KentsOkay
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Central Texas
Tl;Dr : I hit an unexpected temp spike to 260f, everything seems fine, Wtf.
Hey gang! I have a 96 se automatic with 140k miles that I've always been flirting with overheating issues with. When I bought it, it had a new radiator, a new water pump, and I'm pretty sure a new fan clutch as well.
Turns out the issue was a cracked head, replaced that. I popped in an Ultraguage, and my highway temperatures are generally 195/200, going up to "normal" temperatures of 215 in town, and I've hit 230 in traffic.
Today I was on the highway after some in town traffic and I glance down and see 260 on the Ultraguage, with intake temperate at 130 (normal). I shit my pants, and turned on the heater. Heater brought it down to 245. I got off the highway and let the rpms stay low while I kept it moving, got down to 230 in the couple of miles to my destination. I jumped out and checked under the hood, all of the fans seemed fine, the top (return) radiator hose was hot, but kind of soft. Overflow tank was higher than normal, but not steaming or or overflowing.
I'm kind of dumbfounded, no idea what went wrong. Maybe the water pump failed? I don't believe it was the sensor, I have a mechanical guage plugged in to the rear sensor port, it's not wildly accurate (it reads under on temperature whole moving - says 160 when the UG says 195) and it was reporting 210.
Any help guys? I'm going to let it cool down and see what happens.
It's been 10k miles since the head swap, mostly issue free. Radiator was flushed then. I did a little searching and read about how the computer is programmed to jump the temperature up, but I don't think that is the issue, as it was a steady decline in temperature, and I don't think a 96 is that smart.
Hey gang! I have a 96 se automatic with 140k miles that I've always been flirting with overheating issues with. When I bought it, it had a new radiator, a new water pump, and I'm pretty sure a new fan clutch as well.
Turns out the issue was a cracked head, replaced that. I popped in an Ultraguage, and my highway temperatures are generally 195/200, going up to "normal" temperatures of 215 in town, and I've hit 230 in traffic.
Today I was on the highway after some in town traffic and I glance down and see 260 on the Ultraguage, with intake temperate at 130 (normal). I shit my pants, and turned on the heater. Heater brought it down to 245. I got off the highway and let the rpms stay low while I kept it moving, got down to 230 in the couple of miles to my destination. I jumped out and checked under the hood, all of the fans seemed fine, the top (return) radiator hose was hot, but kind of soft. Overflow tank was higher than normal, but not steaming or or overflowing.
I'm kind of dumbfounded, no idea what went wrong. Maybe the water pump failed? I don't believe it was the sensor, I have a mechanical guage plugged in to the rear sensor port, it's not wildly accurate (it reads under on temperature whole moving - says 160 when the UG says 195) and it was reporting 210.
Any help guys? I'm going to let it cool down and see what happens.
It's been 10k miles since the head swap, mostly issue free. Radiator was flushed then. I did a little searching and read about how the computer is programmed to jump the temperature up, but I don't think that is the issue, as it was a steady decline in temperature, and I don't think a 96 is that smart.
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