How hot is HOT

[jnj]

Hello all,
I just upgraded from a 91 C4 to a C5 - 2001 Magnetic Red II vert. WOW, what a difference 10 years makes. Due to my cooling worries with the 91, I was wondering what is considered "normal" to the C5. So far in 70 degree weather and some stop & go traffic the water temp varied from 198 - 226 degrees. Assuming I have the stock 195 thermo, this is not bad. What can I expect during the dog days of Summer when temps can reach 102 here in so cal.
Looking forward to chatting with everyone here in the C5 forum.
Thanks for all replies!

 

[DRTH VTR]

Hello all,
I just upgraded from a 91 C4 to a C5 - 2001 Magnetic Red II vert. WOW, what a difference 10 years makes. Due to my cooling worries with the 91, I was wondering what is considered "normal" to the C5. So far in 70 degree weather and some stop & go traffic the water temp varied from 198 - 226 degrees. Assuming I have the stock 195 thermo, this is not bad. What can I expect during the dog days of Summer when temps can reach 102 here in so cal.
Looking forward to chatting with everyone here in the C5 forum.
Thanks for all replies!

I would think that you would expect about the same. When you turn on your a/c, a fan turns on to provide radiator and evaporator cooling.

 

[Patrick]

Hey, 91Coupe!
Welcome to the C5 Forums. I also upgraded from a 91 Coupe to a C5 Z06, about a year ago. I've gone through one summer with it so far, and I've found that even with the AC on, the temp runs at about the same range: 200 to 220.

-Patrick

 

[MsSchroder]

91coupe,

Welcome to the C5 forums. That mag red is a wonderful color!
It has been a while since summer, and I don't remember watching the water temp that much.
I guess we'll have to compare notes when the dog days of summer arrive. We get some pretty hot ones here, but 102! yikes!

Tammy

 

[Stosh]

91coupe,

I owned a 93 and 95 convertible and just bought an 04 vert and your right, WOW what a difference. I am still surprised how much faster my 04 is than my 95 was. My color choices were between Mag red/tan and Spiral Gray/Black. Both are great but I went with the Gray.

As to the temp, I have only owned my 04 sinse Sept so don't know about summer temps.

Congrats on the new car!

Stosh

 

[Hib Halverson]

The C5 cooling system is inherantly better at cooling the engine than was the C4 system.

You do have a 195 thermostat.

The 198 to 226 coolant temp range you see is mainly because of the temperatures GM sets to turn the cooling fans on. I would term that range, normal as long as it goes up to 226, the fans come on and then it goes down a bit.

On hot days here in SoCA, you can expect maximum coolant temp to be about the same but you'll spend more time with the fans on and less time down around 198.

You can improve cooling a modest amount by changing the PCM cal to lower the fan-on temps and reducing the amount of antifreeze you run in your coolant. An even larger gain can come if you replace the stock radiator with an aftermarket all-aluminum unit intended for heavy-duty use.

 

[vette rod]

About the same, no problem.