Operating Temp

[vento]

I know the operating temp for our cars is kind of high, about 220 from what I've seen.

But this AM (warm and humid, 80 degrees 100% humidity) I got in my car, hopped on the freeway and turned on the AC. Fog actually came out of the hvac vents. It subsided and cooled off. Then maybe 10 seconds later my ultragauge alarmed. 238.9 degrees.

As fast as it alarmed it started cooling off. It dropped down to 228 and sat between 218 and 228 the rest of my drive into work. Sitting in the lot at work idling it held steady at 210.

Is this common with turbo cars? Am I paranoid?

 

[$ub$onic]

I would wait to see if it does again. Could have been a one time occurrence

 

[Eric Smit]

could have just gotten hot fast before the fan could turn on.

 

[Gsrdude]

Never seen above 215* on my UG. Its never alarmed for coolant temp. Had to adjust out the Intake air and Ambient once summer hit though

 

[Swordsmith]

Running E85 I am typically at 199 or so, running gasoline I get as hot as 210, I have not seen hotter, but then again I haven't been running the car much in 90+ temps, just by chance, I always seem to be busy working or need to drive another car or my Sonic is in the shop, on those really hot days... or my UG is on loan to one of my friends, who are all too cheap to get their own! Anyway, I certainly never saw any spikes up there where you are, or saw any fog shooting out of my AC vents. Something to watch for now I guess.

 

[vento]

Pretty sure the AC fog was just from humidiy. Temp spike was odd. I decided to get on it a little at lunch, drove for a solid hour non stop (about 85 degrees out) it never went past 218 driving around. Even sitting at a long light it peaked at 225.

 

[BrianJ88]

I usually average around 198-210ish and that's been this past week in Phoenix area with 115 temps outside... Running 91 octane

 

[Luv2xlr8]

222.9 is the highest ive seen on my UG.

 

[vento]

I checked my coolant level, and it's about 3/4 of an inch below the full line... Car only has 900 miles.

UPDATE/EDIT: Topped off coolant, took about 3 cups worth to get it to the "full" line. Noticed the change immediately on the freeway. Ambient temp was within 5 degrees of yesterday (less humidity though) and the car ran MUCH cooler (sat between 205-215). Hottest it ever got was sitting in traffic at 225.

Kind of frustrating that it wasn't even topped up from the dealer/factory, I'm afraid to check the oil.

 

[vento]

So I ran the heater at lunch and didn't smell any burning coolant, it's probably 90+ degrees outside so that was fun.

Ended up checking the oil and it appears it was over filled from the dealer. Planning on doing an oil-change to full synthetic soon anyway.

 

[RSTURBO]

When modding my other cars ive always run a cooler t-stat. Typically that means lower intake temps and overall more HP.

 

[RSTURBO]

Is this an option on the sonic? Or tune to have the fans kick on sooner?

 

[vento]

I believe the sonic uses an electronic thermostat, from what I've read people with a tune are running 5-10 degrees cooler than stock.

 

[Chrish051873]

My sonic runs about 195-202 with the tune.

Before the tune it was 215-225.

I believe that you may be able to request that of BNR or trifecta and have it set up to run cooler, but don't quote me on that.
Chris

 

[ScarabEpic22]

In the tune, you can adjust the fan settings to come on sooner. With the E78 ECMs, the fan settings are tied directly to the electric thermostat, so in essence you can force the tstat to open sooner and keep the engine cooler.

 

[Llia]

Mine was at 109c 228.2F the other day. I also smell coolant possibly from the heater core on start up when I turn on my fans and the heater is on.

 

[laborsmith]

My memory is it should be in the 210* to 220* range. 228* seems way to high.

Laborsmith

 

[Maddmatts]

Mine seems to aim for 103C at steady highway speeds. When the overflow tank was nearly empty, it would constantly fluctuate between 95 - 110C.

 

[Llia]

Checked my coolant overflow. It was full. and my oil was overfilled by the dealer.
I checked it cold and hot, both were over max, but then my car was sitting at a slight tilt towards the passenger side. My guess would be a full to 1/2 quart over.

 

[Dogz]

My memory is it should be in the 210* to 220* range. 228* seems way to high.

Laborsmith

I didn't have the Ultraguage connected before the tune so don't know what temps it ran standard. After the tune the hottest I've seen during a good thrashing on a hot day is 99C. With normal driving the temps sit at 97C (207F).