# 230 Degrees at Idle?



## BobJonez98 (Jul 24, 2008)

Howdy guys!

So here's the deal. A few years ago on my way down to college, my car drove me down, and as soon as we got into town and into slower traffic, my poor car overheated and cracked it's head... After a year or so, I finally saved up enough for a long block and put it in the car. Now she's running great. I had the radiator chemically cleaned and flushed and I installed a rubbish $20 temperature gauge in the intake manifold to see what kind of temps I was pulling. 

My car is a 1990 Nissan Sentra XE with the Ga16i engine. I have no AC and no power steering. 

When I start her up, she takes a minute or so to warm up, and eventually makes its way up to around 200-215 degrees. After some combination in-town and country road driving. (Start stop at a speed limit of 35, and then longish runs at 65-75 MPH followed by more start stop) I park and check the temps. She's running 230-240 degrees just sitting there in my driveway with the fan at full blast and the engine idling around a grand or so. I really don''t wanna drop more money on another long block...... So... my question is; After a chemical radiator flush and disconnecting the heater core (I'm in Texas, we've had mid to high 90's all week long) what can I do to reduce these temps? or am I stuck with them and I just have to be vigilant about checking coolant and disconnect my rubbish temperature gauge so I can sleep at night?

Thanks for the help Guys!!


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

BobJonez98 said:


> and I installed a rubbish $20 temperature gauge in the intake manifold to see what kind of temps I was pulling.


And you're sure about those 230-240 degrees temperatures, right?
You're going to do X amount of $$$ and X amount of work and spend X amount of time based on a "rubbish $20 temperature gauge"?

Good plan...:loser:


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

I also have a 90 sentra, I have a Autometer mechanical water temp gauge with the sender in the water outlet on the engine, (drilled and tapped the water outlet like the JDM engines come with), I just replaced my thermostat with the OEM spec 170 degree part, most auto parts stores list the 180 degree but factory is 170, I also flushed my cooling system and refilled with antifreeze. The ONLY time my temp gauge goes up to and over 200 degrees is when I am sitting in heavy traffic. and when I say over 200 degrees I mean like 205 never ever close to 210. I should add I live in Florida and I have also replaced the two cooling fans with a unit that is designed for an automatic equipped car, (mine is a 5 speed, the auto cars have a larger cooling fan motor).

I would not trust a cheap temp gauge for one, how high does the stock gauge indicate the temp is? Mine never gets near the midway point. Do you know if the new engine even has a thermostat?

just for reference here is where I installed my gauge sender and a pic of the gauge:

water temp sender for gauge is the blue part, red part is adapter:










Gauges:


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## BobJonez98 (Jul 24, 2008)

My gauge is installed on the inlet of the engine. I plan on pulling it and testing it in the lab (I'm a chem major doing research with a professor) for accuracy. As for the thermostat, I installed a new OEM 170 degree model as you did when I put in the Long Block. But that was some time ago and it may be faulty. All my symptoms seem to point to a bad thermostat, so hopefully changing it out will fix everything. Thanks for all the help ahardb0dy, I really appreciate it. Also, we seem to have put our gauge pods in the same place.



jdg said:


> You're going to do X amount of $$$ and X amount of work and spend X amount of time based on a "rubbish $20 temperature gauge"?
> 
> Good plan...


The only work I have done is to have the radiator chemically cleaned, which is SOP for putting a new long block in an existing car with existing hardware. The most work I plan to do is change the thermostat, which isn't much work or much money. These forums are a place for people to HELP others, not chastize people. Your response was less than useless, but thanks anyway jdg.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

your welcome, good luck.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

BobJonez98 said:


> The only work I have done is to have the radiator chemically cleaned, which is SOP for putting a new long block in an existing car with existing hardware. The most work I plan to do is change the thermostat, which isn't much work or much money. These forums are a place for people to HELP others, not chastize people. Your response was less than useless, but thanks anyway jdg.


And by less then useless, you must be referring to your thoughts on how much work you plan on putting into the engine.
Thousands, if not millions, of people, everyday, need chastising.
I provide some of that service.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

so what temp does the stock gauge indicate?


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## BobJonez98 (Jul 24, 2008)

Stock Temp sensor hasn't worked since I've had the car. It's been sitting on the bottom peg forever now. I've gone ahead and ordered the OEM replacement thermostat. (looks quite a bit different from other aftermarket ones) and I'll stick that in as soon as I get back from a symposium I have to go to. I'll post back after the installation and another round of test driving. 

Also, I forgot to mention, the "Rubbish" Temp gauge I'm using is accurate, it's about a degree or so off at the high and low extremes of the gauge. (I tested it in the lab by cross checking it with an analytical thermocouple)


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Does your particular engine have a 'burp' valve anywhere around the thermostat housing? (my '97 and '98 GA16DE's do, but that's another engine series)
While I've never had a problem with it (probably 'cause I live way up north where it never seems to get hot out), seems like a lot of folks change a water pump (or thermostat, or radiator, or whatever) and end up with overheating problems shortly afterwards probably due to an air bubble in the cooling system because they didn't properly refill the cooling system.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

There is nothing near the thermostat housing, the GA16I has an air relief bolt in the front of the head


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