Engine temp in cooler weather-rain

[kyngfish]

Hi,

This may not be a big deal, lately I drive my car every weekend, early in the morning, usually between 35-55 minutes, to get it nice and warm, then I run it to redline a few times.

Honestly I think the car has been running better since I started doing this. That said, as it gets cooler, I've noticed that it has trouble staying "at temp". So I consider slightly above the first hashmark (200deg?) to be the right temperature before I start pulling to redline, but latey, especially on the highway, it seems to want to hover riiiiight below the hash (which I think is 194?).

In the rain, even in the heat of summer, same problem.

I live in Miami, so it gets pretty hot here. I have to be sitting in stop and go traffic for 45 minutes in the heat of the summer for my engine to start inching towards the second hash, which, isn't a bad problem to have.

Just worried about running her fairly hard when it doesn't seem to want to get up over that 194 mark.

Thanks!

[GH85Carrera]

Yea, in the rain the temp can easily drop to 180 or below. In full on hard rain even in the middle of a long road trip the temp may not get above 180.

A few years ago it was a nice clear but crazy cold day for Oklahoma. It was ZERO Fahrenheit. I drove my 85 911 for two hours and the oil temp never even got to 140. The heaters were running at MAX the entire time. It is impossible to get the car warm enough to check the oil. Now I have summer performance tire and I can't drive the car if it is below 40F.

[88911coupe]

This has concerned me as well, we can have some pretty cold days here in Dallas and the car never warms up for weeks at a time. I've wondered if I should change oils in the winter?

[kyngfish]

Lol - I'm not hitting the 194 hash and it's still in the upper 70s in the morning here. So I'm glad I'm not the only one concerned. Hopefully someone that knows will weigh in.

[T77911S]

engine Tstat stuck open

[Tremelune]

The ticks on these gauges are weird. Slightly below first tick is 180°F. Slightly above first tick is 210°F. Extrapolating from there, "9 o'clock" is 221°F.



I don't think it's normal for it to stay under 180°F in the dead of winter. If it concerns you, I'd put an infrared thermometer on the thermostat and lines and try and see what it's doing. It's always open to allow oil to the front cooler, but should be closed on the return line until...I think 180-190°F?

[petrolblue83911]

in my experience with several sc's and 3.2 carerra's;

-if the weather is under say 70F, the a car with a properly operating cooling system will stay around that 194 mark all day long- unless you are either sitting in traffic or driving really hard.

personally, I don't often redline my cars, but once the gauge is at or around that 194 mark- I happily rev it up to 4-5K, and I have never had an issue on multiple motors with as much as 140K miles on them.

I did find that on my last 3.2, the cooling system was that much better -given the different oil cooler, and as a result, it took more idling in traffic or pushing the car to get it to even reach the 194 mark when it was cold.

[kyngfish]

Originally Posted by petrolblue83911

personally, I don't often redline my cars, but once the gauge is at or around that 194 mark- I happily rev it up to 4-5K, and I have never had an issue on multiple motors with as much as 140K miles on them.

Oh man I change gears at redline at 2nd and 3rd at least twice a weekend. The sound is the most amazing thing ever. Can’t say anything about longevity but the first few times she stuttered and hesitated. Then threw out a big cloud of black smoke and hasn’t hesitated once ever again. Idle problems. Gone. Hesitation. Gone. Anyway, I guess we will find out.

[T77911S]

exercise the brakes as well. keeps the pistons from getting stuck

[ClickClickBoom]

The temp is measured at the engine case, as long as the oil is warm, running normal is the order of the day. My '84 3.2 runs at the 185 degree mark until it starts working harder. If you drive often it is possible to see the engine and aux thermostats when they open.

[kyngfish]

Originally Posted by T77911S

exercise the brakes as well. keeps the pistons from getting stuck

Good point.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by kyngfish

Can’t say anything about longevity

930 case number rods are safe to well over 7k rpm. I have heard 8k from professionals.

Relax.

What unfavorable stories do we read? Hill climb stories with a missed shift. Not going to Best Buy stories "and I took it to red line and she scattered".