine load and airflow/airtemp flowing through radiator, thus you see many guys say their car runs near 200-210.
:cheers:
When the car starts and the coolant is cold, the thermostat will remain closed so the fluid doesn't circulate to the radiator so it heats up faster. The thermostat will open at about 194 or so allowing fluid to flow to the radiator. Once your car is warmed up, the thermostat thus sets the low temp because if really cold air flows through the radiator cooling the coolant below 194, the thermostat will go towards shut, reducing flow to the radiator and the coolant will remain at about 194.
On the high end, the temp is controlled by the fans. Though the fan setpoints appear to have varied slightly over the years, they are about: low speed on at 226, off at 219; hi speed on at 235, off at 226. So in stop a go traffic, it is not abnormal to see temps in these ranges.
Other things to consider are that when the AC condensor is on, the fans will run, thus if it is hot enough out for the AC to run and the fans are on, but the load on the engine is low or airflow through the radiator is high, the temp will go down to the 194 range where the thermostat will go closed again.
The car can reach an equilibrium in between 194 (thermostat closes) and 219 (fans come on) dependent on engine load and airflow/airtemp flowing through radiator, thus you see many guys say their car runs near 200-210.
VERY common problem with these cars... I've had it for the last year, still unable to fix it... something wrong with the Elect. system
I was tuning my car couple weekends ago with a friend and my oil climbed to 300 and the dings and whistles went off. I was doing extended pulls at high RPM for about 50 mins. I was also concerned, but the gauge in HP tuners said that my oil temps were about 20 degrees below that. I think that is just GM putting the fear in us so we don't seize our blocks.
Oil changes never hurt, mine needs one in a couple weeks. :highfive:
t-stat wont bring real world temp down much, but will help btwn drag runs a bit. The fans cant be programmed to come on anywhere near 160. I did that mod to my LS2. The LS2 ran around 180-192, though I've heard the LS6s run hotter.
21 - 40 of 43 Posts
