LS1 overheating temp?

[Black_vtss]

Hi Guys,

All this hot weather has got me curious..... yesterday (43 degrees) would test the cooling system of any car. Touch wood I've never had a problem, but I'm wondering at what running temp would you start to worry??

Cheers.
Glenn.

[steve_t]

Oil temp? I'd consider over 150 degrees might be a bit on the high side. I'd probably start wondering if something was wrong then. I guess it depends on load etc also. I got a fair bit higher than normal while towing the other day which is understandable. I'd probably be more worried about the rate of rise and fluctuation as opposed to the steady state temp you achieve while cruising around. Geez it's hot over there huh?! Are old people going OK? I haven't got any A/C at home so I'd probably end up going to work to hang out :bawl: or maybe going for a long drive in the Maloo :smilesandbanana:

[Tyre biter]

I recall punting a VX SS very hard and is a sustained way back in 2003 during the firestorm that hit Canberra, and apart from melting the steering fluid container I also recall that at one point the dash sounded an alarm and displayed the engine was too hot in response to an elevated coolant temp.

In response O made enquiry as to what temp. the alarm activated, but for the life of me, I cannot recall what it was sorry. Perhaps your local dealer can advise?

Cheers, TB

[highlander_69r]

as far as water temp went my vy ss used to very between 89 and 95 deg, i think the alarm went off at about 116deg from memory.

[GTS_365]

My coolant temp went to 103 degrees today while waiting in the kfc drive thru. My trans temp got to 100 degrees also. Intake air temp got to 65. I guess a big camshaft will produce more heat anyway. Car drove fine, modern cars are designed for this. Not sure how well turbo cars will cope though.

[dante]

My head/cam VTR8 is also suffering from the 40C+heat, thought it had a blocked/cracked radiator as it was getting uncomfortably hot and dumping coolant, particularly once parked.

Replaced radiator and thermostat today which improved things but still hot, have checked everything and head gaskets/fans appear fine.

Anything else worth doing or checking?

[HSV Listy]

The alarm is somewhere between 115 and 120 and just before the guarge gets to full. Been there a couple of times racing. No real harm other than the wiring connectors melting a little. Engine kept going and once the alarm went and the temp guage was at the top I backed off.

With a truckload of cooling addititions with the car, now on stinking hot days with track temps above 75 degress it gets to 3/4 (110) but I can not get it past that reglardless of how many laps I do. Very happy with the result.
Engine oil temp toped about 115 at the worst case but with external oil coolers on board now it is about 103 to 105.

Street use I have no issues other than for very prolonged idleing it used to get hot from the in radiator engine oil cooler but now with a external one it can idle all day. Food for thought with people with overheating issues with auto trans in radiator oil coolers. It is no where near as bad as the engine oil temps but still will add heat to the radiator.

This is what I have done to address the issues

55mm PWR allow radiator with engine oil cooler (in radiator engine oil cooler now disconnected and a ASE external fin cooler is used)
Thermostatic valve for oil cooler and all braided lines for street use other wise the car would never warm up
160 degree thermostat
New coolant with additives water wetter
New water reservoir
New water hoses throughout
25% UDP
Fitted plastic under tray to push extractors heat under the car
Raised the front car height from quite low to just about stock to get cooler air due to high track temps
Fitted front alloy plate to bottom of spoiler onto the base of the radiator
Fitted allow side plates on edge of the radiator to stop air on the sides escaping
Remove rubber strip on the back of the engine and remove the engine covers
As mentioned I have a ASE engine oil cooler.

Took alot of trouble but it worked.
This season I have a new front spoiler with a very large opening to get even more air into the radiator.

[macca_779]

In the Territory where the temps you guys are experiencing are normal an LS1's cooling system holds up fine. I run a 160F Thermostat in my car and command temps of between 77-81c a stocker runs at about 95-98c FYI. Below 35c my car can maintain 80c fine. Between about 35 and 40c it will maintain it ok while driving but if you stop and let the car soak and then start it again it won't recover fully and will maintain at about 85c. Above 40c ambient 85-88c is as low as she'll go with both fans flat out or even driving at over 100km/h. So if I was still running a stock Thermostat I have faith that it wouldn't have a problem.. But there is no way in hell I would run a 25% underdrive pulley. It certainly wouldn't be able to maintain my sub 90 temps and even a stocker would probably have limited reserve capacity to maintain mid 90's.

[HSV Listy]

Fair call on the UDP macca. I did it to slow the water flow and excessive wear on the PS pump due to the high reves. A 25% UDP would be another factor that people would have to consider as a potential overheating cause. Of course no overheating leave things be. I am not talking creaping over 1/2 on the guage here on a rare stinking hot day. I mean Hot hot engine temps all the time in warm weather.

[macca_779]

Fair call on the UDP macca. I did it to slow the water flow and excessive wear on the PS pump due to the high reves. A 25% UDP would be another factor that people would have to consider as a potential overheating cause. Of course no overheating leave things be. I am not talking creaping over 1/2 on the guage here on a rare stinking hot day. I mean Hot hot engine temps all the time in warm weather.

Hey mate have you had your Fan Temps adjusted in your tune to account for the 160F stat. Its a mandatory change as the normal on temp for fan 1 is 98c. So if you don't change that the stat won't be doing anything below 48km/h (normal fan1 turn off speed)

My gage sits at 1/4 normally which is 80c. 3/8 is about 85 and half is 90ish. I would imagine your gage would act similar.

[HSV Listy]

Hey mate have you had your Fan Temps adjusted in your tune to account for the 160F stat. Its a mandatory change as the normal on temp for fan 1 is 98c. So if you don't change that the stat won't be doing anything below 48km/h (normal fan1 turn off speed)

My gage sits at 1/4 normally which is 80c. 3/8 is about 85 and half is 90ish. I would imagine your gage would act similar.

No it has not as yet. I will be the next tune up. The fan temp really is not that much of a issue on the circuit as they turn off after a certain speed. As mentioned around town I have no probs.
Normal street driving it is just below half (3/8 I guess too) and it is sits on 801 to 85 degrees too. Maybe once they get above half the guage ratio gets bigger.

[Black_vtss]

I just read somewhere that a 50/50 mix of coolant will boil at around 130 degrees, so an alarm at around 120 sounds about right. So our cooling systems are more than adequate for the 43 degree weather.

As I said before I had no probs and I was in peak hour bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour with the A/C cranking and no airflow around the car. I just got curious of what heat our cars could withstand before damage is done.

[ti0350]

Drove around for hours the other week in the 40+ days we were getting in Sydney and my temp gauge never went past half..