Why does my temp go up when air is on?

[Da Hawaiian Punch]

Just wondering.
If I'm in traffic for a while, I notice it raising up and have a hard time making it's way back down on the highway, but evenually does come down.
Anybody know this one?
I have flushed out the radiator yesterday, and clean out the debrit also from the radiator, and of course the water level is fine.
thermostate is, hhhmmm..... fairly fresh not very new, about 7-8 month's old.
could that it still be the problem?

 

[matchframe]

When you say "when the air is on..." do you mean when the Air Conditioner is on? if so, the A/C has a evaporator which cools the freon within its system.

After the freon leaves the compressor, the freon is very hot. It goes to the evaporator to cool it down before it goes to the condensor and expansion valve where it get super cold. A fan motor blows through the condensor, to the ductworks, which cool the inside of the car.

The evaporator is right in front of your radiator, so its hot air goes through your radiator. When you sit in traffic, there is little ambiant air going through the evaporator and radiator therefore the engine temp rises. When you are able get at speed on the highway, more air goes through the radiator & evaporator therefore dropping the engine temp.

You might get a lower rated thermostat to try to lower the engine temp.

Hope this helps!

Bill

 

[Eagle85C4]

Hey Brudda....you got em...

Check to see if your fan is running while the air is on. There is a switch that controls the fan so that when the a/c is on it forces the fan on as well. If the fan is not coming on that would explain the rise in temp. Basically I just ran a wire from each fan relay to a switch on the console, when the temp starts to climb Im just turn on the fans manually to control it. No more problem...Aloha

 

[Bonnell]

I have the same issue with my '88. I have coolant and my fan is on but in hot weather (over 90 degrees) I go past 230 in traffic. Once on the highway the temp will drop after a short time.

I only have one fan that I can see. I'd like to know how to correct this too.

 

[matchframe]

You might get a lower value thermostat so that the coolant flows more free. I have even removed the thermostat during the summer so the engine will run cooler.


Bill

 

[caddy]

Try Water Wetter

Another way to lower your temps is add some "Water Wetter" this stuff really does work, I live in Houston, Tx and it's Hot as He** here right now we haven't had rain in over a month and Friday I was tooling along (the temp Fri. was around 96 degrees with the humidity about the same) and my coolant temp got up to about 230, Sunday morning I drove down to Galveston but before I left I drained about 12oz. of coolant and added a bottle of "Water Wetter" and then some coolant to top it off (it was about 98 degrees or so) and the whole day the coolant temp never got over 205, most of the time she was reading about 194 or 195, I'm sold on this stuff, try it......it does work and only cost about $7

 

[Da Hawaiian Punch]

Howzit guy's!! I forgot to tell you that I have the 160* thermostat already along with the lower temp burned in the computer chip for the 2 fans to come on. ( Fans turn on at 160*)

 

[Da Hawaiian Punch]

Hey Brudda....you got em...

Check to see if your fan is running while the air is on. There is a switch that controls the fan so that when the a/c is on it forces the fan on as well. If the fan is not coming on that would explain the rise in temp. Basically I just ran a wire from each fan relay to a switch on the console, when the temp starts to climb Im just turn on the fans manually to control it. No more problem...Aloha

Oh yeah, the fans do come on, both of them when therey're supposed to.
Sorry, I had forgotten to mention that important info.

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

My analogue gauge is all over the place:confused while the digital in the HVAC stays nailed to 185, once my motor finally gets that worm.

I run waterless coolant; my only complaint is that it takes me 15 min. to get into closed loop mode so my gas mileage on short trips is horrible. If Water Wetter doesn’t do the trick you might try waterless coolant. It takes some minor mods but nothing more serious than a 2 mm drill bit and a tap to install a bleeder valve on the water pump.

We run the stuff in all of the bikes and the Vette. I should have converted the LandCruiser as well, it was lent to a friend last week and came home on a flatbed with a blown head gasket.ad

 

[Da Hawaiian Punch]

I should have converted the LandCruiser as well, it was lent to a friend last week and came home on a flatbed with a blown head gasket.ad

Aaaawwww man! that sucks eggs my freind!! so sorry to hear that! I'd be one mad man if that happened to my vehicle!

 

[Da Hawaiian Punch]

So people! water wetter really works huh? Man! try saying that 10 times fast!:eek

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

try saying that 10 times fast!

1. water wetter really works
2. wetter works water really
3. water really works wetter
4. really wetter water works
5. woter wetter really warks
6. water retter weally works
7. reter wetter weally works
8. later letter weally rowks
9. rater retter weally rorks
10.Yea, the stuff is pertty good.

 

[Da Hawaiian Punch]

1. water wetter really works
2. wetter works water really
3. water really works wetter
4. really wetter water works
5. woter wetter really warks
6. water retter weally works
7. reter wetter weally works
8. later letter weally rowks
9. rater retter weally rorks
10.Yea, the stuff is pertty good.

:L My dear freind, you need some help there.:J :crazy
When I read that, I nearly fell out of my seat, I laughed so hard!!!:L

 

[Vettelt193]

what is your coolant/water mix now?? I not heard very positive things about water wetter when it comes to actual temperatures (however, I can get into that if you want)

Basically, more water and less coolant is the way to go for low temps. If you are running 50/50 mix, try 20% coolant, 80% water. It will work better.

 

[Da Hawaiian Punch]

what is your coolant/water mix now?? I not heard very positive things about water wetter when it comes to actual temperatures (however, I can get into that if you want)

Basically, more water and less coolant is the way to go for low temps. If you are running 50/50 mix, try 20% coolant, 80% water. It will work better.

Less coolant, more water?...no kidding?
well, I think that my mix is about (aprox) 20%-30% anti-freeze the rest is water.
I'll try some of that "Water Wetter" in a couple of days...my car's in the shop right now getting the nose & rear end re-painted, it had some flaws from the last paint job.
If you dont mind, could you go through the info you have on the "Water Wetter" product please?
Mahalo (Thank You) for your's and everybody whos been helping me with this problem that I'm presently haveing.

 

[CFour]

the car going up to 230F before the fans come on is scary but normal. H/P Do you know for sure that your thermostat is working properly?

 

[Da Hawaiian Punch]

the car going up to 230F before the fans come on is scary but normal. H/P Do you know for sure that your thermostat is working properly?

I'm not sure if the question was directed towards me, but I'm not sure about the thermal stat, It's fairly new, about.....hmmm...... maybe......7-8 months old? you think that something could have happened to it already? that maybe it's faulty?

 

[Vettelt193]

the car going up to 230F before the fans come on is scary but normal. H/P Do you know for sure that your thermostat is working properly?

It is a bit hard to tell, but if you know what temp the T-stat is set at you can usually figure it out.... If you have the stock 195 degree stat, you should notice the car getting warm rather quickly until 195. at that point it should level off for a little while before the temp goes up any more. your car sounds like it is operating properly by the way you describe it though

 

[Vettelt193]

Less coolant, more water?...no kidding?
well, I think that my mix is about (aprox) 20%-30% anti-freeze the rest is water.
I'll try some of that "Water Wetter" in a couple of days...my car's in the shop right now getting the nose & rear end re-painted, it had some flaws from the last paint job.
If you dont mind, could you go through the info you have on the "Water Wetter" product please?
Mahalo (Thank You) for your's and everybody whos been helping me with this problem that I'm presently haveing.

The 'deal' with water wetter...

The purpose of it is to help increase the heat transfer from the engine to the coolant. This means it should help the heat move away from the engine components and into the coolant. This also means water wetter can increase the coolant temperatures. This would actually be a good thing, because more heat is going into the coolant, less is being retained by the engine. This is also why most people do not notice a temperature decrease when using water wetter since you are measuring the coolant and not the temperature of the metal it is pulling heat from.

I know of people who claim to use it and get reduced temperatures... the problem is most people don't use it without flushing their radiator first, which adds too many variables to the formula.

To make a long story short, if you add water wetter it should help protect your engine than just plain coolant. However, don't expect your coolant temperature to go down.

 

[Da Hawaiian Punch]

The 'deal' with water wetter...

The purpose of it is to help increase the heat transfer from the engine to the coolant. This means it should help the heat move away from the engine components and into the coolant. This also means water wetter can increase the coolant temperatures. This would actually be a good thing, because more heat is going into the coolant, less is being retained by the engine. This is also why most people do not notice a temperature decrease when using water wetter since you are measuring the coolant and not the temperature of the metal it is pulling heat from.

I know of people who claim to use it and get reduced temperatures... the problem is most people don't use it without flushing their radiator first, which adds too many variables to the formula.

To make a long story short, if you add water wetter it should help protect your engine than just plain coolant. However, don't expect your coolant temperature to go down.

Hmm, good info there. Mahalo for taking your time to explain how this cooling thing work's! I had no idea that the coolant actually takes heat away from the engine and stores it till it can be cooled by the fans...Ive got that right, right?