I am sure this has been covered before, but can you guys tell me where the temperature needle should be during normal operation? I had my car detailed yesterday and when I picked it up from the detail shop the serpentine belt had slipped off. I am assuming that the pressure spray or the degreaser was so slick it just slipped off. After the car was towed to the dealership and having the belt reinstalled, the service tech did not plug the electric fan back in and the car got fairly hot on the way home. It did not over heat and I just plugged the fan back in as soon as I got to the house. My issue is now I am so paranoid about the temp gauge its not even funny. I don’t guess I ever even looked at it before, but it rides just above and below the 1/2 mark depending on whether or not the fan is engaged. That seems high to me compare to a few other cars I owned.

Is this normal?

Thanks !

 

Both of mine run just above the 1/2 mark. Hope that make you feel better.

 

My '04 behaves in the same manner.

 

A little above before the fan kicks on and a little below after it shuts off seem to be normal operating temperature. Make sure you check the coolant level after it cool off overnight. It may have pushed some coolant... Better luck.

 

Thanks guys for the quick post! I feel much better now!

 

Same here...right around the mid mark.

 

As stated by others mid-mark +/- it equates to about 180 - 210 degrees... Nice to see that you care enough to find out...

 

Ditto...same here.

 

Same with mine. Just around the mid mark - give or take a little.

 

Thanks, HDDP. I was wondering what the actual operating temp in degrees is. Mine operates at the halfway mark, too.

 

As always HDDP you are a wealth of knowledge. Oh yah, I run a little bit over 1/2 even down here in the Texas heat during a autocross.

 

You're welcome... I was always wondering that myself... Now that I have a engine performance data logging computer installed in the car I monitor many of those parameters when I'm at the track... The cooling system seems to work really well on this car... I've run it on the track in 105 degree weather and the highest ECT (engine coolant temp) logged was only 212 degrees... That was represented on the gauge at the midway point... From a cold start sitting at idle it will run about 183-185 degrees... It seems that the fan sensor trips at about 190 degrees...