Coolant at 210 when idle in traffic

Hi there. Greetings from Dubai. It was 110deg today... My F430 spider did not go over 170 in normal driving. At traffic lights it moved up to 180 or so...factory pipes but with middle east heat pack. Was in the heat for about 45mins. Hope that helps. Mark

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Check your cooling system. Radiators (are they covered with debris?), fans (are they both running?), coolant (is it full?), thermostat (when does it open?). Are there any trouble codes?

 

210 is normal in stop & go traffic. That's what the fans are regulated to maintain.

Dubai's info is wrong.

Even in 75-80 outside temps my car always show 210 when it's been stationary for awhile in traffic.

Radiant heat from your exhaust won't effect your coolant temps

You can verify this with your local dealer

 

The fans operate staggered. Both don't come on together.

 

These new cars are designed to run hot because it is good for lowering emissions.

My 2003 Corvette used to regularly get to 240 - dealer said it was normal.

That said - 360s run cool. I get to 210 idling on hot days (Las Vegas - pretty warm).But driving on the road at 100 ambient I tend to run around 170.

You sound normal to me.

 

I was recommending to check if they both are functional.

 

I turn on the heat with the top down if it get's worrisome. But this only works if the alternator doesn't fail

 

The problem with generic answers is............

"coolant full" without describing what that means.

With the Coolant cold, open expansion tank & verify it's not dry & has approximately 1-2 inches of coolant in the tank.

How do you get BOTH fans to run without a SD2/3?

Push the STOP or OFF button on the A/C pnl. Start the car & let idle for 10-15 minutes till one of the fans comes on as the temps rise above 200 or so. Turn on the A/C by pushing the Stop/Off button & the other fan should turn on. As the temps drop one fan will cycle on & off

Trouble codes? I think he would have mentioned a check eng light, but you never know.

When should the thermostat open? Give him a temp range & what temp it shows during steady state freeway driving. Over time (1/2hr or so) the oil temp will match the water temp.

I'm not picking on you in particular, I get frustrated with generic replies to questions

 

I carefully listed a few things to check that could influence indicated temperature. It's not my goal to provide a specific solution. Typically that isn't possible from a written description. As far as coolant level goes. I can't tell you the number of car owners that have never looked. Are the fans running? A fair question. You described the method that didn't require a scantool. Thermostat opening temp? Not really likely to be a problem in this case. One simple way is to observe when the coolant reservoir starts to get warm? Check engine light? Just because it wasn't mentioned doesn't mean there wasn't one. Some codes don't trigger the light.

In this case there was likely no real problem.

 

I got caught in my 360 in an unexpected traffic jam the other day at about 88 degrees in Pittsburgh. Happened to pull up behind a black 360 and this guy was really worried. He couldn't take his eyes off the dashboard (temp gauge) and started getting pretty animated. He'd probably been sitting there longer than me. This lasted about 15 minutes sitting idling but no place to pull off due to tight road. My temp hit 210 and stayed there. Didn't budge. All I did was turn the A/C off and open the windows. Finally we crept to a feeder road, he rapidly pulled off, jumped out and opened his rear bonnet.

So I neurotically worry about heat but I've never really had a problem. I've also been told that 210 is "normal" in such situations. I'll start sweating (literally) if it hits 220?

 

It's funny - these cars always "feel" like they're running hot, but they're really not. They just have accurate gauges.

My Range Rover Supercharged runs hotter than my 430, but it has a tableau gauge typical of most production cars, which buffers the temperature reading within a given acceptable range so it always sits perfectly in the middle.

 

I think everyone has already said it but sitting at idle is normal. The day I got mine it almost went to the next notch for a few seconds (about 225 I'd guess but still a whole botch below danger zone thankfully) and I realized this shouldnt happen. It was 105, I was going up hill 10 mph out but thought it still shouldn't do that. Soon as I started driving faster and it went back below middle. Drive at night not an issue but I didn't like the idea so did some research. Test your fans. Turn on the a/c both should kick on eventually. When it hits 210 they go INtermittenly. I had a bad relay. Ferrari newport replaced the relay and something else related to the system, I can't think of the name. Since that, it only gets to 205 or so when it's 95 plus out stop and go. Check to make sure both fans are kicking on. If your not going above 210, I'm sure you are fine buddy.