What temperature should car run at?

sgarlic said:

Well, here's my theory. Just because you've got a 160* t-stat, doesn't mean you'll actually see coolant temps at 160. Remember, there are a gigantic number of things moving inside your engine, and to expect low temperatures like that simply isn't realistic. I'm sure you know this.

Anyway, continuing on, chances are what's happening is, your t-stat opens around 160, and lets the coolant in.. at this point, your radiator (with a regular t-stat) is going to hold some water for a bit, perhaps have the fan kick on for a bit to aid, then circulate back inside the engine. With a low t-stat that's fully open around 160, the water probably isn't getting the chance to sit in the radiator long enough(to allow the heat to dissapate) .. this probably is resulting in higher coolant temps, which explains why your fan seems to be running alot.. it's trying to cool that coolant inside the radiator, but the coolant is flowing so fast due to the t-stat being wide open, that it's not losing the heat it should.


I bet you'll see coolant temps up in the 190's anyway with your gauge.. but most of us who have regular t-stats are seeing around 195 or so at speed, and 200+ in traffic.

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