My son's camaro, the temp gauge sits at about the 170 degree mark. Fans on the radiator run, etc. Sure seems to me that the radiator hoses are a lot hotter than what the gauge is reading. That being said, if I turn off the key and let it sit for a couple of mins and turn the key back on, the gauge will go up to about 200 I would say. Which should be about the right temp as near as I can figure. If I start the car, the temp will steadily go back down.

Now, I never noticed this before, I dont drive it that often, but I charged the A/C last night with one of those re-charge kits. Any chance that has anything to do with it? I wouldn't think so.

But what I think I am going to do is replace radiator cap and thermostat tonight.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

 

lol wish mine would sit at 170. mine starts at about there and sitting at red lights and stop and go traffic rises to about 220-240

 

I know it doesn't sound like its a bad problem but it is. Its not supposed to be that way. I'll tear into it a little more and see if I can figure something out.

 

Ya i know they usually say operating temp should be between 180-220. So I dont know. Ill keep checking back to see if problem gets solved. than I can be more helpful to the next person.

 

Your thermostat may be sticking open which would let the water circulate through the engine pretty much like not having a thermostat in the system. You can test it by turning the heater on, setting the temp on the heater to max and seeing if it will blow out hot air, hotter than ambient temp.

 

I would check the t-stat and temp sensor.

 

Well thermostat was fine, although it was a 180 degree stat. I replaced it with a 195 and basically same result. Could be the sensor.

Here is what worries me. When I went to remove the stat, there really was not any water at the housing or in the upper hose. Radiator was full.

Any good way to test to make sure water is circulating? I mean the upper and lower hoses get hot as does the radiator. I cant help but think there is some kind of a problem there. I know if there isnt water touching the sensor, its going to give a false reading.

 

When you pulled the t-stat out, did you purge the line for air? When you get it up to operating temp, there's a screw on top of the t-stat housing. Put a rag around the area, and open the bleeder until you've got straight water coming out, no air.

 

There is no bleeder screw on the t-stat housing or anywhere around that area. But that sounds like it could be the problem. Maybe I will get it up on ramps and make sure the radiator inlet is quite a bit higher than the t-stat housing and hopefully it will bleed air through. Cant hurt any i guess.

 

I would think coolant has to be circulating, otherwise, you would be overheating. If radiator is full, engine COLD, you should be able to remove the rad cap and start engine, let it idle and in a few minutes, you should be able to see coolant circulating in the radiator and even possibly starting to overflow out the radiator cap.