Coolant Temps

[zeroptzero]

I was out driving a bit tonight, the car is only 10 days old in my possession. I had to stop to deliver an envelope to an friend tonight and I was idling for a few minutes, when I got back into the car the temp gauge was moving towards the Hot zone, it didn't reach it, but moving upwards. It got up around 96 degrees C. It was well past the center spot. It seemed a bit high for the circumstances. I got back out driving after that and the temperature went back down to 85 degrees C. The owner's manual only talks about temps getting into the Hot zone as being problematic. When the coolant temp was that high it seemed consistent with the oil temp, both went back down after some driving. Is this considered normal temp wise ?

 

[KyleWI]

I was out driving a bit tonight, the car is only 10 days old in my possession. I had to stop to deliver an envelope to an friend tonight and I was idling for a few minutes, when I got back into the car the temp gauge was moving towards the Hot zone, it didn't reach it, but moving upwards. It got up around 96 degrees C. It was well past the center spot. It seemed a bit high for the circumstances. I got back out driving after that and the temperature went back down to 85 degrees C. The owner's manual only talks about temps getting into the Hot zone as being problematic. When the coolant temp was that high it seemed consistent with the oil temp, both went back down after some driving. Is this considered normal temp wise ?

Yeah, I see this with mine especially after driving for a good amount of time, followed by idling. Once the fan kicks on, it comes down just a touch.

 

[zeroptzero]

Yeah, I see this with mine especially after driving for a good amount of time, followed by idling. Once the fan kicks on, it comes down just a touch.

Okay thanks, glad to hear it has been similar for others, I know it wasn't in a bad zone but it was moving upwards towards it which got me concerned. Thanks for the reply.

 

[KrackaC8]

96C (205F) is nothing to worry about. Many vehicles run hotter than that on the highway just cruising around (220-240F isn't unheard of). For the most part, the Z runs very cool with its massive front grille mouth. We do have an old school liquid-to-air engine oil cooler which needs airflow to be efficient so you'll see the temps creep up a bit more when stationary, but become much more effective at speed.

With my cooling mods, my engine & oil temps are stable in the 170s (F) once fully warmed up.

 

[zeroptzero]

96C (205F) is nothing to worry about. Many vehicles run hotter than that on the highway just cruising around (220-240F isn't unheard of). For the most part, the Z runs very cool with its massive front grille mouth. We do have an old school liquid-to-air engine oil cooler which needs airflow to be efficient so you'll see the temps creep up a bit more when stationary, but become much more effective at speed.

With my cooling mods, my engine & oil temps are stable in the 170s (F) once fully warmed up.

Thank you that is great info. I was just a bit concerned as I seen it creeping towards the red zone, well past center on the gauge/meter. But that is helpful to know, and yes as soon as I got moving it started to go down. Your mods seem to be working well, good work.

I was foolish enough to buy a Nismo radiator cap, only to find out it works worse than the stock cap, what a waste of money for that. Z1 should have known that.

 

[KrackaC8]

Thank you that is great info. I was just a bit concerned as I seen it creeping towards the red zone, well past center on the gauge/meter. But that is helpful to know, and yes as soon as I got moving it started to go down. Your mods seem to be working well, good work.

I was foolish enough to buy a Nismo radiator cap, only to find out it works worse than the stock cap, what a waste of money for that. Z1 should have known that.

Did you put it on the correct reservoir? You really will want all 3 to ensure the systems are balanced.

 

[zeroptzero]

Did you put it on the correct reservoir? You really will want all 3 to ensure the systems are balanced.

No, as soon as I seen that it was a lower pressure cap than OEM I did not use it. I don't think you use a cap on the cooling system filler as it is a different design - with no plunger, just the two plastic tanks have pressure caps - 1.37 , and the Nismo cap is 1.3

 

[KrackaC8]

No, as soon as I seen that it was a lower pressure cap than OEM I did not use it. I don't think you use a cap on the cooling system filler as it is a different design - with no plunger, just the two plastic tanks have pressure caps - 1.37 , and the Nismo cap is 1.3

Wow, interesting! That's lame! I know Z1 sells higher pressure caps.

 

[zeroptzero]

Wow, interesting! That's lame! I know Z1 sells higher pressure caps.

I bought it from Z1 , they call all of their pressure caps - higher pressure but you have to check the numbers to be sure. I think in the past models they used 0.9 bar caps and companies would sell 1.2 or 1.3 bar replacements. The current Nissan Z uses 1.37 bar from the factory so the aftermarket ones are lower pressure. Very confusing and a waste of money as far as I can tell.

 

[KrackaC8]

I bought it from Z1 , they call all of their pressure caps - higher pressure but you have to check the numbers to be sure. I think in the past models they used 0.9 bar caps and companies would sell 1.2 or 1.3 bar replacements. The current Nissan Z uses 1.37 bar from the factory so the aftermarket ones are lower pressure. Very confusing and a waste of money as far as I can tell.

Good to know!