I made a 1/2 hood to determine the hood placement vs rain. the vents drop water just aft of the radiator, and fan pressure aids removal of hot air. There is screen for bugs etc. but rain is not an issue. My air intake is in front of the radiator when I fashioned the DCAI assembly, Enjoy WOody

 

picturepicture...

 

See post # 15.

 

Ok, so I did a long drive yesterday, used my OBD2 connector and compared it with the temp gauge. Below is the results I saw....

179F - Below the middle line, halfway between the middle and next lower hatch mark

190F - Just under middle line

195F - Exactly in the middle line

200F - Just over the middle line

205F - A few mm above the middle line (what most of us see when we drive)

207F - The highest temp I saw all day, including sitting for a while in a drive thru line.

In short, this car is by far the coolest running vehicle I have. Yes, modern cars are designed to run hotter these days, but still impressive that my Crossfire’s hottest temp is at the same level at the coolest operational temp of our newer RAM & Toyota vehicles. Don’t let the gauge needle location worry you, your car is likely running very cool.

Example of operational range:

2004 Crossfire 179F – 207F

2019 RAM Rebel 205F – 228F

 

terrific, thank you very much. this is what i was looking for (and i think many will benefit from your data too).
amx in post 7 said that "it is designed to run 195 to 210 degrees " , which is confirmed with your input.
now i can sleep better thanks to this.

 

Absolutely, I was curious as well, because that slightly above middle line spooked me a bit. After reading lots of forum threads, it seems to be normal.

Once I got my readings from OBD, it proves this car runs very cool from the factory. I wished Mercedes simply used a lower default position for their analog gauges like everyone else, lol.

 

or yellow then red line or something that tells when you are getting into trouble.

like: https://www.pilotshop.com/catalog/in...ps15-05926.php

 

To be honest, the stock analog gauge isn't that far off one of those, it doesn't show large movements, and if it becomes too hot it will simply go to red and you will likely get a gauge light warning as well.

Auto analog gauges are practically "dummy" lights.

 

.


Leave it on, or take it off. Boils down to 'OWNERS CHOICE'.


.

 

indeed.
still is convenient to see that needle traveling gradually towards the red mark. i will place a line where it is getting hotter than normal so i can do something before it reaches that point where you get a red light that tells you to stop right now.
anyway, your input tells all that we need. and really we dont need to remove the pan, that was my original request.
thanks and out.

 

Absolutely, happy to help! I also had my doubts being new to Crossfires about temps, luckily seeing your post made me delve into the question and investigate it. Happy to see the results are quite positive in regards to actual temps.

 

So thirty posts later we have learnt something we already knew. Priceless!
The more threads we have on a subject makes it harder to find a true answer by using the search feature or Google.

 

The temperature gauge stays close to the middle mark until around 235º. Then it shoots up to 3/4 mark. The hottest I remember seeing (racetrack) was 246º. 204º to 207º seems normal for my car in a hot climate unless crossing the mountains.

Les

 

I'm pretty sure onehundred80 is onto something.

 

Yes, it's very old news. Those that are overly worried about high temp.'s should get themselves a simple OBD gauge. Les's post about his highest temp.RACINGon a hot day in Puerto Rico should also give additional comfort. As he stated, he has seen 246deg., well below the approximate 265deg.'s a properly filled/pressurized coolant system can protect to, with no ill affect.

 

but why there is not a sticky? data like that on post 24 should be a sticky.

 

Thank you for this info. I was one of those worried about the temp gauge reading just above the middle. Good to know it's normal. I was about to search for a 180 thermostat.