In traffic with the AC on .... this is going to test the system -- it's all fans as the is not moving and the heat from other cars raises the temp around the front. There is nothing wrong if the temps go up .. as long as they come down when the fans come on.


If the coolant temp was high and no fans came on -- that's a problem. It's also a problem if the fans are running and the engine is still too hot.

Your car is not doing either.

 

A working cooling system should keep the engine around 20° warmer than the thermostat opening temperature. So, if you have a 180°F thermostat, coolant temps should stabilize around 200°F. It should do this regardless of the outside temp (IE: from 0°F up through 120°F).

Since your car is doing this, it is behaving normally.

 

Might be an idea to blow out the rads to see if that helps with the temps, they could have a load of road kill in the vanes, also check that the flaps are closing completely they go hard and don’t seal, this reduces the rads efficiency

 

In my experience it's wider.

The XJ will turn the fans on low when the coolant hits 203 and they shut off when it's dropped down to 194. If the temp climbs to 221 the fans switch to high and they will stay on high until the coolant drops to 212. Obviously -- they don't shut off at 212. But, go to low. My fans will often switch to high in the summer -- so going to 221 is nothing to worry about.

The fans are also controlled by the AC system .. so things can change depending on pressure. My fans run on high often in the summer when I'm not moving much.

 

I just went for the first ride in weeks.

As I was not sure anymore I stated the truth before, had a good look at the OBD2 readings.
Took her for a spin through the hills, in moderate spring weather (20C-68F), with the heater at 21C=70F, and the airco off.

Slowly climbing, she ran up to 93C-199F, slowly descending the temp dropped to some 88C-190F.

Idling afterwards showed the exact as Yeldogt states: fans come on 96C-203, and stop once down to 90C-212.

All this is with ~1yr old thermostat and coolant.

 

Yeah it's been warming up here as well. Drove the car a lot yesterday, and temps were fine. Now to find time to install my new real gauge.

 

The time to check is on a warm day where you can stress the cooling system a bit .. without the AC running I'm not sure what I would have to do to get the fans on high .. I really forget. With the AC on and running up the RPM's I can get them on high. As long as I know they are running (on high) and sound normal ... know I'm good.

Both of mine have only received basic maintenance -- one is due for coolant refresh this summer.

 

Brining this back! Sorry! So today in HEAVY stop and go traffic, car went as high as 214 Fahrenheit with AC on. Ambient temp is 99 Fahrenheit. It wouldn't go below 214 unless I started to move. Worry about it, or not?

 

Not serious, but I think the fans are not moving enough air if it drops when you start moving.

 

As you know, since this thread start, I watch mine with extra care.
I should say, in itself, considering the situation and surround temps, 214 is still not too dramatic I think.
However, if I was you, check the fan speeds in such situation as you can .. just to be sure.
Also, are all flaps in place in the fan housing?

 

did you read my post #24?

 

+1 Normal operations. See his #24

 

I was cursed with an x300 that never had a problem for three years, so I've done no research on the acceptable ranges on simple things. The X308 I have keeps about 190* as if the graph line on my OBDII reader is a painted line. I am in Central Florida where 60*F is rare and today was 93*F - the AC is always on and I'm usually in stop and go traffic.

My 40 year old Jeep with engine driven fan is never over 195*, but my '86 Pontiac will get to 235* before the electric fan even kicks on (by design). If the AC is on it never goes over 200* because the fan is on all the time.

The pressure cap an the x308, as I have read, is 17PSI, which would correlate to a coolant temp of a bit over 240*, so I assume, for my personal worry list, that 230* is where I should get concerned.

FWIW

 

Thank you everyone! You can never be too sure these days.

 

Got up to 216 fahrenheit, this was in traffic with the AC on. 103 fahrenheit day. I notice with the AC off, car runs cooler. I know a poster said 220 fahrenheit is ok, but I'd like to stay at 216 max.

Are there any cooling mods we can do the NA cars? Yes, all the flaps on my radiator shroud are there. Sorry if I am being annoying, but I know these engines don't like to over heat.