I was in very bad traffic today for 1.5 hours and the oil temp went up to 250 and the water temp went very high. I turn off the road and found some room to drive and the temp went down a bit. I sat for ten minutes and continued on and the temp went back to the normal range. What is wrong? This can't be normal. I heard the fan go on also, I did not have the A/C on either as the outside temp. was only 65.

 

You should check to make sure that your radiators are clear of any debris. Very common problem.

 

You definitely had some sort of 'coolant' episode. Beside looking at your radiators I would also look at your coolant reservoir to make sure that it's at the proper level and the hoses and cap are secure. If it happened just once and the ambient temperature wasn't extreme it might have been some sort of 'glitch'.

 

Debris/coolant level. I check my coolant once every couple of weeks in the morning before I start the car.

I saw an oil temp of 250 at the track a couple of weeks ago but the water stayed at it's usual 'home' position of 175. I've been stationary for 10 - 20 minutes and the oil never got above 230.

Hopefully the solution will be simple.

 

Remember: in a pinch you can blast your heater to get temps down faster. I don't think 250 for oil under those conditions is so unusual. The water temp spike would worry me more. Get the system checked out.

 

Yeah does not sound extremely unusual but check your radiators.

Jason

 

250 oil temp (or even higher) on track is not necessarily "normal" but def not unheard of, including yours truly - mine seems to be 250 now that i've gotten an ECU tweak and switched to redline. for around-town oil temps, consensus seems to be 200-225.

keep in mind something about the water gauge - it's a dummy, it's not really a gauge with an actual temperature reading but is more of an indicator/warning. basically it essentially has only 3 valid positions: cold/zero, normal/175 (i.e. middle gauge), and overheating/250+. of course by the time you actually reach that warning light, some internal temps may be 300+ since the gauge itself is so dampened. in other words it's possibly a "buy a new engine" light since temps like that could quickly lead to cracked heads and warped cylinders. point is, clogged radiators or not...if you EVER see that gauge rising past 175 "for no reason", i would pull over and shut off immediately. even if just a faulty gauge, better safe than sorry.

 

On coolant temp - does anyone know at what temp the warning light comes on? ALso, does the car go into "limp" mode when temps get too high? Thanks.

 

Check your coolant cap for any pink crust. The latest coolant cap should have part # 996106447.04 . If you have .01 or .02 buy a new one. The .03 never made out of production.

 

Oil temp was reacting to the water temp IMO. While I have seen my oil temp near the 250 mark that was only on an 85 + degree days and stopped in traffic. Have never seen my coolant temp above 175 regardless of conditions. How high was your coolant temp ?

 

250 oil temp is nothing...I see that and more all the time at the track and at least that sometimes in Florida heat and traffic. Your water temp gauge is a dummy gauge and basically never reads correct water temp and max's out at 175.

250 oil temp is fine for synth oil and you need just above 200 to burn off water in the oil anyway.

 

I brought the car into my local independent Pcar repair shop this morning. The temp and oil gauges were in the normal zone but it was a short drive. Maybe the fans in the front of the car weren't working properly?

 

I just replaced one of my front fans about 3 months ago. I had the windows down and noticed one of the fans was operating on high to compensate for the other one not working at all. Did you notice anything similar or were both fans blowing?

 

The shop said the fans are not turning on but they didn't have enough time to find out why today. It will have to wait till Monday. So no Pcar for me this weekend.

 

[quote=spiffyjiff;3197499]250 oil temp (or even higher) on track is not necessarily "normal" but def not unheard of, including yours truly - mine seems to be 250 now that i've gotten an ECU tweak and switched to redline. for around-town oil temps, consensus seems to be 200-225.

Question: Have you actually observed that the ECU mod has caused higher temps around town and/or on the track? I would not think the oil would be a factor.