Almost overheated on the Golden Gate Bridge

[TRD 4RNR]

There was a terrible accident on the Golden Gate Bridge this morning and I was stopped for almost an hour. During that time my temp gauge climbed up almost to hot. I popped it out of gear, brought up the rpm's and that brought the temp down.

My question is: what should I be taking a look at that would cause the temp to climb while I sat at idle?

 

[DarkSideGTI]

There was a terrible accident on the Golden Gate Bridge this morning and I was stopped for almost an hour. During that time my temp gauge climbed up almost to hot. I popped it out of gear, brought up the rpm's and that brought the temp down.

My question is: what should I be taking a look at that would cause the temp to climb while I sat at idle?

Once the car cools down check your coolant level. Also make sure your fans are turning on. My guess is the fans are ok since it cooled down when you revved it.

 

[thor999]

I would even consider a new, cooler thermostat, and maybe add water wet to the coolant, supposedly that will drop it an extra 10 degrees. If that doesn't do it, try an electric fan.

 

[Dous]

Sounds like your fan clutch is on its way out

 

[LittleCaesar]

+1 with the fan clutch. Aisin OEM is the replacement you need.

 

[TRD 4RNR]

Sounds like your fan clutch is on its way out

That's what I was thinking as well.

Thanks for eveyone's input.
I'll be sure to check the coolant level as well.

 

[awpsome]

another remedy for helping the overheating would be to flip the heater on to full blast to try disperse the heat and prevent damage. but yea you gotta fix that fan clutch asap

or i used to have a slight overheating as well, right around 205 but as soon as i would drive it would dip back down to 189-193ish

just recently change my thermostat and radiator and did a coolant flush now all is well even at idle or long stops with the temps right in the 190ish optimal

 

[ID_DTD]

You should've just turned the car off while you were stopped on the bridge. If It was stop and go than i get it. install an e fan so you can turn them on when you need it

 

[dbsoundman]

another remedy for helping the overheating would be to flip the heater on to full blast to try disperse the heat and prevent damage. but yea you gotta fix that fan clutch asap

or i used to have a slight overheating as well, right around 205 but as soon as i would drive it would dip back down to 189-193ish

just recently change my thermostat and radiator and did a coolant flush now all is well even at idle or long stops with the temps right in the 190ish optimal

Is 200+ F degrees abnormal? I'm at a higher altitude but I tend to get up around 206 F sometimes according to the Torque app reading from the OBDII reader. I think I might have hit 208 F towing the other day but I can't remember for sure. It hasn't exactly been hot here either...warmest it's been is about 65 F as of today...

 

[trdrun]

I consistently get 200-208 degree F. It has hit 212 degree F when i turn off the engine. Readings from an Ultra-Gauge.

 

[TRD 4RNR]

You should've just turned the car off while you were stopped on the bridge. If It was stop and go than i get it. install an e fan so you can turn them on when you need it

After 20 minutes, once I got the news it was going to be a super long wait, I did shut off the truck. The spike in temp was after 10 minutes of sitting idle - at that point I wanted to bring the temp down a little before shutting it off. Raising the rpm's brought the temp down which is why I figured it was probably my fan.

It got me thinking about the "Sandy took my 4Runner Thread" I wonder if that guy had a bad fan clutch as well.

-TRD 4RNR

 

[BlackCat914]

Is 200+ F degrees abnormal? I'm at a higher altitude but I tend to get up around 206 F sometimes according to the Torque app reading from the OBDII reader. I think I might have hit 208 F towing the other day but I can't remember for sure. It hasn't exactly been hot here either...warmest it's been is about 65 F as of today...

200+ is not abnormal at all. I do a lot of performance work, specializing in Corvettes. The second cooling fan in a Corvette comes on at 226.

 

[Dous]

200+ is not abnormal at all. I do a lot of performance work, specializing in Corvettes. The second cooling fan in a Corvette comes on at 226.

Yea for most American motors operating temperature is 210...

I haven't seen my temp over 195 since I replaced the fan clutch...this included me going to Uwharrie when it was 102 outside

 

[psraff]

I'm pretty sure my sensors run a bit hot. After picking up my ScanGauge I was a bit worried about my temps (even though my stock gauge never reached 1/2 way). I was seeing 202 and 204 normally.

I flushed the system, t-stat, fan clutch and temps didn't change. Went to electric fans and still the same results. Changed back to stock fan after a year or so and I'm just used to seeing those numbers. For instance, road trip last weekend. 10 below zero out and I saw temps from 198 to 200 with normal highway driving. Summer time temps, I can see 202 and 204 highway driving temps when it's only 60 degrees out.

Even my trans temps seem to be a bit high compared to others.

 

[nissanh]

Fan clutch + You might have clogged air channels in the AC condenser. Apply pressurized water to your ac condenser at 90 degrees to avoid bending the aluminum fins.

 

[awpsome]

Yea for most American motors operating temperature is 210...

I haven't seen my temp over 195 since I replaced the fan clutch...this included me going to Uwharrie when it was 102 outside

exactly, american's optimal running temp is higher then our toyotas. they like the 205+ degrees. but for our toyotas i believe its good practice to stay right around 190-198.
occasional 200s are okay and understandable but if its consistently going above 200s i would look into trying to bring it back down personally. but thats just me and my opinion. i dont have the exact specs so i wont speak ahead of myself.

 

[BlackCat914]

I'd suggest running the engine at idle and put a piece of paper up to the grille. Generally speaking, if it sucks the paper to the grille without your assistance, your fan clutch is more than likely ok.