What Is Good Temp (in F) For the CA to Live At?

[rico05]

Its hard getting a decent answer to this question! I have an Autometer gauge so it reads in degrees F, so please no "It is supposed to be --- Celcius" That does not help me. The stock gauge shows about 1/2-3/5 between Hot and Cold and my Autometer gauge showd me about 125F after crusising around in traffic, then went down to 110F on the highway (seemed to be dropping still when i got off the highway) I am wondering because I need to know if tax return goes to intercooler plumbing and EGT gauge or for cooling system toys. Thanks guys!!

Brand new coolant, new OEM thermo, no leaks, a few bubbles me thinks but other than that the system is golden (never boils over etc)

[c-rad]

Ok, so you're talking about your coolant temps??? Dude, those should be up around the 175-180 mark. If not, the ECU will constantly be in warm up mode and the car will run VERY rich.

[rico05]

Interesting. Yes coolant temps. Any ideas wtf is going on? Gauge is hooked up right. The only thing it could be maybe is the sender is only in the coolant about an inch (cuz I had to use an adapter fitting). And my car does run very rich.

[WeldingHank]

i agree, proper operating temp is 175-180ish. what kind of coolant/water mix you running? and what thermostat?

[originalsin]

stock rad?

[rico05]

Completely stock cooling system. Brand new OEM thermostat as stated in my first post. 70/30 ethelyne glycol/water mix. Just took her out and gave her a flogging...Held steady at 125F.

[WeldingHank]

your going to run a little cooler with that mix, but i don't believe it would be much colder. the position of the temp sender makes a difference too.

[rico05]

I cut the lower radiator hose in half and installed it here with an adapter. Should it be on the upper?

[biosehnsucht]

that won't give you the same reading point as the ECU sees for sure, but that is where the AC fan relay on the 89 KA is, and it kicks on at 198 / off at 188..

[rico05]

I beg to differ. The stock sensor gets its coolant from a hose that actually splits off before the lower rad hose, right after the water pump, and then goes to that part of the head. I should know: it took me over an hour to replace that hose as it had a crack in it and was causing me to lose coolant and for the sensor to be w/o coolant, gigve me the odd problem of spiking the temp gauge, then it would settle, then spike, then settle. I spent a lot of time this weekend tracing all coolant lines getting a good lay of the land as far as the coolant system goes.

[c-rad]

the ecu/gauge should get the temp off the head BEFORE it goes through the radiator. The motor should never see 125 except on startup. The thermostat will stay closed and heat the coolant in the motor until it reaches its preset temp (~180°, 160°, etc... then it opens and circulates the coolant. I am sure you understand how it works, but I would just double check your coolant temp sensor location and verify the thermostat. Regardless of whether it's new or not.

[rico05]

Ok, so where do you think that sender should go? You do realize the the water flows from the engine, through the water pump, then through the lower rad hose through the radiator, then back into the head through the thermo. So the senders location on the lower rad hose is about the best I can do w/o working on the head itself to get the sender in the stock hole.

[WeldingHank]

the sender should be in the upper radiator hose, near the thermostat.

[rico05]

How come? I thought the flow went to the radiator from the water pump via the lower hose to the radiator? Or am I off? I could have sworn that I read on NICO to put the sender on the lower hose...

No offense, but can I get a second opnion?

[Loofee95SE]

when i install the temp gauge on the lower hose i read 180-190 before the thermostat open and let the water flow. wheni install a temp gauge on the upper hose....it barely get to 110 degree... so i think the lower hose should give a much better raeading than the top one.

[WeldingHank]

FSM says the stock sender is right behind the t-stat.

[sdtouge]

when i install the temp gauge on the lower hose i read 180-190 before the thermostat open and let the water flow. wheni install a temp gauge on the upper hose....it barely get to 110 degree... so i think the lower hose should give a much better raeading than the top one.

just because its cvolder doesnt mean its better, its colder because it already went through your radiator.

it can be in the lower hose if you want, its just for the gauge, the stock sensor will still get accurate readings from its stock location... i think it would be better to put it in the upper rad. hose because you tempos wont vary so much from when your at idle and at speed, also, everybody taks thiers from the upper rad. hose, so when you say your at 125 fromthe lower hose, that doesnt mean **** to them when your in need of help, or diagnosing yourself... theresnot some formula to plug it into to get your upper temp hose numver.

just put it in the upper hose, it will const you like 8 bucks...

[biosehnsucht]

thermostat is at the hot end, which is the top hose. pump is at the cold end, which is the bottom hose.

I think the reason the stock AC fan sensor is at the bottom is to detect when the 'cold' water is hotter than optimum, and kick in extra cooling, so that it won't overcool. if it was the other way around, it'd trigger to the input temperature and there's no telling if it over or under cooled after it went through the radiator.

if you want to know what the ECU sees, put it at the top. if you want to know what it is coming out of the radiator, put it at the bottom. top matters, bottom is just good for seeing how effective your radiator is.

one of these days I'd like to install an aftermarket sensor where the stock cluster one is, then wire up a circuit to output voltages from it based on temp that will make the stock one work realisticly... but that'll be something I never get around to

[rico05]

Well s***! For years I thought flow went through the lower rad hose throuse the radiator then through the upper hose. I will get a lower hose after class, so I will know if you guys were right or not by tonite! You better be right, you some folks gonna get the taste slapped out dey mouf.

EDIT: I guess I can also check my thermostat this way so you guys will STFU about it heh

I <3 yous guys. Crack me up...
Modified by rico05 at 8:57 AM 2/22/2005

[WeldingHank]

yeah, water goes in the oposite direction you stated. its inside the engine 1st and pressureizes there and in the heater core (the way you described all the coolant would be pumped out of the block EEK!) then when the T-Stat opens the coolant flows out of the upper hose into the rad. whats going through the upper hose is the temp of the water in the engine

[rico05]

Well, at least I know that I don't need a new radiator....this one seems to work just fine! Average return temp of the coolant to the engine is prob. 115F.

O'Reilly didn't have a lower hose in stock, so it will be Thursday or Friday before I can fix this. At least all of the hard work is done and this surgery should be quick. I'll keep yous guys posted.

[rico05]

Thanks guys! Switched hoses and now I see about 150 moving and 155 sitting in traffic (it's cool here today tho - mid 60s). Everything works like a charm!