Normal Coolant temperature Range

Your owner's manual has a wealth of information including the following "Cooling System: The engine cooling is carried out using an antifreeze mixture. As the mixture circulation is under 12 psi pressure, max permited temperature is 230-240°F..."

 

Having a 328, I can't say from first hand experience, but have some friends with 308's and their cars normal operating temp seems to be around the 190 range. How much above that would you consider still safe?? At what temp would warping the heads be a real consideration?? For me if the temp went up to 220, you are either driving at speeds above 120 MPH for an extended period of time or something is wrong. If I was within 10 miles of home I would try and limp back, otherwise shut it down and look for anything obvious, but I wouldn't think that 220 is still normal and keep driving as if everything is OK.

 

My 308QV operates normally at ~190-195. Don't know about the other models.

MB

 

Just one thought here -- heat sink. If the temp gets up over 220*F, up over 230*, and it is because you are driving on the track or at high speed for an extended period, I don't think you simply want to shut it down. In that case, you might be better off reducing speed, driving at a moderate speed, and seeing if the temp comes down to normal. If you simply shut down, the heat sink effect may cause temps in the heads to go even higher. Yes? By driving at normal speeds, you should circulate enough coolant to bring it down to normal, and then you can shut down without fear of damage.

On the other hand, if it's been running at normal temps and suddenly goes way up, something obviously is wrong (like your water pump belt broke -- ask me how I know that one), and you need to get off the road and shut it down ASAP and figure out why it suddenly spiked. A sudden spike usually means something failed in the system. And, of course, if the temps are climbing while sitting in traffic or idling, and go to normal when you start moving, check to be sure your fans are kicking on.

 

I expect that this is why the OM suggests that after a period of hard driving, you let the car run gently for a few minutes before shutting it down? It's good practice for all motors that driven hard.

 

Temperature is currently 108F here in dallas, and has been over 100 every day for nearly forty days now.

I haven't driven the 308 at all since late June; might take it up to the store later on and see what happens.

 

Realize that when 230-240 is exceeded, the pressure cap lets water escape. Perhaps you've not experienced this, I have this experience in several cars, (kept a gallon jug of water in trunk of one) and it's truly a scary moment. When the cap pops due to overheating, the boiling point of remaining water drops making the danger temperature worse because of the reduced pressure and loss of water means reduced heat flow to the radiator.

But if you are only worried about sustained driving at 240, Plenty of us have done so, but nervously, and only if there are encouraging periods where the temp drops a bit, but for me I consider key off if it steadily continues to raise above that. Personally I don't think damage is done but put it into the category of eating too much sugar. No immediate damage but in the long term who's to know? To say a sustained 230 is bad whereas sustained 220 is ok...??...I can't think of anything metallic which can have a critical melt down. Warped heads etc come ffrom ignoring higher temperatures than 240. Also realize a high pressure cap will allow the boiling point to get up to 250 or so and increase the ability to transfer heat out of the engine. I say, don't worry about it. Enjoy

 

The picture you have taken shows the oil temp. The water temp on your car should be on the center consul, unless someone switched them. I regualrly see as high as 210 on mine during hot summer days(near 100f). Most people say 190-195, but I don't believe the gauge completely. I don't see why 210 or even a little higher should be a big deal. The digital gauges I've had on some rental cars showed 210-220 during hot days.

 

My gt4 seldom moves the temp needle past halfway between the 140 and 195 marks, if I'm moving down the highway, like it's always at about 7 or 8 o'clock. When I had the thermostat out, a new one was about $70. I put it in water on the stove and confirmed it opened and shut, but I suspect now it's opening and staying open despite the load on the cooling system being minimal. But a new thermostat is what, $275 now ? An expensive experiment if I go that route.

 

Wrong. The one on the dashboard is water, the one in the center consolle is oil.

Mine runs at 195. But if I am sitting in traffic with ac on and outside temperatures at 90 it goes up to 220. Fans work. Should I worry? I thought it was normal behavior.

 

220 is a little hot for me but if it is only for a few minutes in backed up traffic I would consider it OK. Most of the new cars run 210 as normal but I am uncomfortable at 190 with my 308. I usually run 170 and don't need the fans even in our 95* heat. I run a 165 T-stat and usually my oil temp is around 170.

 

I have a 84 Euro QV. My temp is at about 180, when it gets to 195 I get nervous. At that point I know the system needs to be bled. I have a slight leak in the expantion tank that I will fix over the winter. Then the temp will stay at 180 all the time. If you are going to 220 then something is wrong. Bleed your system,turn your heater on when you do it. Birdman has a good thread on this. Follow his instructions and take it fron there.

 

1) Surveys show half the women and third the men can't identify these symbols on gauges Image Unavailable, Please Login

2) I'm thinking about adding a dash warning light to let me know when the radiator fans are running. To me it's more important than knowing if the heater fans are on.

3) Ever pull into a gas station and can't remember which site the filler is? Look at your gas gauge for a clue, for years now, cars have been placing a gas pump symbol on the side of the gas gauge which the filler is on the car. Check it out on your daily driver.

 

Unlike the FI engines my carb motor runs great at 170* and also helps in keeping the interior temps down. I had also replaced my under belly flat cover with an aluminum louvered grill to let out more of the rad. heat. That coupled with all of the foam closed up seems to keep the cooling system running efficiently. I het 195* once in a while but the fans bring it back to the 170* range. There is no real issues running the 25* difference that I can see. I also have the lower .9 bar cap and it works just fine. I'll burp the car maybe once a month if needed. Now my 5.3l GMC truck runs at 210* and I don't have a problem with it. FI motors seem to like the heat. I used to run all of my Corvette and Jag carb motors at no more then 180* and they ran fine and never had any overheat problems. I ran 20 minutes last week at limerock with the dealers sponsors group (60-80mph parade laps) and the temps stayed at 170* with the outside temps at around 90*. It works for me.

 

mine is a 85 qv.
my assumption is that every gauge in the car is in the optimal position in the middle (apart from fuel...)
from there you can have variances, up and down. and control how far down and how far up they go.
based on this, optimal running water temp is 190/195. so i don't understand why people are nervous at that temperature.
normal running temperature for oil is around 210. therefore with the car sitting in traffic, after a long drive and not a proper air cooling, i assume that water temp going up towards 200/220 is also kind of normal.
yesterday sitting in traffic for half hour after a cold start, the car never went over 195.

does anybody else experience a similar behavior for temperature after a long drive and sitting in traffic? my fans seem to go ok (but i haven't checked if they are reversed...).

 

I guess there is some paranoia of seeing the 195 and if it starts to move more to the right then the fear that something is going wrong. I guess that lower temps put less stress on the engine and for a 30+ year old engine this would be a good thing. My car went to 230 once when the WP seized and the belt broke. It's never been past 195 since. By the way my oil temp normally runs about 180* (1st notch).

 

FWIW, the NASCAR boys run their cars about 230*F as the engine is more thermally efficient and makes a bit more HP.

Problem with carb'd cars and over 200*F is carb perc and flooding after shutdown.

Doug

 

At Concorso Italiano I bought a repop, all-metal thermostat from Rutlands for, by coincidence, $70. Will try it out next time I drain the coolant for some other reason, don't hold your breath.

At the same time picked up and UFI oil filter for $25, which I thought was a deal.

GF

 

If you are concerned about the temp, the first thing to do is to verify that the gauge is accurate. Otherwise you may be chasing the wrong "problem."

As noted, the owners manual gives the max temp permissible (example - 240 for the 328). I have never seen my 328's temp gauge exceed about 1/2 needle width to the right of the gauge's center index. I'd "guess" that temp to be around 195-200 and a check with an IR gun shooting at the t-stat housing from about 2" away seemed to verify that. (the max temp was the same at idle/bumper to bumper traffic with ac on in Vegas at 108 degrees and at 140MPH indicated - also in NV/AZ under the same outside temp conditions)

 

Very very true. Just get used to where your car's gauges usually sit in various types of traffic conditions and take note from there. If you're really concerned, fire her up and let her idle for 20 minutes and see what happens to your dials and fans. Much easier to deal with than if you're trying to get from A to B. "Fear of Too Hot" can really get in the way of driving

Then, if it only gets hot under load you know to look elsewhere to source your issue. The time my 308 was overheating on load, it turned out to be a silted up rad.

I had a Fiat which would always hold temperature at the quarter mark so looked as though the engine was constantly running too cold. Never bothered me. If it was always on the 3/4 mark I'd have been equally happy.