Qwickrick

After a day at Lime Rock, I got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on both the Hutchinson Parkway and then 95. My outside temperature gauge was showing 105-106 degrees as it was a 95 degree day with high humidity and bright sun.
The engine temperature moved up from 175 to 225-250, and only went back to 175 when I got some air moving thru the radiators. Is this normal? It was a scorching day. First time I got stuck in traffic on a stupid hot day.

Spoddle

My 05' Carrera S consistently runs above 200. So I'd say it might be normal considering the conditions and traffic you ran into. I'd be concerned if it went over 250.

Jake951

It can happen in extremely hot conditions. I did a day at Lime Rock last July on the hottest day of the year. The ambient air temperature was 105F and it was reported to be 135F on the track. After I finished one of my afternoon sessions, my oil temperature was close to 250F and coolant temperature was 225F. What was your oil temperature?

Qwickrick

I was instructing that day in July, and my GT3 had overheating issues...
The RS oil temp was close to 250F and the coolant temperature bounced off 250 until I got some air moving thru the radiators. So I'm assuming it was just a stupid hot day and no air moving thru the radiators.
Thanks

No HTwo O

Might be time to clean your front air intakes and radiators. Just a thought. But, sounds pretty normal.

That's one of the things that amazes me with the 993 Turbo. I've been in -2 degree weather and 100 degree weather. And the oil temp, while cruising on the highway, is nearly identical.

Qwickrick

I had a 1997 993 Turbo and it was totally reliable...I'm still sorry I sold it.

GT3DE

1st off, those gauges on the dash are not very accurate.
Engines run fine up to about 240.
Over 250 - fail. You won't need a gauge to tell you - it will lay down on you, no power.

TRAKCAR

I ran PBIR last Tuesday and yesterday. Got oil temp to 240 after a couple of laps and it stayed there. Is was 90's and I ran with AC on and PBIR is bad for engine temp. I've never seen over 250 on oil and never over 175 on water.

Gt3 Racer RS

My GT3 does that everytime I drive it, not even in traffic but spirited driving. Regular driving at 175-190 and spirited 225-250 with light on. Probably normal for you, but I don't know about me

Qwickrick

At Lime Rock, water temp never went above 175 but lots of air going thru the radiators. However, next service I will have it checked out

NJ-GT

To get real water and oil temperatures, ignore the dashboard gauge and read from the ECU (ecu bridge, odb2 bridge, durametric, etc). My Cayman reads 175 degrees on the dashboard (coolant) while running at 215 on coolant and 240 on oil, it wasn't until oil went up to 272 and water to high 230s that the dashboard needle moved to around 200.

TRAKCAR

another case of ignorance is bliss.

kyrocks

I run in 110 F and the temp doesn't budge. However, it's just going by the needle on the dash...

Macster

Some years ago -- in my Boxster but I think the circumstances and outcome applies here -- in very high ambient temperature (116F) the coolant temp (read via the OBD2 port and a data viewer) was 226F. Radiator fans on high speed constantly. (For my car they come on low speed at 212F and high at 216F and do not switch off until the coolant temp drops below 205F). Intake air temp 135F. Engine compartment fan on as best I could tell constantly.

I do not recall where the coolant temp gage needle was.

But no warning lights, no untoward behavior at all from the engine.

Being a bit concerned with my relatively new (25K miles or thereabouts) Boxster when I asked my dealer's SM about the above through the SM I got word back from the factory that if no warning lights came on (coolant temp, level or oil pressure/level), there was no harm done.

But you always want to make sure the cooling system is pressure tight and the radiator fans are working properly. (At different times, one quit on my Boxster and one quite on my Turbo. No harm and the coolant temp -- at least by the gage (for what it is worth and not much...) -- the coolant temp didn't climb a noticeable amount.

Another poster mentioned the radiator ducts and the space between the condenser and the radiator want to be free of any trash that collects and in some environs a large amount of trash can collect.

Oh, and oil should be reasonably fresh and of the right type, etc.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Qwickrick

Running in the heat was not the issue...sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for two hours was...

Today it never budged over 175F......