I noticed my engine needle just stay below the half way mark when the car is fully warm up and running. Is that typical?
Is there any simple upgrade to have the engine running cooler?

 

That is where it is suposed to be.

You would not want to make your engine run cooler. Engines are designed to be most efficient around a certain temperature. If your needle is where it says it is, it is operating around this designed temperature. That is the reason they invented thermostats.

The number is not arbitrary and is not meant to be changed.

 

That's about right. The needle should be below the half way mark.

I heard that when the needle is at C mark. The engine is running at least 156 degrees F.

You could add readline product called waterwetter to the radiator. Add an oil cooler. Run NOS -70F degrees. Have a switch to have the two fans running all the time (I don't know how helpful this would be, but you could do it.) Get a Cold air intake, but I don't think it would make much defference. Carbon fiber hood. That's all I could think of.

 

wow! i wonder what the temp reading is the car is fully warmed up!

 

oh..haha....i was thinking more like 500! :wow: haha...boy..that would be crazzzy..

 

Most cars run between 180-200 F.

No matter what you do to try to make them cooler the Thermosat is going to try to maintain the same water temp.

 

All the Tls I have seen including mine run just below the mid mark so I guess its normal

 

All you need to know about cooling CLICK HERE

 

Oh please that temp gauge has about as much relevance as Altezzas...

Faced with the prospect of hordes of owners running to the dealer as soon as the needle rises above halfway, OEM's make that temp sensor so vague that a halfway reading could read anywhere from 250 to 500 degrees! You can't honestly tell me there is no temp change when the car is sitting in 100 degree sun with the A/C on full blast!!!

Due to the horrible hangover of bad 70's car customers think that a temp gauge that does not move is a sign of a well-built car. If you take actual coolant temp readings you would freak out...

 

That's why the temp gauge stops reading after the engine is off. If it didn't, people would freak if they saw their temp gauge rise .

 

What temperature do you think is the boiling point of the coolant/water mixture? Your coolant temperature will never reach anywhere near 500 degrees, or you'd have big troubles on your hands. I think coolant/water boils around 250? maybe 300 F max.

I don't understand why the concept of a relatively stable engine temperature is so hard to grasp? Doesn't it make sense that there is a source of heat (engine) and a source of heat dissappation (coolant, radiator, fan, air currents) and given the two which is strictly regulated by both electrical and mechanical measures, that a stable temperature can be achieved?

When your engine is running a more intense load and generating more heat, the coolant flow rate increases to counteract the heating. Certainly, there can exist a point when heat production exceeds heat dissappation, but that should not occur in a well designed modern engine and cooling system driving under even harsh conditions. I have been in 110 degree heat, climbing a 4,000 foot mountain, travelling around 70mph, with the a/c on, and no overheating. Yes, if I remember correctly, the temp gauge went up just slightly, but still stayed close to the middle. When I reached my destination, everything was still cool and no problems at all with my TL. My friend's Ford contour overheated though.

 

Now I know where the acronym comes from

Found
On
Road
Dead

 

Its normal my other 2 ACCORDs level was about the same as my TL.

 

Get a clue i didnt say the car would overheat i said the temp gauge was horribly vague and inaccurate...fool

 

Your original statement certainly implies that you believe that the car reaches dangerously high temperatures. I am merely responding to your misinformed post.

Please observe forum ettiquette. Allow me also to humbly suggest that you keep your comments pertinent to the topic of discussion and refrain from further personal attacks. Calling someone of whom you know very little about a "fool" does nothing but insult your own intelligence.

 

wow Josh..You never talked like this when your around me. book worm... :p :p j/k!!!!!!

 

It's pretty weak when ppl have to resort to childish name calling to get their point across

 

Ok pay attention REAL carefully because I will only explain it to you one more time. Follow along with this hypothetical situation..Run ur car to full operating temperature..take a coolant temp, then park in boling sun and run ur A/C to max, take another coolant temp. Observe the difference in coolant temp from the two readings and then notice (of course) that the needle has NOT moved on the gauge.Isn't this lack of information something to be ticked off about (or freaked out).

I will also not so humbly suggest you stop talking like a lil biatch.

 

The needle will not move because the coolant temperature would not have changed (well, not much). Have you actually performed this experiment?

If the thermostat is doing its job, then the coolant temperature will be the same regardless of the ambient temperature (up to the operating limits of the car).

Comments like these don't belong here.

 

I would respond to your ludeness with poignant remarks that would only reveal your none-too-well hidden insolence to the other members of this forum, but you do the job so well yourself. I need not even try.

 

turbo, the tempature would not change much. They put those 2 little fans behind the radiator for times like you discuss. Those fans run when you are parked to let air through the radiator. The are triggered by a temperature sensor. As long as it isn't 150 degrees the temp would not change much. Obviously a thermostat isn't exact, so the temp always fluctuates a 5-10 degrees.

I can't believe we are still discussing such a simple subject.

 

In the April issue of SCC on page 18 under Technobabble there is an article talkinga bout most modern gauges are useless because of paranoid owners will run to their dealerships at the slightest movement of a gauge. it also says that few temperature, oil pressure or even boost gauges are calibrated. i'm sure that the aftermarket gauges are the real deal of course. but i do wonder how many upper class automobiles actually do this with their gauges. i can't imagine Mercedes Benz doing this but from what this article says, i guess you never know. The article even talks about tach's being off. just thought i'd throw in my 2¢ on the subject

howard

 

IXLR8TL3.2:

As an embedded systems engineer, I wouldn't hesitate putting in a "dead zone" around the normal temperature range, where normal variations in engine temperature won't budge the needle at all.

This reduces service calls and gives the impression that the car has tighter tolerances than it actually does.

Most people don't understand that there is usually a range of acceptable values for any engine parameter, and any slight movement in a gauge doesn't necessarily indicate a problem.

Good thing modern cars don't have the battery voltage/current draw gauge that older cars do. Can you imagine the number of service calls that gauge would generate?

 

thanks daverman i guess i never looked at it that way. learn something new everyday

 

hehe, nice ride ElegantTL. I will have the same exact one in the coming month.

 

but guys, even when you idle with AC on, keep in mind that those 2 large electric fans run and the system circulates the coolant.
And to make the car operate at lower temp, get lower reading fan switch and remove the thermostat from the house.