What does your California T coolant temperature run at? I noticed last night I was much hotter then ever before. Wondering if something went wrong. I have driven the car on many multiple hour drives. Last night it heated up on a 45 minute drive. The outside temperature was 88 to 90. Driving 75 in 6th and 7th gear.
If your referring to engine temperature mine runs at the line above 175 degrees once warmed up and seems to stay there. That's in Texas heat, mid to high 90's outside. If it's getting much higher than that during ordinary driving get it checked out, there could be an issue with your thermostat which acts like valve regulating water flow through the system. If the thermostat goes it stays closed not allowing cooler water to move through the system....temp goes up. If you are referring to aircon temperature check auto is pressed on both ventilation controls. One or both of mine, switches itself off now and again for no apparent reason. Though I notice it more after cycling the roof. I put it down to gremlins in the system and it doesn't really bother me. I just check they are both on when driving away from my house. Jas Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Looking at engine temp. I normally run around 175 as well. But the other night I noticed it was over 200. Not close to the red, but very hot. I just had it serviced, just wondering if coolant was not topped off, of Oil was not topped off. I will be driving later today, I will watch closely. I hope I don't see it go above 175 to 180.
I normally just glance at the coolant temp gauges to see if the needles are in their "normal places" which approximately works out to 10-11 o'clock. Since the critical (red) zone is at around 3 o'clock, I am quite comfortable the car is running at normal temperatures when the needles don't go past 12 o'clock. It can get fairly hot around here in the Summer reaching approx 35°C (95°F) on some days. It was 30°C (86°F) a couple of evenings ago when I went shopping in my Cali30. I recall both the water and oil temp needles indicated the exact same temp of 89°C (192°F). I've attached a photo taken last Summer after a long drive in 29°C ambient temperature. Both needles on that occasion indicated identical 96°C (205°F). My car has behaved in this manner ever since I got it over 3 years ago so this would seem its normal behaviour. You'll notice the oil temp gauge indicates 150°C (302°F) for the threshold to the red zone and 120°C (248°F) for the threshold of the water (radiator) temp. If you like to rev your car's engine and drive at higher engine revs in manual mode, the coolant temperatures would be higher but that's how our cars are designed to be used. IMO, our cars' engine temperatures are fine. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes, I normally run at the 10, 11 position as well. The other night I was at the 12 position. I will watch it closely today. I will check fluid levels as well. I believe the left gauge is coolant temperature. and right gage is the oil temperature.
Yes, it appears the markings on our metric and imperial gauges are identically divided. I would guess it is possible to see the water temp gauge at 12 o'clock if you drive the car aggressively for a distance. So unless the left needle's spending a lot of time in that position or is creeping ever higher, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Ooops sorry. Perhaps a bit unorthodox to some but I treat both water and oil temp gauges as coolant temperature in this regard.
Last night I watched and I am running hotter. I will get close to 210, when at a stop light. It will drop down to 185 when driving (left gauge coolant). I never noticed this before. Might be normal, but seems high. I did not have time last night other that a fast drive, I will check fluid levels, oil level, and see if they are up to correct levels. Oil question. What do people use? synthetic oil or regular 5W40?
I agree it's a good habit to check the fluid levels. It's a good thing you're diligent. As for the oil, there are stickers in the engine compartment specifying what fluids to use. They would use synthetic oil as it just works better than dino oil all round. I believe the oil specified for our cars is ... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Go for the synthetic oil every time as it is more stable at higher temps and does not carbonise like the old standard oil used to do. They say that the engine wear is next to nothing using this stuff. You can use this in a diesel or a petrol engine, the valve gear on my 11 year old RAV 4 Diesel with big miles is like new and will probably outlive me.
Ok - I'm a little pissed off. I take my car in for service. I start running hot, I check the coolant level and I'm low. It took half gallon. Now its not running hot. Did it not get topped off? FYI - If you are low on coolant, you will run hot. I never hit dangerous levels, but I was close to 210, when I normally run at 180. Also it seemed to go up sitting still. If I was driving it cooled down to 190. Glad I'm running cool again. Do I say something to the dealer? Very frustrating that its low on fluids right after being serviced.
Definitely say something. If it was low, that's one thing, but right after a service, I'd assume they check these things. Talk to the service manager...T
I wouldn't be surprised if the tech emptied the coolant fluid. Then after filling the expansion tank back up, he didn't run the engine long enough to let the system fully bleed through, getting rid of air in the system, after the thermostat. Your driving allowed the system to get rid of the air.....the water level then drops to fill the void and needs topping up. Inspection points before leaving the workshop would not show this up as the coolant level would look fine in the tank. I agree with Tom, I would definitely let the service manager know. It could be that the tech was either rushing, or just flat out forgot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Definitely let the service manager know. We all make mistakes but the mechanic needs a touch of training there.
Definitely talk to the shop manager. Never let these problems pass. I know it can be a bit intimidating because you may only have one dealer in your area but then you do need that dealer to do the job properly so IMO, it won't help if they get away with sloppy work. Just keep the criticism impersonal and also give credit where credit is due.
