How hot is too hot?
 

Coolant temp that is?

Yesterday I was driving home with the AC on ReCirc and the coolant gauge went past the 210F mark - 108F according to the bank sign. It may have hit 220F or even hotter.

That's too hot imo. Not overheated...just to hot for my taste.

I think that's a given. :)

But I guess what I'm asking is, just how hot before damage starts occurring to the car?

So any ideas or opinions as to when it's considered "overheated"?

i really doubt thats doing any damage whatsoever, i dont know the limit but 210 should be fine

When will our OEM W.temp meter start to make a move? Is your gauge moving at all at 210F?

Not much. Remind me tomorrow and I'll overheat my car to see where the gauge is at different temps. It's tough to say at what temp damage actually occurs. My '85 TA was set to turn the fans on at 210 so GM seems to think that's ok. But what do they know. :nono: My fans are set for 185 on and 180 off. If I reach temps higher then that I figure something must be wrong with my cooling system. So far so good.

210 should be fine. I wouldn't worry until the stock gauge starts to move.

When it starts to move, though, start worrying fast.

I have an Autometer gauge with the temp sender just after the T-Stat. The OEM gauge doesn't move at all at 210F - which is normal.

on my bike the fan kicks on at 217 and you get a red warning light when it reaches 247, that's never happened though. In traffic it's gotten up to 229 but never hotter than that. so i'm gonna guess around the 250 mark is where you'll start to see damage

Mazda doesn't even turn your cooling fan on until 207F.

The highest I've seen on datalogs is 211F, happens sometimes in boost but only very briefly.

Big thing, IMO, is you don't want the coolant to boil. Because then it stops circulating, so the motor isn't cooled behind the blockage. I would think as long as the coolant doesn't boil, then you're not likely to sustain any damage. Even if the coolant temp is maxing out at 215 or 220.

Phil my GSXR liked to run around 212F. Would go to 222F at idle before the fan would come on. Never saw over 220 while riding. :dunno:

I think it also depends where you are taking temperature from. I see there is +/- 10 Deg C. different if you are taking factory Temp reading, then if you are reading off your top rad. hose.

it's not that hot while moving, it's when i'm sitting in a traffic jam for a while on a really hot day, but the 929 is known to run a little hotter than a lot of other bikes, usually about 5 degree difference between mine and my friends 03gsxr1000 when we're riding together doing the same thing. normally when riding it's always under 200

buddy of mine had his pegged to the red... for several km! That was years ago and nothing bad happened. In mine the engine would be somewhere north of 116*C if it was pegged... :P still ok thanks to the cast iron block.

BTW - 116*c = 240F

so conservative with temps you guys!

I've had my car dip into the 230s on several occasions. One of which was saturday at the dyno. seems to be fine running that hot as long as the system can take it.

I'd say 230 is right about the point where I go "hmmm I better back off". It's never been past 235 that I'm aware of.

Matt

Lots of modern cars are designed to run in the 220s and 230s. Hot, but ok. Next time you have a rental with the "Driver Information Center," drive up a big hill and watch the digital coolant temp readout. It can get pretty high without moving the gauge or turning on any lights. Granted, I don't think the Miata was designed to consistently run at the temps that today's cars are, but I wouldn't be concerned with 210-220.