So I've been noticing lately that whenever I'm driving in slow traffic or idle at a stop light, the coolant temp gauge rises slowly a little. The temp goes up from around 195F to 210F If I stop for a few minutes or more (checked using Camp 2). Both the radiator fan and AC fan are OFF even at 210F. When is the radiator fan supposed to be working then? When I switch on the AC both fans will spin. The temp will even drop a bit when I do so. Anyhow, what could it be? air bubbles in the radiator? stuck thermostat? Any help appreciated

BTW, my engine is an HR. I figured it's all the same.

 

It's normal. Mines the same and hovers that high especially during stop and go traffic.

 

210F for coolant temp is normal?

Ok, so when is the radiator fan supposed to kick in then?
Thing is, I don't remember the needle pointing that high when I first bought the car :|

 

my needle sit's just a tad below half point and never gone up. But the camp2 reads a lot higher. I'm not sure when the fan is suppose to kick on.

When you drive on the highway what does it reads?

 

If you had air in the system you would overheat instantly. I wouldn't worry about it, it's normal.

If you have any doubts, take it to the dealer.

 

GCC spec cars have different reading gauges so I can't compare the needle position. They're not accurate anyway.
On the highway with A/C off and around 70-80F ambient temp I get around 185F-190F on the Camp 2. The reading is from the stock OBDII temperature sensor BTW. So I get the same number with Uprev Cipher.

 

Mine is the same. I'll take some pic's for you later to make you feel better

 

I'd say those temps are totally normal...220 deg is the normal operating target temp for some manufacturers engines for emissions reasons. I wouldn't expect the fan to kick on till about 225-230ish...but why speculate, just let her idle with the A/C off and know for sure at what point the fan kicks on.
Also have you ever flushed your radiator? How old is the fluid? It may be that the "wetting" properties of your coolant have changed over time to the point that you are seeing a drop in cooling efficiency.

 

Most cars have a normal operating temperature of around 195-205. 215 is usually over half on a stock gauge and 230 is definitely overheating. The only vehicles I have owned that operate at 220-240 are motorcycles. What's the psi rating on the radiator cap? I find it highly unusual that these engines run that hot. But I'm new to these engines so take what I say with a grain of salt.

 

oopse! i forgot to take some pictures for ya!

 

I've logged temps as high as 235F while on the dyno with Uprev Cipher software, this was not boiling over but I'm sure the fan kicked on...... at the start of the pull temps are at around 95C (205F), thats at about 2500rpm, by the time the engine is at redline we're looking at 110C (235F). So I would imagine that somewhere in between would be a normal operating temp for our engines. Thats quite a rise in temp for a few seconds of run time...gotta love boost!

 

The highest I logged was 106C (223F) that was in 110F ambient temps doing about 8 or so consecutive dyno runs while tuning my car. I just wanted to know if temps that high are normal, because most other cars I've seen are almost always lower.

 

I would say that 210F in traffic is completely normal...