What is the normal coolant temp?
 

Hi Everybody,

I just bought a 91 Miata with a 94 engine with a DIY turbo setup. I drove the car ~600 miles home after I bought it, and the car made it without any big issues. The A/C belt has been removed and it has a SAAB inter cooler on it.
The car was originally an automatic and was converted to 5 speed. The car is running about 5-6psi boost.

I was watching the temperature gauge (It has a after market one which reads in F) while on the highway and in traffic. Even driving on the highway the gauge was hovering about 200-205 F and about the same in traffic. When I forced the A/C fan to run (Using the A/C button, the car's A/C belt has belt removed) the temperature was around 180 (both on the highway and traffic).

When I switched off the fan and switched on the inside heater the temperature was ~185-190 F.

It seem very abnormal for the car to run at 200F on the highway. The previous owner said that he had a changed the radiator to used manual transmission radiator when he swapped the transmission.

How do I go about trouble shooting this problem?
Any pointers?

Thanks.
-Raj

Temps are fine. If the Miata is like my Protege (same motor), the fan is supposed to turn on at 207°F and turn off at 194°F.

--Ferdi

it's the same for the miata. 207 on, 194 off.

Thanks guys.

-Raj

up, same here. Put some water wetter in it will lower the temps a bit.

sounds right, you could put a lower temp tsat in it if your really worried about it.

Yep, without my fans, I run 200-205 all day long.