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Hot Temp
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 8:02 pm
by jking18
I have a 1989 Base with a 2.8/3 speed auto and my engine gets very hot to the touch but the temp gauge stays between the 1/4 and 1/2 mark. I was thinking it was the temp sensor but i am not sure. Has anyone else had this problem? Any Ideas?
Re: Hot Temp
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 8:10 pm
by GTU89
How hot to the touch and how long was it ran after feeling the engine? Should be normal though, I know my plenum gets fairly hot after being ran for awhile despite not overheating.
Probably wouldn't hurt to replace the temp sensor since they are cheap though, I mean at worst that is one less thing to worry about down the road.
Re: Hot Temp
Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 3:59 am
by jking18
GTU89 wrote:How hot to the touch and how long was it ran after feeling the engine? Should be normal though, I know my plenum gets fairly hot after being ran for awhile despite not overheating.
Probably wouldn't hurt to replace the temp sensor since they are cheap though, I mean at worst that is one less thing to worry about down the road.
I'll replace the sensor but I thought it was weird that the motor would feel very hot to the touch without the temp gauge rising.
Re: Hot Temp
Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 8:01 am
by DTMAce
Actually, I think that's normal. I wouldn't worry about it. My 3100 can get hot to the touch, but you have to think, 200 or more degrees IS hot to the touch. LOL
Re: Hot Temp
Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 10:50 am
by ifixalot
In my daughter's 90 Beretta. There is a tendency to be able to trap air in the system because the radiator filler neck is lower than the upper radiator hose.
This traps air around the thermostat which makes it slow to open making the engine get hot.
As I recall, my daughter's car's temp gauge would read cool and then as the thermostat opened, coolant would rush past and the gauge would go higher
and as the engine cooled, it would go back down.
There should be a 1/4 inch fitting on the gooseneck that allows you to bleed the air out but that could be stuck.
In the later years, they added a bleeder screw to a different high point of the cooling system to bleed trapped air.
What I used to do was jack the car up on the passenger side, open the radiator cap, while the engine is cool of course,
and let the air escape, add extra coolant as needed.