Overheating in hot Las Vegas

Any V12 owners here from hot places like Las Vegas? This is the second summer I’ve experienced with my 812 GTS and I’ve come close to the car overheating. Granted, when the outside temperature is 113 degrees Fahrenheit, I drive my other cars. But when I do take out the 812, I keep a close eye on the temp gauges.

Recently, the engine / oil temps were touching the red zone (246 degrees) and (240 degrees) so I took it in. Turns out, the coolant was low. They drove it for ten miles to make sure there was no leak.

I took the car back and after a week, the engine / oil temps are creeping up again (237 degrees) and (228 degrees) max reading. This reading is usually taken at a traffic jam stop and go situation. When the car is on the move, the temps all drop by up to ten degrees eventually.

I will take it to the dealer again to make sure the coolant level is normal. I’m just curious to know if other owners who live in NV / AZ have had similar experience with their V12 engines?

 

The heat the V12 gives off is like nothing else I have owned. They do heat up in traffic, but like you said, driving it and moving usually takes care of it. I would not worry about it until you actually over heat and the car tells you.

 

My F12 holds temperature really well, I only remember offhand one instance of it running hot. 812s are more infamous for oil consumption though.

As for older V12, Rich and Tav had my TR radiators rebuilt a few mos ago as they were weeping. It was running hot in traffic and turns out the coolant was low, because of the cracks.

 

Do you have aftermarket exhaust ?

 

The engines in the F12 and 812 run incredibly hot (it's one of the main causes of the F12 eating batteries). This is clearly worse in higher temps (35C plus). Driving in slow or start/stop traffic can lead to seeing very high temps, but they do come down once moving. If you park up on an uneven surface in very high temps after slow traffic, they can end up with heat spots that cause steam expansion that can then cause the car to 'burp' coolant out. This has happened to me a couple of times. The last time it actually caused a small split at the neck of the coolant tank that was picked up at a subsequent service.

 

Very helpful feedback, thanks everyone! I am going to exercise the 812 only occasionally during the Vegas summer. My 488 Pista runs much cooler during these months.

 

Nice, are you seeing Rich at McLaren? He is one of my favorite people. Glad to hear he is doing so well setting up the O’Gara shop here in town. Good to know there is another place to go for F-car service and repair as I know some master techs went with him.

 

Adverse conditions for the V12 are high ambient temps and stop-n-go traffic. You saw both so sounds OK as long as it cools down when moving again. Try not to punish the mechanicals and use other transportation in those cases. High 70s are the best temp for a V12 in my experience.

 

Yes. They're already expanding! They took the space to the left and building another set of bays.

 

I'm in Vegas and the hottest my FF ever ran was around 225 on hot days. My 458 is pretty steady at 210 even when it's 115 outside. I'd definitely take it in if it's hitting 240ish constantly.

 

This was after a 25 minute drive across down on surface streets this afternoon, with AC full blast:
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Only 122 degrees?

 

I know, weak sauce. I should have gotten a picture when I got back in the car after an hour in the sun IIRC it was close to 130º.

Modern cars are miraculous. To think they can have 6 liters of displacement over 12 cylinders, that can just run for hours and hours in desert heat and hold an internal temperature around 210º, even with all of the ancillary systems running off the engine. To my conceptual but not very mechanical mind, it is mystical.