Coolant Temperature?

[boat]

I am curious about something. Not sure if I have a problem or not. I have been noticing this recently.

Where at in the II N-O-R-M-A-L II on the temp gauge should my SHO read IF the defrost and AC are off?

The reason I ask is b/c while I run around with the windows down and the moonroof open, my temp gauge needle runs upto while driving in city traffic "O" on the gauge before the fan kicks on, then goes down to the middle of "R", and then the fans shut off.

When I run the defrost, or the AC, the temp gauge stays around, "M", sometimes "M-A", also while driving in city traffic.

Can anyone speak to this, is this normal? Is there something deeper going on here? The only things I could think of on this, is maybe the thermostat, or the temp sending unit that maybe tells when to turn on the fan.

The radiator, water pump, and thermostat are not that old, all have around 20k miles or less on them.

Any ideas??

 

[shoon]

So, based on your text picture and description, your saying your cars temp gauge runs hotter with the AC off, and cooler when you have the AC on?

Normally its the other way around; with the air conditioning running the condensor will dissipate heat, and because the condensor is in front of the rad it prevents the rad from dissipating as much heat.

Is this an ATX car with dual rad fans?

 

[boat]

That is exactly what I am saying. Not sure I understand it either. No, it is an MTX, see sig.

So, based on your text picture and description, your saying your cars temp gauge runs hotter with the AC off, and cooler when you have the AC on?

Normally its the other way around; with the air conditioning running the condensor will dissipate heat, and because the condensor is in front of the rad it prevents the rad from dissipating as much heat.

Is this an ATX car with dual rad fans?

 

[shoon]

If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that when the AC is on the rad fan is on constantly, but if the AC is off the rad fan only kicks on when the temperature heats up enough, which is probably why the temp gauge reads a bit warmer with the AC off.

My MTX never goes past 1/2 on the gauge, and usually sits 1/3 up. I would not worry so long as it stays out of the red. Never really paid much attention to it till just now, and my car is the same; I just checked.

 

[1982X11]

Before I trusted the gauge with the future of my beautiful Yamaha engine, I would use a laser/infra red thermometer on the radiator and engine to accurately determine coolant temps. Only $20.00 if you have a Harbor Freight nearby, and invaluable for these problems. Another factor to consider is the ambient temp. If you live in Texas, Florida, or somewhere similar you might want to consider a cooler thermostat when it stays around 100 degrees. But first find out exactly what temp the coolant is and the relationship it has to your fan being on or off. Good luck.

 

[Eric VerValin]

I did the same with my engine just so I know where the gauge reads... except I ignored the radiator, and put it on the thermostat housing..

 

[raff18]

dude my car does the same thing its totaly normal dont worrie about it the motor will run cooler with the a/c on as the fans cycle alot more then with it off thats why it runs colder its ttrying to cool the a/c gasses so u stay nice and cool inside the car

 

[Ishodu]

Your temps are perfect. No worries. With the AC on it runs the fan all the time. With out the AC on the ECC waits till the temp reaches 215 ish then turns on fan.

 

[boat]

Thanks for the input guys, I might pick up an infared temp reader from HF when funds allow, I would be curious as to what the temp is when that fan kicks on.

 

[goalieman59]

Boat, thanks for asking all the questions you have been asking, cause I had most of the same questions.