'03 SS, 3.8 stock, 69,000 miles

A lot of cooling system threads lately, but I needed to ask a question of my own. Where should the temp gauge read fully warm? Mine doesn't get past 1/4, or 170 degrees?

It seems to have good heat and the gauge doesn't jump around. I just want to know if this is normal. We had a few nice days over the weekend, so I finally got to drive her. I don't really know what's "normal" yet, since I didn't get to drive her all that much after purchasing her in October and parking most of the winter. I would guess if anything I need to replace the thermostat. The car had fresh coolant put in before winter, thanks to my engine block heater disintegrating and coolant pouring out of the hole.

 

Thats about normal..my 2002 Monte Carlo SS Pace car runs in that range except when i am stuck in traffic...it then goes into the middle zone and the fans kick in to bring it back down. I dont see any problems in that range.

 

That sounds good. I'd rather it ran a little cool than too hot. I just thought if it really was too cold it might affect fuel economy. I also wasn't sure about the accuracy of the factory gauge. Next time I drive it, I need to let it idle a while after I stop, so I can see if it gets a little closer to halfway.

 

I have yet to drive my '04 Monte in the winter, but I believe that temp reading is the same for me during the summer (or really close).
Keep in mind, that gauge goes from 140-260, that reading is probably about 170. Your T-stat is probably set to open 180-190, so that is all normal.

I does not hurt to change the T-stat if it was really old or high miles, so if that's the factory T-stat you could change it just to try and keep up on the maintenance... But from what I see, you have no problems, you said you get good heat, leave it along (or wait until spring/summer to change it).

 

Halfway is 195°

You might have a 180° thermo put in, because that's where mine reads.

 

I have a 03 SS while driving in traffic or stop at a drive thru my temp gauge goes up to 240. I put the heat on it drops back to 180. Driving on highway and open roads its fine. Loses a quart of water a month no evidence of exterior leaks no water in oil. When the temp does rise over the middle I start to smell antifreeze. Any suggestions PLEASE

 

my temp gauge is 3 notches before the red marks. I changed the thermostat and didnt change. Here's the thing, there was no way to get out of needing to drive it, so for about an hour in stop and go traffic, it lays right on the red marks, but if this was really overheating, when I shut if off, wouldnt it be making some heat noises or bubbling back into the reservoir? It has plenty of anti-freeze and also the AC is still cold as ever,. OK, so I just started it, 6:01am, and now its 6:06am and its right on the red marks. Could it go from cold to red in 5 min on idle? Top and bottom hoses are both warm/hot, water pump is not leaking, both fans work, AC is cold.............bad coolant sensor?

 

The stepper motors like to go out in these gauges and give all kinds of strange positions. Can you get a scanner hooked up to the car to see the actual temp reading? These cars should shut off if the temp gets too high.

 

Not necessarily for a couple reasons:

-The gauge isn't intended to convey exact temperature by the hash marks. Theres no set standard (ie the red mark is 240F on all cars). Those gauges are just intended to give you a general idea of when the car is warmed up to 'normal' and when things are beyond normal and into the warning area (assuming they're working to whtmontes point).
-In a properly functioning system with good fluid, coolant wont boil until beyond a temperature that would be red on any gauge. 245-250F is generally the start of the danger zone for potential damage, but coolant in a properly functioning system generally won't start to boil until at least 10 degrees above that. When it gets to the point that the coolant has boiled and is bubbling and rolling steam out the overflow vent, youre way past the warning zone.

My point is that its possible the red zone corresponds to 235F on your particular gauge but your coolant isn't boiling yet because you're nowhere near the boiling point.

I'd 2nd whtmontes thought to see what the pcm is reading exactly (both to figure out if the gauge is going nuts - ie reading red at 200, and what the actual ECT value is).

I'd also caution against that unless its a truly life or death situation. Seriously overheating an engine has the potential to destroy it or create expensive repairs. So unless you're comfortable rolling the dice on that, I'd wouldnt push my luck (same with oil pressure).

 

First, it is best to start a new thread of your own.
And next, I will second the comments of both whtmontes and bumpin. I will also add, cold AC is not going to tell you much about an overheat of the engine. A variable that really doesn't do much. Now, if you turned on the heat while the temp was supposedly blazing and had no heat, THAT could start to tell you something. Plus, in the case of an overheat, it is typically suggested with any car that has coolant, crank the heat ALL the way up and turn the blower on full blast (because you engine coolant flows through the heater core and turning that blower up to full blast is an attempt to try and cool things, even on a small scale).

Things to check for:

1. Use a scan tool and see what temp the PCM is actually reading
2. Are your radiator fans activating? If not, why? Could be that the stepper motor is bad and your cluster has a false reading. Or could be some other problem preventing the fans from activating (like a blown fuse).
3. Is the thermostat functioning? Usually they would fail in an open position (which would be to prevent a potential over heat).