at what temp do you need to figure out how to cool down your engine? when you beat on your car the temp will obviously rise, but whast temp are you actually in the red with?

 

Assuming the car in question is the one in your sig, you've got an S4.

1/4 to 1/3 is "normal" for an S4. If it's at 1/2, you'd better have a damn good reason for it being that hot (just coming off a hard high RPM autocross lap at low speed or such), and if it gets above 1/2, it's time to crank the heater (for additional cooling) and back off.

Basically, under normal running, it should never get above about 1/4, and maybe 1/3rd in the summer with AC on in traffic.

If it's going above that, the first step is to replace the thermostat - they get old and won't open fully. If you've still got trouble after that, continue troubleshooting. The S4 NA radiator has plenty of capacity to cool a NA if it's in decent condition, so unless you've got a heavily modded NA, it's most likely NOT the radiator.

-=Russ=-

 

no i have the s5 cluster, but reguardless im running an aftermarket guage, so degree wise

 

Oh. What's your thermostat rated for? It should normally hover around there unless you're on it really hard at low speeds.

I don't have an aftermarket gauge, but with a stock 180F thermostat, I'd start getting a bit concerned around 200F, and be really worried around 220F. I don't think you're risking coolant seal failure until a good bit warmer than that, but there's no reason it should be getting that hot.

-=Russ=-

 

I was wondering this myself.

I have 2 S4 TII's one w/ the craptastic plastic radiator, there other w/ the optional copper one. The car w/ the copper radiator has never gone above 1/4. The other one stays between 1/3 and 1/2 all the time (depending on how you drive it) I was wondering if it was just the difference in radiators causing this or maybe an error in the sending unit for the stock gauge, maybe even the thermostat.

I plan on installing my aftermarket gauge soon, so I guess I'll be able to figure it out then, if it's around 180 I guess I can assume the gauge just reads high, if it's around 200+ then I'll assume it's the radiator.

 

mine is always running around 195-205.. i wish it ran cooler but i guess there isnt a problem with that temp

 

so no official temp range thats good? i cant believe that. some one has to know a temp range thats reputable

 

bah when I go to the dragon my GTU ran about 210 taching 6000 steadily for 20 minutes or so but didn't inch higher than that. I think that's fine. Many piston engines have operating temps in the 190-200 range.

 

I duno about Engine Coolant temp bbut the Oil Temp shouldnt go over 210 for long periods of time according to Racing Beat

Ive yet to Install my aftermarket gauge, probably need to. Im going to do a coolant system overhall anyway to be ready for summer

 

Is the FSM reputable enough?


The stock tstat starts opening at 177 to 182*f and is fully open at 203*f.

The Electric auxiliary fan (if your model has one, I don't know) should turn on at 207*f and it turns back off when the temp drops to 194*. I believe that temperature to be somewhat above the temp where the engine-driven fan is fully engaged, but that is only my educated guess. FSM does not specify that temp.

From this FSM data, I think we can safely say that anything below 203*f is not quite fully warm and anything above 207* is where Mazda calls for all the cooling measures designed into the system to be called into action.


I think your car will blow the f**k up at about 235*f.

So, somewhere in between 207* and 'Blows the F**k Up' is my official reputable recommendation for a max temp range. I would work to keep it toward the low end of that range.

On my S5 NA, my OEM guage always reads slightly below half way, which I am pretty sure is below 'Blows the F**k Up' and that is good enough for me.

Since you do have an aftermarket guage, what termperature range is it actually reading?

 

Recall that FSM recommendations also take into account emissions... he's concerned primarily about engine life. So you can run it cooler than that even I would think

An old stock coolant seal is going to be more fragile than a new teflon seal that a lot of rebuilds have. I've pegged 250 on my aftermarket gauge (clutch fan stopped working in traffic and I didn't notice temps b/c I was distracted) on my T2 and the coolant seal is fine, and I've had a friend hit 260 before on his FD and the coolant seal is fine.

 

Ive got a 1991 Turbo, the normal running temp seems to be a little under half on the stock guage. My HKS aftermarket temp guages read 800 celcius for oil temp and 730 celcius for coolant temp at operating temperature. I have a strong suspision that these readings are wrong.. thats pretty damn hot. What is my car actualy running at if my temp guage is little under half?

 

730 celcius would be around 1340 degrees Fahrenheit are you sure thats not 73.0 which would be around 163 degrees Fahrenheit?? with 80 celcius being around 176 Fahrenheit..

because umm damn thats smokin hott... your engine block would be severly weakend and probably glowing red. needless to say all of your wires would be fried and your engine would be dead

 

im running a microtech LT-8S on my 86 t2 with the handset, my normal operationg temp is right at 84 degrees celsius which is about 183 farenheit, when i get on it it usually sits around 86-90 celsius which is 186-200 farenheit, my microtech start warning me when it reads over 95 degrees celsius which is too hot for me and my car has only been there once when my belt broke...i have stock cooling devices (the fan, radiator, and radiator shroud) and it works fine...

-pat

 

You know what, i mad a mistake.... My guage reads in one significant figures.. and is X10 ratio.... so 8X10=80 celcius..... haha didnt pay too much attention to it and didnt have a second look at it. Oppps, haha 800celcius.... man rotaries run hot eh!

 

ok, my car runs at 175 and when i get on it it will get to 200-205 its never peged the 210 on the gauge. so i am in a decent range. i was thinking 215 was "new engine time" so thats very comforting

 

I saw 215 repeatedly on my megasquirt's readout, and I once severly overheated it to the point of boiling the water, but no damage was done.

 

I think you are A-OK.

 

I've never heard of a rotary blowing up at 112'C (234'F). I have run mine at over 110'C for several track days and so do many others with no issues what so ever. Same compression (tested with a genuine Mazda Rotary compression tester) as the day I got it. I have had mine as hot as 130'C for 10 minute sessions with no issues. Even at this temp it starts straight away.

Not all motors are the same, however, so all information here is simply from my time with Rotaries.

 

Wow, thats pretty warm. But it is so much compression that is lost primarily, but coolant, did you ever have problems with excessive coolant usage?

 

Had to do cool down laps. But I do that anyway.

If I stopped when it was at this temp then the coolant/water would go straight to the overflow.

 

I was driving around hard with my 1991 turbo today, i maxed out the heater and i was running steady at 70 celcius oil temp, then my coolant was around 68 celcius.. i was pretty impressed. Rotaries dont run THAT hot though.. my VR6 corrado ran consistantly at ~100 celcius all the time, and it was totally rebuilt from the ground up.

 

FC3SPro.com Chart:
http://www.fc3spro.com/TECH/MODS/EL/GAUGES/wtemp.htm

 

*Sigh*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole

Largely synonymous with exaggeration and overstatement, hyperbole (pronounced /haɪˈpɝbəli/ or "hy-PER-buh-lee") is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used due to strong feelings or is used to create a strong impression and is not meant to be taken literally. It gives greater emphasis.

 

psss i have this new thing where when i turn off the car after a hard run and letting it idle i turn it on for 30 seconds after it sitting for a few minutes. I have seen that when the car is shut off even with my taurus fan water temps get really high when the coolant isnt circulating. Turning it on for that short time circulates/mixxes the hot and the cold coolant. Audi has a automatic pump that does this when the car is off. I have been at an autocross and everyone turns there cars off when they get done running and push it up the grid.. i just dont turn mine off unless we have been sitting too long. Oh and i do have a turbo timer.