Jump to content

What would be a max safe operating coolant temp?


RCWD21
 Share

Recommended Posts

I have a 180° thermostat in both my pathfinder and 2001 frontier.

 

When I hook the frontier up to a scanner the coolant temp reads around 210° after it's so warmed up and been running a while.

 

The pathfinder has a Dakota digital fan controller in it and I have it set to turn the fan on at 185° and off again at 180°.

 

Seeing as the frontier has a vg33e could I move my max temp setting on the pathfinder upwards of 200°?

 

Just curious before I go and do it.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 180° thermostat in both my pathfinder and 2001 frontier.

 

When I hook the frontier up to a scanner the coolant temp reads around 210° after it's so warmed up and been running a while.

 

The pathfinder has a Dakota digital fan controller in it and I have it set to turn the fan on at 185° and off again at 180°.

 

Seeing as the frontier has a vg33e could I move my max temp setting on the pathfinder upwards of 200°?

 

Just curious before I go and do it.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Yeah 185 seems low. I recall seeing somewhere online someone posted a graph of where the optimum temperature is for the motor.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alrighty then I guess I'll bump the temp up to 200° and keep an eye on it for a while. I tell you what though, from a cold start I have good heat in about 2 minutes, I guess it's due to swapping over to the ford Taurus fan.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

195-205 is the optimum temp. I wish my pathfinder would heat up past 180. I found a 192F thermostat on rock auto, going to try that next. In the winter you need to block nearly the whole radiator to get good heat out of it. Other wise your choice is keep the window clear and freeze, or be warm and can't see lol.

 

I guess the cooling system works too well on mine.

 

Last winter I took the fan clutch off and ran it like that the entire winter. Even in traffic it didn't budge above where it normally sits. Heat was way better too.

Edited by adamzan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok so here's the controller I use to control the beast of a fan that the ford taurus fan is. It's the Dakota digital PAC-2750. 70 amp relay on low and a 150 amp relay on high.

 

My temps are set as follows.

 

Low speed:

On- 205°

Off-200°

 

High speed:

On- 210°

Off-203°

 

I'm using a dedicated sensor in an aluminum adapter inline in the upper radiator hose that's grounded to the radiator support bracket.

 

When the temp display on the controller reads right around 200° the upper hose reads around 187ish. The aluminum inline adapter on the other hand reads something more like 215ish.

 

The temp gauge in the cluster is showing maybe an 1/8" past the center line and before I changed the temp settings it would always stay perfectly centered.

 

The top of the radiator reads close to 212° on the end opposite the upper hose and if I remember correctly the lower hose is reading around 170° to 185° maybe 190°.

 

Does that sound about right to any of you?

 

If anything I guess I could ohm the temp gauge sensor and see how it compares to the dedicated sensor for the fan controller and see if they have a similar curve.a6c790fa3f14991dcb67518d9f399e2a.jpg

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Using the improper thermostat for any vehicle isn't good for fuel mileage. Putting a lower stat in only opens up the stat sooner. You vehicle will eventually get up to normal operating temp. So putting in a different stat doesn't help anything.

 

The lower hose should be cooler than the upper hose. The upper hose has the hot coolant from the engine. The lower hose is after the rad cools it before going back into the engine.

Edited by RF600
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Using the improper thermostat for any vehicle isn't good for fuel mileage. Putting a lower stat in only opens up the stat sooner. You vehicle will eventually get up to normal operating temp. So putting in a different stat doesn't help anything.

 

The lower hose should be cooler than the upper hose. The upper hose has the hot coolant from the engine. The lower hose is after the rad cools it before going back into the engine.

Depending on outside conditions. It is common in colder climates to put a higher temp stat in so the vehicle warms up quicker, if at all. Even then, you usually need to block part of the radiator to get up to temp. Opposite for hot climates.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Using the improper thermostat for any vehicle isn't good for fuel mileage. Putting a lower stat in only opens up the stat sooner. You vehicle will eventually get up to normal operating temp. So putting in a different stat doesn't help anything.

 

The lower hose should be cooler than the upper hose. The upper hose has the hot coolant from the engine. The lower hose is after the rad cools it before going back into the engine.

 

Not where I live it won't. The "proper" 170F thermostat leaves you with lackluster heat here in the winter. I use the 180F listed as "alternate temp" and it helps, but you still need to block off the radiator with cardboard. Around here you can drive for 20 minutes and go into a store for 5, the temp is back down to the C on the gauge again. Average temp in January here can get down to -20 or colder with windchill.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah. I looked it up. Everywhere lists 170F or 76C as the OE temp, that is what all of my pathfinders have come with. Great if you live in California or Texas, not so nice up here in the winter, lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not worried about the thermostat, it's brand new and my frontier has the same thermostat too. What I'm worried about is the upper hose reaching such high temps. Do I need to lower the turn on temp on my controller or do you think it's where it should be.

 

The upper hose when hot feels almost like it's sticky but it's really not.

 

All this was done in my driveway because the pathy isn't street legal and I'm still dealing with my rear brakes, so the only air flow was from the fan. On both high and low settings.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was common when I lived in Alaska to run 190 thermostat. I wouldn't worry about it. If you didn't have a IR temp reader you wouldn't even know. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was common when I lived in Alaska to run 190 thermostat. I wouldn't worry about it. If you didn't have a IR temp reader you wouldn't even know. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I know what you mean, if anything I can just bump the temp down 5° or so. Once it's on the road I'm sure it'll run at a "normal" temp, whatever that might be.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...