BJC

Just wondering what peoples coolant temps are, since I've never had a digital readout before, and not sure what is normal.
My 2.2 is around 90C (194F) warm while driving and jumps up to 110C (230F) sometimes when stopped.

bredick

230F sounds a little toasty to me, I haven't got my cobaly yet, but on my current Cavalier that's as high as my guage can go.... That may be a problem with summer coming, I'm guessing in Toronto it's still about 70's(f) for a high now since I'm not far away (near Detroit), and that's what we've had. (sorry, I don't do metric, I'm a dumb American)

snappy

After a good hard run, I stopped to look at some cars and left it running. The temp climbed to 220 and made me real nervous. At 220 it began to drop quickly to 189.

tx05cobalt

Well I dont know what to tell you guys but I live in Texas and last week we hit good old 99F one day and I was out driving and even sitting at lights my temp gauge never went over 200F

Chevy4Life85

Between 190-210 is usually a good place to be but it can go higher if under the right circumstances, 230 is where I would draw the line and start asking ?'s though

mken

I'm in Florida and it's been hitting close to and right at 90 (F) the last couple weeks. I've never seen it go higher than 195 F, and that's idling in traffic after "spirited" driving.

zinner

I have been to above 210 in stop and go traffic. If your moving never much more than 195.

brianfcp

i live in phoenix, land of 115F temps. my cobalt can get around 210ish when its hot, but at night it stays around 185F.

tiny

i usually stay in the 190-210 range, when i was at the track waiting in line during a delay, it was at 209, and i couldnt get it go down at all, **** heatsoak

Permafried-

Mine typically hovers around 89 - 91 celcius, except in heavy stop and go traffic, particularly with the 45 degree C weather we've had lately, the humidity is hard on the engine because it can't pull any cool air in. In heavy stop and go I've seen it rise to 110C but you shouldn't be seeing temps this high on steady driving (and by stop and go I mean not getting out of second gear for nearly 8 blocks with lights on every corner). I've been wondering the same thing but if the coolant is rated for 129C before boiling then I've basically brushed it off for now but still keep an eye on it now and then to make sure it's not rising too quickly.

The manual also states that stop and go traffic, hills, etc. can cause the temperature to rise but it should drop back down with normal driving...if you see steam or fire run like hell !

Permafried-

DanJHartman

yeah i was getting kinda scared one day cus i left my car running and it was up to like 223 or so...i was flippin, i had my heat on full blast after that...lol
go start up your car on a hot day and let it sit after driving it for a little while and see if it goes that high...maybe i just need more coolant

phxSS

193F is highest my coolant has gone..and that was a week ago when it was 118F outside

MachiBLue

HIghest its got was about 197F, and that was after some fun driving

mlcroy20

Mine hit about 215 seating in traffic.. but I live in Orlando.. all I do is sit in traffic! Usually though if I'm moving it's around 185...

CobaltSS422

Mine stays around 180-195 F. Has anyone tried replacing their thermostat with 160?? Was wondering if it would help with the performance of the vehicle a little bit by keeping everything a little cooler???

Maven

iTrader: (1)

replacing your thermosat w/ a 160* unit is a bad idea....engines need to make heat, and not only will a 160 tstat most likely set a trouble code(engine coolant below regualted temperature DTCP0128), you run the risk of your oil never getting hot enough(over210*) to never fully burn off any moisture accumulated in it.

Engine Physics 201
Better cooling means less performance
It is well established that the detonation of gases within the engine's cylinders, creates heat, and causes the gases in the combustion chambers to obey standard rules of Chemistry, such as the Ideal Gas Law. Because of the sudden heat, the gases try to expand immediately, but they cannot, so the pressure in those hot gases greatly and rapidly increases, forcing the piston downward and producing power. Pressure must be maintained within the cylinder throughout the entire power stroke for decent performance.

With lower engine temperatures, less heat remains in the hot compressed gases in the cylinder pushing the piston downward, because the excessive cooling lowers the pressure due to the Ideal Gas Law.

This cooling is necessary, to permit lubricants to keep the engine running reliably, but it takes an amazing amount of energy from the cylinders! If an engine is rated at 200 HP, then the cooling system removes an ADDITIONAL 200 HP to 300 HP worth of energy from the cylinder walls and heads!

The engine cooling system must be able to remove all that heat when the engine is under full load and power, so cooling systems are efficient. At 5,000 rpm, there is only about 0.003 seconds available to remove most of the extreme heat from the cylinder walls and head. The gases start out at around 4000°F. As that heat is removed from the cylinder walls and head, the gases inside cool down. The extensive cooling and leakage at low rpm and the reduced (delayed) effective compression pressure at high rpm, are the primary reasons that an engine has a "torque curve".

Prior to around 1980, cars and trucks had large radiators and very free airflow through them, and engines ran fairly cool. Standard thermostats of 180°F, permitted cool engine operation, with the intention of enabling long engine life. When fuel efficiency and air pollution came into play, manufacturers intentionally reduced the effectiveness of the cooling system to reduce the cylinder heat losses to increase efficiency.

Now, nearly all vehicles have small radiators and small grilles. Modern radiators are too small to avoid overheating and so cooling fans are necessary to keep engines from boiling over. Thermostats are generally 195°F, raising the engine temperatures by 15°F. The highest possible engine operating temperature is used to improve engine efficiency and performance, which also reduces the amount of air pollution created in the process. Ref.

Minimum cooling
For every one gallon of gasoline an engine burns, one gallon of water is produced as a by-product. In cold weather, water vapor will condense on the cylinder walls and be picked up by the oil. Condensation in engine oil can lead to the formation of sludge, rust and corrosion. Water in your motor oil causes metal surfaces to rust, increasing friction and wear which destroys the close-fitting tolerances between engine parts. Water will also react with combustion by-products to form corrosive acids. Cold room tests have shown that up to 40% of all engine wear occurs during cold starts. Ref.


Given the above information, running an engine at anything under 180F, will reduce power, efficiency and increase emissions significantly. Engine oil temperature will also be insufficent to ensure condensation boil off, resulting in formation of corrosive acids and engine degradation.
c5d@DC

Blackey2005

Dude that is crazy hot. Seriously I owned a Z28 before I owned my Cobalt SS and I never got it even near that high. in the Camaro I would sit at about 190 deg. and in my Cobalt I never go over 190 and I live in Texas. Even when it is 100 deg. outside I never get that hot or in stop and go traffic. you should definately have that one looked at.

rocketman2047

85'f last night sat with LS running talking to a friend for about an hour, ac on. temp stayed 195'-205' (its a new car hell yes i watched it) every car ive ever bought over heated within the first month. if i were you friend at 230'f id see what circumstance could make it go that high and if it usually stays around 190-210. if you have the ss or are running prem high octane gas then maybe yours would be running hotter.

let me know if you can find the deduct what conditions it happened under id be happy to try to duplicate... any excuse to head out driving after work.

Nightcrawler

Mine is usually between 185-195F under normal driving. I have seen around the 200-205F range after some full throttle take offs. This is very similar to what I saw with my Cavalier

230 definitely seems out of the ordinary unless you were sitting in heavy traffic on a hot day. I'd have that checked out.

Permafried-

My average running temp is 89C (192F) but it seems to sky rocket when im in eclosed areas like downtown and it's heavy stop and go. I've seen it go as high as 105C (221F) if not a little over after driving a constant speed and then all of a sudden having to stop and sit at light after light or in a traffic jam.

The coolant is rated for 129C (264F) boiling point so if it starts to approach that I'd duck and cover and take my car into the shop but I'm not too concerned with my temperatures especially being an engine with only 3000km on it !

Permafried-

tio

That sounds like it is running too hot, which model do you have ? My SS/SC runs at about 82-83C, jumps to low 90s when I kick it or in traffic and goes back down to low 80s a few minutes after I back off.

tiny

you might wanna get your fans checked out, or install an override switch

05BurntOGSL

does your A/C work as cold as it should? I had a bad pressure sensor in my A/C unit somewhere, and it made my car go upto 215......might wanna ask the dealership to check it, do your fans come on right when you start the car? ie...after it sat all night

twandamon

i had the same problem, my temp goes crazy sometimes, highest i got was like 235, i took it in to the dealship and they said it was perfectly normal. wtf eh? my car will actually run cooler with the A/C on. mine usually stays around 200 believe it or not.....sometimes 187, then the otheres its well into the 200's, which if u ask me is not normal but hey i took it in, they said it was normal.....o well if something goes wrong its on them.

silverSS

im seeing about 189 degress on average, but in stop and go it could go to 193ish, myne doesnt jump around too much but i dont run it hard.