i have a 86 gxl and the temp gauge goes up more than half way when you run the car hard or high rpms what might be the problem it has been do this for a while then just went away then just cam e back what might be the problem

 

hard driving at high rpm's will bring the temp gauge up a little past halfway, nothing to worry about. just as long as your coolant system is ok and you arent doing it on a 112 degree humid day.

 

but it just started doing that and before it did not do that so i think something might be wrong

 

If this change is relatively recent, I would highly recommend getting your cooling system checked. Is you radiator the original stock one? If yes, and the coolant was not well maintained, the aluminum is probably heavily corroded. Take it out and over to a reputable radiator shop and they can test it for a small fee. After you are done getting it repaired or a new brass radiator, I would highly recommend using Redline's Water Wetter in your coolant system. If you live in a warm climate, reduce your concentration of Prestone (or whatever brand) and add a bottle of Anti-rust (is has water pump lube in it also). Distilled water is much better heat transfer than anti-freeze.

 

Check EVERYTHING! Start with the thermostat, and fan clutch. Your clutch could be starting to fail. Using an additive like Water Wetter is also a VERY good idea.

Jarrett

 

Uhhhh you should definetly be worried, ignore that first post, the only condition where your temperature guage should increase just a little is when your ac is on, If your car is overheating stop driving it and get it checked out immedietly before you destroy your engine. A mild overheat will render your rotary engine useless. Get it checked out A.S.A.P!

 

Actually, you can go to the upper reaches of the temp gauge relatively safely. Notice I said RELATIVELY! Not recommended for day to day ops, but if your needle head up there (due to some type of failure) and you catch it before it goes past "H" you are okay. 1/2 on the gauge is hardly anything to be concerned with.

Jarrett

 

...

 

My s4 ran about 3/4 scale normally, but anything above that is boil/overheat/damage. On your s4, the fan clutch should speed up the fan with RPM's up to about 4K. It then should maintain bout 4K as the engine revs higher. If it slips before 4K, you can bend outward on the bi-metal strip to get more bite, and plan an E-fan conversion.

 

Your car should never run any higher than 1/4 mark.

If it getting close to half way, I will bet you the clutch fan is going out.


Lift the hood when the car has been run and is still running, does the fan blow alot of air? Does it blow a **** load of air?

If its not blowing a ton of air, its going out...seen this alot.

 

If you have access to a coolant presure tester, I would do a coolant pressure test. This is a great place to start. The test is easy and does not take that long. The longest thing is when you set the pressure you should leave it alone for approx 15-20 mins and see if it goes down any. Check your manual for specific instructions. If pressure is fine do the usual, flush the coolant, replace thermostat, etc.

 

As you can tell from these posts, the temp guage is uncalibrated, and is relative to your car. You seem to know what is normal for your car. Just don't let it run up above that. If your fan clutch checks out (my prev post), you might pull the thermostat and check the bypass port down under where it seats. There is a spring-loaded disc on the bottom of the stat that's supposed to cover it (or guess what?)

 

before the temp use to be at like 1/4 up and i just changed the coolant about a couple a months ago and how do you test the fan clutch

 

make sure the car is warmed up fully. shut it down and spin the fan, it should get harder to spin.. if not, its gone..or going...


Also, if the car is running the fan will push a **** load of air, should blow your hair around if you have any left...after this...

 

The clutch fan on our cars works like this.

As the engine heats up, the metal front of the fan also heats up and tightens a spring internally and thus increases the drag on the fan spindle and thus making it spin 1 to 1 of crank revolutions..


As these go bad, the spring gets weak and the fan will not pull air as much, because its not seeing full engagement of the clutch.

hope that helps...

 

Some clarification:
The fan clutch uses a silicon oil viscous fluid in two chambers inside.
The Bi-metal strip bends outward as it warms and opens the valve from the reservoir side to the clutch side.
Centripetal force provides the pumping action to move the fluid.
After 80-100,000 miles the bearing seals wear, and the bearing lube weakens the clutch fluid’s grip.
The s4 clutch increases it’s bite gradually with temperature rise.
The s5 clutch is more on-off. (It just coasts until it gets warm)
Once they are warm, the fan speed goes up with engine speed to about 4000 RPM.
As the engine revs higher the fan stays at ~4K.
If your warmed up fan only revs up to ~2500 RPM, it’s bad.