Keeping Cobalts Cool, Radiator/Cooling Fan
 

I recently discovered that Flex-a-lite has entered the sport compact scene with electric fans. I've noticed that my 2.2L runs b/n 185 F and 190 F while cruising but during stop and go driving or extended idle periods, I have seen the temp get up to 227 F. It seldom gets over 220 F but that's too hot for my liking. I'd like to keep it at less than 200 F and at most no more than 210 F. I e-mailed FAL and asked if the Cobalt was on the future list for an electric fan kit. The response I got:

Most cars being built now, run 195 thermostats in them and are designed to
run hot. You have to keep in mind also that with the preeure in the cooling
systems and the coolant, boiling points are now very high. The 227 deg. is
not that uncommon for todays engines. As far as building fans for the
Cobalts, the more requests, the more we will look into it.

David Heutmaker
Customer Service
Flex-A-Lite Consolidated
Marisource


There you have it guys; anyone interested in have FAL build a great electric fan set-up to keep our cars cooler just go to the FAL website and CONTACT THEM!! Flex-a-lite


Scott

you can always get a different thermostat

i was going to ask a similiar question a cooling. mine runs about 190'~194' on average. but yesterday it got as high as 210' (it was 60'+ yesterday-concerding it is wintertime here). does anybody know how high it could go before it becomes a problem?
-thx art :cssNET:

The fan doesn't turn on until 226. There's nothing wrong with this as that's in the normal operating temp range for the Ecotec.

If it really bothers you, you can wire up a switch to turn on the fan manually or just switch on the A/C if its warm enough outside. Both will turn on the fan and bring temps back down.

Will a cooler thermostat work? My car stays at 180 while i'm crusing. If we use a 160 will it harm anything? besides the Heat will not be as hot for the heater

I wouldn't use a 160 for a daily driven application. Especially if you want to retain your warranty on your engine internals. It seems like the Cobalts come with 185 degree stats from the factory and that's usually the best balance of knock reduction and temp for a daily driven car.

let me tell you a problem with the old school method of adding the low temp tstats
when the PCM is registering a lower ECT voltage, the PCM compensates for the cooler temp with more fuel to heat the engine to the PCM set operating temp. the additional fuel is also more than really needed which can foul out plugs and o2 sensors

ive seen a lot of this,

Newer vehicles are designed to run hotter for emmissions reasons. As JapEatr said, the PCM will try to get the temp up by adding extra fuel to the mix, almost like having the choke on. So if you put in a lower temp thermostat, it would be like driving around with the choke on all the time, which is not good to say the least ;)

Mine's hit 226. I was watching the temp, not more then a minute later after the fan kicked in, the temp went back down to 180. I was stuck in traffic... took an hour and a half to move 3 miles.

Your right man, ive seen that alot of my work as well. But of course usually i see that on v8 chevys that need the extra fuel lol...ALthough in my experience, putting a lower thermostat in a car seems to make it just a bit more peppy, the one i saw that was most noticable was in a supercharged chevy silverado...im not sure about the cobalts. mine has gone over 210 on occassion, but i threw in some synthetic mobil1 oil, and it seems like it really never goes over 205 now...

I never see over 180 unless i am spraying, and then the most i have ever seen is 216...that is the setting i keep on the gauges during the 1/4 just in case it were to get too hot before i notice the smoke and/or steam....god forbid :nono:

Your engine will not run any cooler with a 160 thermostat!
The temperature rating of a thermostat is merely the opening temperature.
Having a 160 stat doesnt make your engine run at 160!
WopOnTour

i have too but usually throws CEL for too rich
your right i have seen 3 suburbans do this, one of them had part of the tstat missing?>wtf

also on my last car it didnt want to idle right when cold and the heater never was that great

for those wanting lower temps for performance i would say to get a better fan(PROPERLY INSTALLED) and a bigger lower air dam & rad cover

this is all that would make a big diff until a better radiator and intercooler exchanger are sold

or the 2 pass A/Wintercooler cooling mod! :cool:

I pulled the engine cover off of mine and it ran about 5 degrees cooler... but yeah, I'm gonna be doing a thermostat swap as soon as I can find a replacement.... probably 180 degrees.

Well, the problem with running a colder thermostat is that it keeps the thermostat open more often thus lowering the temp. of the coolant by recirculating the coolant more through the radiator and such. Now if its in the 160 range i can see how this might cause a misfire or driveability concern because 160 is the minimum temp. at which fuel properly atomizes to burn efficiently. So if your temp. of your coolant/ engine is in that vacinity you might be hurting yourself performance wise more than helping...just things i've noticed, but then again, if u go out and just throw a thermostat in a nearly stock vehicle, you will see no kinda of gain or better performance.

So is anyone helping me or not??
 

OK guys, I do want Flex-a-lite to produce an electric fan replacement kit for our Cobalts, but I gotta have everyone's help. I need everyone to use the link for the original post up top to write F-a-l and express their interest in this application. I know that a F-a-l fan will be much more effective and provide better cooling when it's really needed.


Thanks for your help,

Scott

Temperature Concerns??
 

I'm asking anyone who is concerned about high operating temperatures to e-mail Flex-a-lite and express a strong interest in a direct fit fan kit. I'm still seeing a lot of threads expressing a concern for high operating temperatures.


Scott

Scott
You're kinda whippin a dead horse here IMO
Few people have expressed any real issues with the Cobalt cooling system (not sure where you gettin that from)
Are you aware the factory calibration doesnt even turn ON the fans until 223F? -and that's LOW speed. High speed kicks in at 230F!

I mean techncially everyone can always use a better more efficient cooling system, but fans alone can only do so much.
Additionally, while personally I'm more into "function over form" a great many people might consider such an upgrade- if it looked good! But the damn fans are buried so deep under the supercharger and all in the Cobalt SS, you wont getting much visual effects.

JMO
WopOnTour

we live in the electronic age now, regardless what thermostat you replace or fan you replace it's not going to help because it's all computer controlled and will force the car to operate and what it feels is right. Also by making the car run cooler could do adverse effects to the motor, there is a reason it runs that hot. The 2.2L motor is designed in N/A Form to run at it's efficent range for fuel economy and performance for those temperatures.

The SS runs about 190 tops (never got it above that). There is a reason for it running at 180. That's the sweet spot for operating range.

Older cars like Muscle Dodges, Chevys back in the 70's, 60's or 50's operated better with swapped out thermostats and bigger fans and better shrouds because of the displacement size they were sporting and didn't run well with really HOT motors.