Charlotte944

Jeffxo6x:

I have a similar issue with my '86. This is my third 944, and my first turbo, so I'm still learning the differences between them.

However, I have noticed that my 951 does behave differently than either of my NAs (one early, one late model) did/do.

When I had my '84, the in-dash temp gage would always settle out somewhere between the first two marks while the car was moving. In stop and go traffic, or when sitting at idle, the temp gage would climb to the 3rd mark, the fans would come on, the temp woudl drop below the 2nd mark, the fans would go off, and the cycle would repeat.

On my '87NA, the temp gage stays just a tad above the first mark, and climbs to just above the second mark at idle where the fans come on at slow speed. Funny thing is, the temp doesn't drop very much and the fans don't cycle on and off.

With my 951, the temp gage stays just a tad above the middle mark while the car is moving, but will climb to the third mark at idle and the fans come on at slow speed. When the car gets moving again, sometimes the temp will drop immediately, and other times it will drop slowly. This seems to depend on how long the car was stopped, but I haven't really had time to verify that.

I've also noticed that the turbo takes just a little more time to warm up than either of my NAs do/did, and based on some of the replys I've seen here, I could have an issue with the turbo thermostat.

j e f f x o 6 x

Hey Charlotte944, yeah that was my next assumption: the turbo thermostat. I'll check mine out when I get the time and hopefully that is the problem.

lleroyb

Jeffxo6x, I think your car is just fine. With the car at rest, the temp has to rise high enough to start an electric fan. No air movement across the radiator results in little cooling effect. If you were used to higher indications I would think you had some trapped air, which eventually worked its way out.

Lou

j e f f x o 6 x

I sure hope you're right. I replaced a lot of cooling oem parts and I hate having cooling issues with cars. It's a real pain to fix and I rather spend the money on modifications. Thanks for the help, Lou.

facboy

afaik that's normal operation. both my 951s work/ed the same way...on the move, it's usually at the 1st mark (1/3 way up), or below, depending on external temp, how hard you're driving, how fast, etc. stationary, it can rise up to the 2nd mark (2/3 way up), at which point the fans kick in, and in my case, bring it back down to the 1st mark before switching off.

Tom M'Guinn

I pulled out my thermostat while living in Miami, which worked great. Now that I am back in CA, I am having the same issue as you -- when it's cold out, the car runs well below the first hash mark on the freeway, and runs at normal temp in stop and go traffic. My guess is that yours is stuck open or is leaking a lot.