My last motor blew from improper readings from the stock water temp guage. How hot can we get before the motor id fried. What should average be? F*

 

i think I heard anything over 250 isn't good

 

I think most people are around ~200

 

220 is gettin into danger zone...its almost too late then

 

Huh?

In stock form, the fans don't even turn on at that temp.

I've seen track FD's go around and over 250F. Of course, they bring the car off the track and cool down

It really depends on how long the car is at high temp, not necessarily the temp it reaches.

 

I've been up to 240+ without a problem, (though it was for a short period, and I let off rather quickly for a cool down).

 

I wouldn't trust anything over 250.

 

Anytime I see over 110-115 (230-239) on the road course I start looking to run a cooldown lap and bring her in to cool off. No one should ever see temps this high on the street unless something is seriously wrong.

The stock temp gauge is crap. All FDs should either (a) limearize the stock gauge, (b) purchase an aftermarket temp gauge, or (c) have something like power fc to keep tabs on motor temps.

I really rely on my pfc commander. When driving, I'll glance at it every minute or so to see my current water temp, intake temp, knock, and boost, and also the peak/hold values for all 4.

 

This would also depend on how healthy your engine is. Mine is in great shape, making max compression. Either way, temps that high are not suggested for an elongated duration of time.

 

I have the miata thermoswitch and an upgraded radiator, and haven't seen operating temps of over 210.

It would make me nervous to see anything around 230, to be honest.

Steve

 

so what do guys do when get in a traffic jam. I fried my motor becuase of this reason.

 

While sitting in traffic temps should go up a bit, just cus there's no air getting to the radiator. But even still, you should be able to idle the car all day long and never have an issue of overheating. This is assuming all is working correctly.

The stock rad. fans come on at like 220 F (?), but if you put the parking lights on, they will come on quite a bit lower, so this is an option.

The other option would be to get an ugraded radiator, to keep temps down.

Or you could do the fan switch mod so you can turn on and off the fans whenever you please. This would allow you to run them all the time when stopped, or driving very slow (traffic situations).

 

Driving with your parking lights on is a great little idea! I started doing it and noticed that my temps dropped from it, so now I have a habit of driving with them on. As for high temps, I would get concerned with anything above 250!!! Just constantly keep track if your temps and just do what you think is right. It just depends on the person, some people might freak out about running 210 and some might freak out about 250, so just use your best judgement. Good luck!

 

250 is hot as fukk....

 

235f and up i would start stressing. my car hits 210f a couple times a day, but its nothing to stress about. the parking light trick works wonders or you can just turn your a/c on 2 when your driving in the city or traffic.