I have a 95 355 gts... The water temp gauge sits on centre (or below) <90 degrees C when on open road, but as soon as i come to a stop especially in traffic the temperature gauge goes up to 100 and sometimes 120. This has also happened while driving up a mountain and not pushing the car hard and with good air flow through the intakes. This only occured after just recieveing the car back from the 30k engine out major, never had the problem before. I would assume that if the engine temp reached 120 it would over heat with water and steam sizzling out. It's losing no water and both fans come on when they are suppossed to. The dealer suggested changing the temp sensor as it may be giving false readings, so they did but i still have the same prob. As soon as i come to traffic the gauge rises. Has anyone experienced this before or have any idea what to check. Im not sure whether the engine is actually running hot or not.
Unless you have a bad sensor I think you're running hot- My gauge stays very low even after hard driving- and that seems to be the consensus of 355 owners- that the car runs on the cool side.
Okay, reread your post. Either there is an air pocket and you need to bleed the system, or the fans or not working properly, even though they are turning. Do they feel like they are still moving enough air? Some have had the fan blade shear from the shaft, so the motor turns, but not the fan blade. You may need new fans, an easy do it yourself project. The other, less likely possibility is the radiators are plugged, either internally or externally, which is restrictin cooling efficiency. Might want to remove and test thermostat operation as well. Which temp sensors were replaced? There are two, one on the left side radiator (for left fan), and one is near the oil filter housing/mount (for right fan).
thanks for your info, They had changed all the sensors, checked the fans (they both ocme on at correct times), checked the thermostat, flushed and bleed the cooling system. I took it back to the shop again as it was still running hot and they double checked everything. Last night i took the car for a drive, warmed it up first as usual and then drove it, 5mins into the drive the temperature went through the roof 120 degrees c even on the highway... went straight home and the water boiled over.... it lost 2 litres of fluid which i refilled after it cooled down... i checked the car this morning and it started perfect... no coolant had leaked out... im guessing perhaps the water pump may be gone?
theromostat is ok and one of the radiators (left side) was replaced 6 months ago as it had a minor leak and the right one had new seals put on it. It as if the coolant is not circulating through the system at all as all electrics are working fine and it got hot last night on the highway and the weather was not even hot. very frustrating, as the car was perfect before i had the major done....
Is it possible the belt that drives the water pump is not adjusted properly and is slipping. If not, next best guess is an air pocket in the cooling system.
Check the fuses. When it's hot can you feel air being pulled in from the side vents? Can you here the fans blowing. As I recall there's 1 fan related to oil temp, and the other to water...make sure you're listening for the correct fan. Always do the cheapest/simplest tests first (-:
Left fan is tripped by the thermoswitch screwed directly into the top of the left radiator. The right side fan is tripped by the Motronic. The Motronic receives the temp signal from the water temp sender located to the right of the oil filter housing.
Rebleed the air out of the cooling system. When you do, have the heater turned on and to the hottest stetting.
thanks for all the responses. i have not had a chance to do anything with my car as i have been away. I will try to rebleed the cooling system myself if it is simple enough. Could someone please list the basic steps? thanks and advance
I think someone said it already but bleeder hoses, they are the 2 small hoses at the back of the coolant tank. They may look fine from the out side but if you take them off they fail internally. Also I would check into replacing your fans, here is a link to a good write up on the faults of the factory ones. http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300662&highlight=2050.
I have a 355 and it had the same problem a few years ago. Turns out the left radiator fan motor fuse was blown. I forget exactly were it is but that may ne your problem. When driving the air flow does its thing but when stopped the motor relies on the fans. Hope that helps.
Thanks for posting what the solution was for your car. It's always helpful to come to the end of a thread like this and find something that worked!
See this thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/377706-355-owners-only-more-data-samples-needed-anonymous-poll.html
In Texas heat, with heavy traffic and the A/C on, that's where mine goes. It will bounce from exactly where yours is back down to 190 as the right side fan kicks on an off. Again, this is standing in traffic with the A/C on with outside air temps in the high 80's-90's. As soon as we get going, she cools down quickly. I try avoid being in this situation.
Invest in a Bluetooth or wifi OBD reader that pairs with an app on your phone. You can get a second opinion on coolant temp from the ecu temp sensor. My gauge (despite changing sender) shows perpetual overheating but the temp sensor shows proper temps maintained under all driving conditions (185F-200F)
to follow, OBDLink comes with its own pretty functional app, but the device also works with theTorque Pro App which is awesome too. Not 100% of everything but enough information as long as you don't think you're now an expert...
Hey guys , I don't know if this will help but check the temp gauge . The nuts on the gauge cluster come loose , causing an erratic reading , just my 2 cents
