Well it has been DAMN hot these last few weeks (100-112^). My car now reads around 210^ in this weather. During the night when it's 90^ she reads 195^. Am I overheating the engine? Fans are kicking on for sure...
overheating?
- Thread starter the98stang
- Start date
Stark77
Member
WHOA - that engine temp is pretty high. I don't have a temp gauge that has degrees(there's a way to monitor it on my LiveWire, I'm just not sure how yet) - but based on the outside temp here in Jax, FL (low 100's with humidity) and based on the fact that my engine temp gauge never moves past the middle - I would say you're having an overheating issue. Have you changed out your theromstat? Ever done a radiator/coolant system flush or vacuum? Oil + Filter change?
210 is close to the upper limit of normal range for a modern EFI engine. 220 is considered the start of overheating and when heads can start to warp and be damaged.
Time for a rad flush and 50/50 mix with water wetter if it's been over 2 years since the last flush
Time for a rad flush and 50/50 mix with water wetter if it's been over 2 years since the last flush
220 is ok in a pressurized system. So long as the water can't flash to steam, nothing bad is going to happen. Head warpage doesn't happen until 500+ and that requires that the water not flow thru the head.
That said, mustangs have a decent radiator. Things to check. (1) thermostat. They can begin to stick although it does not sound like your problem. (2) coolant system flush. Gunk in the radiator inhibits heat transfer from water to fins. (3) (much more common) electric fan not operating. Car will overheat in traffic or at slow speeds, but be fine on interstate...
rabidscoobie
10 Year Member
Those are pretty normal temps for about in any car in my area of Texas,very hot and VERY HUMID.My temps stay around that in city driving,on the hwy they may get down to 180-190.I have had these temps on every car ive owned for the last 16-17 years(all v8's).The camaro's and TA's i have owned basically run those temps and higher as normal ranges.
rabidscoobie
10 Year Member
Im not trying to be rude or anything but those damn fancy idiot lights ford put in as gauges are complete 
They always read in the middle even when they shouldnt.Ex:my volt gauge reads at the mid point all the time but my battery was pretty much gone...it read the volts were good...turned the car off and went into store for 10mins....come out and it was dead(on my old gt).Now with my real gauges installed the water temp varies a whole lot while driving around town and the stocker never moves.....
BennyBlown2v
New Member
+1 on the half water/half water wetter. You shouldn't need any antifreeze since you live in the damn desert lol.
Stark77
Member
half water/half water wetter? I've never heard of this? It may reach below 32 degrees here in jacksonville for two or three nights per year. What would be the benefits of me using the water/water wetter as opposed to straight coolant?
BennyBlown2v
New Member
Water wetter is a product which increases the thermal efficiency of water. The original poster lives in climate that doens't freeze..so he needs no antifreeze. The benefit would be is it keeps your car cooler...that's the point of this thread right?
Red Line Oil: Coolants and Others
210 really isn't that hot. That's likely the point where the fans turn on, which is why it never goes above 210. Long as the temps cool down when the fans kick on, you are fine. After all, that's why you have a fan. 
It certainly wouldn't hurt to flush the cooling system, but I bet you'd get better results from washing the radiator/condensor so it flows air as it should.
It certainly wouldn't hurt to flush the cooling system, but I bet you'd get better results from washing the radiator/condensor so it flows air as it should.
Water wetter is a product which increases the thermal efficiency of water. The original poster lives in climate that doens't freeze..so he needs no antifreeze. The benefit would be is it keeps your car cooler...that's the point of this thread right?
Red Line Oil: Coolants and Others
Water wetter actually reduces the surface tension of water allowing bettwe heat transfer. It works like dish soap does...but you don't want to fill your rad with dish soap.
Coolant does act as a lubricant and does protect against corrosion. It's not as good at cooling a car as straight water is.
If i lived where it never froze, and was hot, i'd run a 75/25 mix of water to coolant or maybe even lower like 85/15 and add some water wetter.
BennyBlown2v
New Member
My car has a brand new T-stat and the coolant was flushed about a year ago. I think it's just because it's so damn hot outside. On the other hand my FMIC covers a lot of my radiator, probably blocking the fins resulting in hotter coolant flow. Right now I'm running 75% water and 25% coolant.
eliteJAE
Member
as stated by others, 210 aint that bad i too live in the desert, and get outside temps of 112+, but I usually cycle through 190 degrees to 210, at which point my fan catches up and throws the temp back down.
At the moment, i'm running a 75/25 mix too, since it isnt gonna freeze anytime soon, thats ok. Although i do get freezing temps and way below during March-April.
you're not overheating it lol from personal experience, my car didn't fully overheat and have headgasket failure until 237 degrees F (114 C)
i was lucky and my gasket failed before my heads did lol
i too live in the desert, and get outside temps of 112+, but I usually cycle through 190 degrees to 210, at which point my fan catches up and throws the temp back down. At the moment, i'm running a 75/25 mix too, since it isnt gonna freeze anytime soon, thats ok. Although i do get freezing temps and way below during March-April.
you're not overheating it lol from personal experience, my car didn't fully overheat and have headgasket failure until 237 degrees F (114 C)
i was lucky and my gasket failed before my heads did lol
Hardtop68
Founding Member
Get your tach to show the coolant temperature real time... I have done it and my car has gotten up to 108 celsius thats 226 degrees F with no problem at all... As Bobhyatt said... thats pressurized (twice the atmospheric pressure) and not vaporization will occur... warping will occur IF you add cold water to an overheated engine radiator and turn it on immediatelly...
Regarding the needle always staying at 50% scale, this is because the raw temperature signal from the sender is filtered (lagged) so the neddle does not moves a lot (similar to the raw RPM signal that jumps a lot when read from the tach diagnostics but the tach needle is not so jumpy.) Engine will have to actually start overheating to the needle to start to go up.
Regarding the needle always staying at 50% scale, this is because the raw temperature signal from the sender is filtered (lagged) so the neddle does not moves a lot (similar to the raw RPM signal that jumps a lot when read from the tach diagnostics but the tach needle is not so jumpy.) Engine will have to actually start overheating to the needle to start to go up.
Actually you need it there just as much. The air box gets _cold_ around the evaporator core, and the heater core is right in there. You could potentially freeze the heater core prior to the motor warming up given the right conditions. And your water pump needs lubricant, which the antifreeze provides. pure water will cause the bearing/seal to fail pretty quickly.
billfisher
Active Member
get soem real gauges and read it.
but water wetter is originally from racing(nascar) and works wonders.
you only need enough anti-freeze to prevent freezing.
+1 on the wetter and water .
but water wetter is originally from racing(nascar) and works wonders.
you only need enough anti-freeze to prevent freezing.
+1 on the wetter and water .
62thunderbird
New Member
My 97 with my 200 Gt motor over heated when I was working on it. The car when I bought it the temp gauge worked for a while but after I bought it the guage never went up to normal temp and so I never new what it was really running. What happened is that the guy who put my motor in used a bad thermostat and used house water plubming pipe for the thermostat sensor out let were the sensor goes into. That was the main problem but it sounds like you might want to flush your radiator and could use Royal Purple purple ice radiator additive that works the same as wetter water. Could be the water pump might not be working properly?
