Forrest Gump 9

Hi all

On Sunday the weather here was barely 70 degree. I was stuck in stop and go traffic for about an hour. I noticed that the temp gauge was slightly higher than normal. If I have to guess I would say normally is 185 and during a he stop and go 195-200. Just wondering if that's normal?

I drove on an eight hours trip and the temp was death steady at 185 so this kinda threw me for a loop. May be not enough air flow fthru the radiators in the stop and go traffic?

Kevin

Have you ever cleaned your radiators? If not, remove your bumper cover and clean and inspect for leaks.

Forrest Gump 9

Yes sir, just done that last month. There was no visible leak, but I do smell coolant from the front of the car on the warm day.

rmc1148

I would give it another once over for leaks. Agree about cleaning radiators but see you have done that.

Kevin

If you smell the coolant haze, you most likely have a failing radiator or hose connection/clip.

Macster

That odor is from a radiator leak. Better get it sorted. (Last Jan. I had to replace all 3 radiators in my 03 Turbo. They all developed leaks along the bottom where the section along the bottom of the radiator joins the finned portion.)

BTW, it is not uncommon for the coolant temp to climb under some conditions. On the freeway on a mild day the coolant temp stays down.

Even driving at 75mph or even faster in AZ in 118F heat the coolant gage needle didn't climb any. Except for the outside temp display I couldn't tell you the out side temp was 70F or 118F. The car was unfazed by the heat. Heck the A/C wasn't even working hard.

But on a mild day if I then switch to driving in town puttering around a shopping center parking lot, the coolant temperature will go up to the point the radiator fans come on.

(If I have the A/C on already, the fans runs all the time and the coolant temperature stays down and steady.)

I've even had the engine idle speed increase. On July 3 2009 I was driving up I-80 towards Nevada (from CA) and with the grade, traffic, and the nearly 90F ambient temperature -- and I had the A/C off -- I noticed the engine idle speed was up some. The DME I guess upped the speed to circulate the coolant more and/or the oil to help control engine temperature.

The engine was running fine and after a bit I just ignored the extra RPMs. Once I got up the top of the grade and speed picked up and I got out of the stop and go the engine idle speed slowed down and everything was back to normal.

I've had the car in hot conditions since, but not in stop and go and high elevation, and the idle speed has never gone up (or down.)

993GT

check for radiator fan operation/competency...if all are working, rads might be bad...
used to experience some high 'duty cycle--into traffic' movement...started the aluminum radiator thing with CSF and haven't looked back...no 'overtemp' fluctuations since...

Forrest Gump 9

Yeah, CSF is my next stop.

wross996tt

To answer the original question with another data point, my temp. reading on the gage (after warmed up) is always the same regardless of ambient conditions...so I would say yours is problematic.

Forrest Gump 9

The temp only crept up during the stop and go traffic. As soon as we were moving it back down to normal, 185.

"02996ttx50

182 rain sleet or snow or ya got a problem. probably bugs stuck up in your grills lol. sucks but common. on rare occasions i'll see 183 a smidgen over 180. NEVER more.

iirc? 180 is the mark and the needle should always rest just to its right a smidgen. i call that 182 lol

normal given the stop/go except a cpl ticks hi.

mcbit

Checked mine on an an OBD2 scanner this morning, mine moves about 1/8" from slightly right of 80C to just left of vertical. this movement covers the range 85C (185f) to 95C (203f).

On my Cayenne turbo the range from 69C (156f) to 95C (203f) is covered with no movement of the gauge.

Forrest Gump 9

Do you gentlemen run straight water plus water wetter during the summer months?

"02996ttx50

i'm confused by that? do you run water wetter in place of proper coolant? forgive my ignorance and you must know this. but you need a 50/50 mix of audi/vw g13 which is the same as the porsche branded ( more expensive better looking bottle ) coolant and the g13 supersedes the former required g12.

but theoretically any "OAT" coolant and 50/50 distilled water mix would suffice.

as of this thread and our first taste of pre summer heat, i've seen my gauge temps ticking higher also, but only for brief moments in "traffic". as long as it settles back just north of the 180 tick, i'm not concerned.

mcbit

We are just moving into the 105f to 120f season and I don't see much reaction on the temp gauge. AC is working a bit harder now though.