after the first 15 mins, the temp should be pretty constant. the front electric fan should have come on. I dont know what it is in celcius, but whatever number the middle of your temp guage is, thats where it should peak & the fan should come on.
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12:30 PM
jlhuber Member
Posts: 881 From: Hope, MI, USA Registered: Oct 1999
after the first 15 mins, the temp should be pretty constant. the front electric fan should have come on. I dont know what it is in celcius, but whatever number the middle of your temp guage is, thats where it should peak & the fan should come on.
Uh, uh oh. So if mine never makes it higher than 1/4 up off of cold, then I have a problem?
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01:13 PM
m0sh_man Member
Posts: 8460 From: south charleston WV 25309 Registered: Feb 2002
normal driving and stuff, yeah, 1/4 on the guage is normal. if you just let it sit & idle, it'll start to creep up to about 1/2, where the fan should turn on, and it should start going back down to under halfway. I figured since the car is dismantled, I didnt think he'd be driving it, just sitting and idling, so I'd expect it would go up to half-way. and, since I dont know how to convert fahrenhiet to celcius, I was just trying to give him a number to look for - 1/2 on the guage - whatever that is - theres a number on the guage. and yes, if your guage rarly goes above 1/4, and spends most of its time around 1/8 on the guage, check your thermostat. it will affect your gas milage and performace by keeping the ECM from going into closed loop mode which happens around 160-180* F. (still cant convert to celcuis....or even spell it!)
------------------ 1985 Fiero SE Plain Red V6 Coupe
The stock thermostat is 195 degrees. If it is working and installed correctly (handle side up - you'ld be amazed at what I've seen over the years) then your engine should never go over 195.
If it IS over 195 then check the thermostat, your radiator for leaks, radiator cap may need replacing, fan switch could be bad, water pump could be shot, or any one of three temp sensors could be bad.
You might want to consider replacing the stock thermostat with a 180 degree unit. Engine runs cooler, more power, longer lasting.
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02:04 PM
RedGTFieroKCMO Member
Posts: 527 From: Overland Park, KS Registered: Dec 2001
Uh, uh oh. So if mine never makes it higher than 1/4 up off of cold, then I have a problem?
or...The coolant sensor is probably worn out or defective, or the wires are melted off the plug. If it's a V-6, it's located right by the exhaust manifold on the trunk side of the engine. It's probably reaching the correct operating temperature, the sensor just isn't correctly relaying that information to the dash gauge.
