Just bought a 96, is it running hot? (Please advise!)
08-19-2011, 08:23 PM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Just bought a 96, is it running hot? (Please advise!)
I just purchased a 96 auto coupe with 57K. I drove it on the highway home and the analog showed between 194-200. (BTW The trip was 130 miles!) Once I got off the e-way and hit traffic it climbed to 230, at that point the fans seemed to come on and it cooled down a bit. Is this normal? Seems hot to me.... BTW no debris obstructing the radiator.
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
08-19-2011, 08:33 PM
#2
Melting Slicks
194-200 is normal while cruising. 230 in traffic seems high but may be ok---that is the correct temperature for the fan to come on. I got nervous about this when I drove mine home the first time too, though I didn't see it get much above 215.
08-19-2011, 08:41 PM
#3
What was the outside temp.? Was the ac on? Those are not that unusual temps. If it was 60 degrees and no ac then it was a little high.
If you don't have maint. records and this is a new to you car there are several things to do. Check the thermostat temp. Check or change the coolant. Just go over the car and determine the condition of everything you can. If there are things you can't check have a mechanic or a corvette guru help you.
Drive and enjoy the car.
Bill
If you don't have maint. records and this is a new to you car there are several things to do. Check the thermostat temp. Check or change the coolant. Just go over the car and determine the condition of everything you can. If there are things you can't check have a mechanic or a corvette guru help you.
Drive and enjoy the car.
Bill
08-19-2011, 08:55 PM
#4
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08-19-2011, 09:55 PM
#9
The 1996 FSM states that both fans should start on low speed at a coolant temp of 219 F and turn off at 207 F. It also states both fans should start on high speed at 228 F and stop high speed operation at 214 F.
I agree with the previous posts above that suggest flushing and refilling your cooling system with new coolant. That's also a good time to remove the top of the radiator plenum and use compressed air to blow the debris out the front of both the radiator and air conditioner condenser to make sure the cooling fins are clean.
Congrats on the '96 purchase!
I agree with the previous posts above that suggest flushing and refilling your cooling system with new coolant. That's also a good time to remove the top of the radiator plenum and use compressed air to blow the debris out the front of both the radiator and air conditioner condenser to make sure the cooling fins are clean.
Congrats on the '96 purchase!
08-19-2011, 10:25 PM
#11
Instructor
freakish but normal. my 96 will run at 197 with ac on all day long on 90+ weather. with ac off it will run like yours is running. just turn ac on when its getting hot
08-19-2011, 11:17 PM
#12
Instructor
Thread Starter
What was the outside temp.? Was the ac on? Those are not that unusual temps. If it was 60 degrees and no ac then it was a little high.
I took it to a local cruise spot this evening. No AC and mid 70's got up tp 231 and the fans kicked on.
Congrats on moving from the Camaro to a Vette I hope you are not disappointed.
I'm kind of confused. There seems to be a split between people that think it's normal and others that think it's running hot.
BTW with the analog on it sometimes flashes "SYS." Any idea's about that as well?
Once again, thanks for all the replies.
08-19-2011, 11:35 PM
#14
Instructor
Thread Starter
OK, I just did a search and found that the flashing SYS is basically for stored trouble codes. I have an OBD2 scanner, so I plugged it in and found NO codes. The car came with an aftermarket stereo if that makes a difference.....
08-20-2011, 12:10 AM
#15
Instructor
The SYS codes cannot be retrieved with an OBD2 scanner. Your aftemarket radio is likely the cause. Look up "resistor mod" . I did the mod on my 96 and cleared the flashing SYS. Its about $1 in parts and requires that you pull out radio to fix.
08-20-2011, 12:19 AM
#16
Instructor
Here's a write up on the how to for the resistor mod that I posted a few months ago. Good luck
Ok, you will need to purchase two 1/2 watt 1000 ohm resistor. Radio Shack sells pack of 6 for under $2. I was going to use connectors but found that it was just easier to weld everything together
In my case the power for the aftermarket radio was pulled I believe from where the amp or head unit controller is behind the passenger seat therefore my two head unit connectors were in tact. However I did have to reach down and behind the hole where the radio goes to find them. There are two plugs one with about 6 wires and the other has 8 I think. The small plug has the three wires that you're going to work with and they will all be next to each other on the plug.
1. Remove negative battery cable. This will clear your codes while you work on mod.
2. Remove radio.
3. Find the head unit plug I mentioned previously.
4. Cut the following wires as close as possible to the plug because you wont have much wire to work with: Orange, Purple with white stripe, gray with black strip (all will be next to each other on same plug)
5. holding the two resistors side by side, twist together one end of each resistor with each other (you'll be left holding what looks like the letter Y made out of the two resistors) Weld this connection together.
6. To the two other ends of the resistors, weld two 4 to 5 inch piece of thin guage wire to each end (you should now be left with a bigger looking Y)
7. No weld the twisted together welded end of the resistors to the orange wire.
8. Weld one end of the other resistor ends to the purple with white stripe.
9. Weld the last end of the other lead to the gray with black line wire.
10. Cover all exposed wires with electric tape.
11. Reconnect battery cable
12. Open switch if you hold a flashlight up to the photocell above the trip meter button you will notice your LCD brighten up noticebly.
This following link is a drawing of what the whole thing should look like.
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/a...AxMjkuanBn.jpg
Good luck
walter
Ok, you will need to purchase two 1/2 watt 1000 ohm resistor. Radio Shack sells pack of 6 for under $2. I was going to use connectors but found that it was just easier to weld everything together
In my case the power for the aftermarket radio was pulled I believe from where the amp or head unit controller is behind the passenger seat therefore my two head unit connectors were in tact. However I did have to reach down and behind the hole where the radio goes to find them. There are two plugs one with about 6 wires and the other has 8 I think. The small plug has the three wires that you're going to work with and they will all be next to each other on the plug.
1. Remove negative battery cable. This will clear your codes while you work on mod.
2. Remove radio.
3. Find the head unit plug I mentioned previously.
4. Cut the following wires as close as possible to the plug because you wont have much wire to work with: Orange, Purple with white stripe, gray with black strip (all will be next to each other on same plug)
5. holding the two resistors side by side, twist together one end of each resistor with each other (you'll be left holding what looks like the letter Y made out of the two resistors) Weld this connection together.
6. To the two other ends of the resistors, weld two 4 to 5 inch piece of thin guage wire to each end (you should now be left with a bigger looking Y)
7. No weld the twisted together welded end of the resistors to the orange wire.
8. Weld one end of the other resistor ends to the purple with white stripe.
9. Weld the last end of the other lead to the gray with black line wire.
10. Cover all exposed wires with electric tape.
11. Reconnect battery cable
12. Open switch if you hold a flashlight up to the photocell above the trip meter button you will notice your LCD brighten up noticebly.
This following link is a drawing of what the whole thing should look like.
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/a...AxMjkuanBn.jpg
Good luck
walter
08-20-2011, 12:30 AM
#17
96 running hot
Like a previous posted mentioned, very simple to reduce your temp, just turn on the air conditioning. The cooling fan or fans will come on and you will see instant cool down. That is just the way it is. Now if you were going down the highway and not stopping you would have sufficient air flow through the radiator to cool the engine.
If you do change coolant recommend you follow your owners manual. Not only is the radiator drained, but also the engine block. The only way you can drain the block is in removing the engine knock sensors.
Your 96 has two of knock sensors, one on each side of the engine block. You will need a 7/16 socket to remove the two nuts on each protective shield on each side of the the block. The knock sensors electrical connection wire is removed by squeezing the plastic and it will release and come off easily. Next is using a 7/8 inch socket on the knock sensor to remove it. Be careful when it is almost ready to come out of the block, the water force coming out can cause you to loose your grip on the sensor. On each side of the block you will get almost as much coolant drained as what is drained out of the radiator. I use anti-sieze on the threads of the knock sensors when I install them and do not tighten them much. I would use a inch pound torque wrench, there is just not room for a toque wrench.
Your owners manual gives you the number of quarts your cooling system uses. My LT4 is 14.6 quarts. I think yours is 14.5.
Also from the owners manual with a coolant change is adding the supplement. The part number for GM's supplement is in the 96 Corvette owners manual.
I bought my 96 LT new so today was the third time I have changed the coolant. Change the coolant in the overflow tank as well and like the owners manual states, distilled water is perferred for the coolant system. Bought mine today for $ .82 cents a gallon at the grocery store.
Bar's Leak sells the same supplement for the coolant system as what can be bought from GM. It looks like the very same product and they both come in a blister pack. Bar's Leaks probably makes GM's. Six round brown tablets put in last. I bought mine at O'Reilly's Auto Parts also today.
Recommended coolant change with DEX-COOL is 5 years or at 100,000 miles.
If you do change coolant recommend you follow your owners manual. Not only is the radiator drained, but also the engine block. The only way you can drain the block is in removing the engine knock sensors.
Your 96 has two of knock sensors, one on each side of the engine block. You will need a 7/16 socket to remove the two nuts on each protective shield on each side of the the block. The knock sensors electrical connection wire is removed by squeezing the plastic and it will release and come off easily. Next is using a 7/8 inch socket on the knock sensor to remove it. Be careful when it is almost ready to come out of the block, the water force coming out can cause you to loose your grip on the sensor. On each side of the block you will get almost as much coolant drained as what is drained out of the radiator. I use anti-sieze on the threads of the knock sensors when I install them and do not tighten them much. I would use a inch pound torque wrench, there is just not room for a toque wrench.
Your owners manual gives you the number of quarts your cooling system uses. My LT4 is 14.6 quarts. I think yours is 14.5.
Also from the owners manual with a coolant change is adding the supplement. The part number for GM's supplement is in the 96 Corvette owners manual.
I bought my 96 LT new so today was the third time I have changed the coolant. Change the coolant in the overflow tank as well and like the owners manual states, distilled water is perferred for the coolant system. Bought mine today for $ .82 cents a gallon at the grocery store.
Bar's Leak sells the same supplement for the coolant system as what can be bought from GM. It looks like the very same product and they both come in a blister pack. Bar's Leaks probably makes GM's. Six round brown tablets put in last. I bought mine at O'Reilly's Auto Parts also today.
Recommended coolant change with DEX-COOL is 5 years or at 100,000 miles.
Last edited by 70ZZ3 96LT4; 08-20-2011 at 12:38 AM.
08-20-2011, 08:41 AM
#18
Melting Slicks
Those temps are fine, just as designed. Every time someone asks this question there are disagreements, some people are not comforatable with temps this high, but a lot of very smart engineers designed it to run this way. Those temps are "normal" for your car.
08-20-2011, 09:11 AM
#19
Instructor
Thread Starter
The SYS codes cannot be retrieved with an OBD2 scanner. Your aftermarket radio is likely the cause. Look up "resistor mod" . I did the mod on my 96 and cleared the flashing SYS. Its about $1 in parts and requires that you pull out radio to fix.
Your aftermarket radio is likely the cause. Look up "resistor mod" . I did the mod on my 96 and cleared the flashing SYS. Its about $1 in parts and requires that you pull out radio to fix.
Here's a write up on the how to for the resistor mod that I posted a few months ago. Good luck
OK, you will need to purchase two 1/2 watt 1000 ohm resistor. Radio Shack sells pack of 6 for under $2. I was going to use connectors but found that it was just easier to weld everything together
In my case the power for the aftermarket radio was pulled I believe from where the amp or head unit controller is behind the passenger seat therefore my two head unit connectors were in tact. However I did have to reach down and behind the hole where the radio goes to find them. There are two plugs one with about 6 wires and the other has 8 I think. The small plug has the three wires that you're going to work with and they will all be next to each other on the plug.
1. Remove negative battery cable. This will clear your codes while you work on mod.
2. Remove radio.
3. Find the head unit plug I mentioned previously.
4. Cut the following wires as close as possible to the plug because you wont have much wire to work with: Orange, Purple with white stripe, gray with black strip (all will be next to each other on same plug)
5. holding the two resistors side by side, twist together one end of each resistor with each other (you'll be left holding what looks like the letter Y made out of the two resistors) Weld this connection together.
6. To the two other ends of the resistors, weld two 4 to 5 inch piece of thin guage wire to each end (you should now be left with a bigger looking Y)
7. No weld the twisted together welded end of the resistors to the orange wire.
8. Weld one end of the other resistor ends to the purple with white stripe.
9. Weld the last end of the other lead to the gray with black line wire.
10. Cover all exposed wires with electric tape.
11. Reconnect battery cable
12. Open switch if you hold a flashlight up to the photocell above the trip meter button you will notice your LCD brighten up noticeably.
This following link is a drawing of what the whole thing should look like.
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/a...AxMjkuanBn.jpg
Good luck
walter
OK, you will need to purchase two 1/2 watt 1000 ohm resistor. Radio Shack sells pack of 6 for under $2. I was going to use connectors but found that it was just easier to weld everything together
In my case the power for the aftermarket radio was pulled I believe from where the amp or head unit controller is behind the passenger seat therefore my two head unit connectors were in tact. However I did have to reach down and behind the hole where the radio goes to find them. There are two plugs one with about 6 wires and the other has 8 I think. The small plug has the three wires that you're going to work with and they will all be next to each other on the plug.
1. Remove negative battery cable. This will clear your codes while you work on mod.
2. Remove radio.
3. Find the head unit plug I mentioned previously.
4. Cut the following wires as close as possible to the plug because you wont have much wire to work with: Orange, Purple with white stripe, gray with black strip (all will be next to each other on same plug)
5. holding the two resistors side by side, twist together one end of each resistor with each other (you'll be left holding what looks like the letter Y made out of the two resistors) Weld this connection together.
6. To the two other ends of the resistors, weld two 4 to 5 inch piece of thin guage wire to each end (you should now be left with a bigger looking Y)
7. No weld the twisted together welded end of the resistors to the orange wire.
8. Weld one end of the other resistor ends to the purple with white stripe.
9. Weld the last end of the other lead to the gray with black line wire.
10. Cover all exposed wires with electric tape.
11. Reconnect battery cable
12. Open switch if you hold a flashlight up to the photocell above the trip meter button you will notice your LCD brighten up noticeably.
This following link is a drawing of what the whole thing should look like.
http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/a...AxMjkuanBn.jpg
Good luck
walter
Like a previous posted mentioned, very simple to reduce your temp, just turn on the air conditioning. The cooling fan or fans will come on and you will see instant cool down. That is just the way it is. Now if you were going down the highway and not stopping you would have sufficient air flow through the radiator to cool the engine.
If you do change coolant recommend you follow your owners manual. Not only is the radiator drained, but also the engine block. The only way you can drain the block is in removing the engine knock sensors.
Your 96 has two of knock sensors, one on each side of the engine block. You will need a 7/16 socket to remove the two nuts on each protective shield on each side of the the block. The knock sensors electrical connection wire is removed by squeezing the plastic and it will release and come off easily. Next is using a 7/8 inch socket on the knock sensor to remove it. Be careful when it is almost ready to come out of the block, the water force coming out can cause you to loose your grip on the sensor. On each side of the block you will get almost as much coolant drained as what is drained out of the radiator. I use anti-sieze on the threads of the knock sensors when I install them and do not tighten them much. I would use a inch pound torque wrench, there is just not room for a toque wrench.
Your owners manual gives you the number of quarts your cooling system uses. My LT4 is 14.6 quarts. I think yours is 14.5.
Also from the owners manual with a coolant change is adding the supplement. The part number for GM's supplement is in the 96 Corvette owners manual.
I bought my 96 LT new so today was the third time I have changed the coolant. Change the coolant in the overflow tank as well and like the owners manual states, distilled water is perferred for the coolant system. Bought mine today for $ .82 cents a gallon at the grocery store.
Bar's Leak sells the same supplement for the coolant system as what can be bought from GM. It looks like the very same product and they both come in a blister pack. Bar's Leaks probably makes GM's. Six round brown tablets put in last. I bought mine at O'Reilly's Auto Parts also today.
Recommended coolant change with DEX-COOL is 5 years or at 100,000 miles.
If you do change coolant recommend you follow your owners manual. Not only is the radiator drained, but also the engine block. The only way you can drain the block is in removing the engine knock sensors.
Your 96 has two of knock sensors, one on each side of the engine block. You will need a 7/16 socket to remove the two nuts on each protective shield on each side of the the block. The knock sensors electrical connection wire is removed by squeezing the plastic and it will release and come off easily. Next is using a 7/8 inch socket on the knock sensor to remove it. Be careful when it is almost ready to come out of the block, the water force coming out can cause you to loose your grip on the sensor. On each side of the block you will get almost as much coolant drained as what is drained out of the radiator. I use anti-sieze on the threads of the knock sensors when I install them and do not tighten them much. I would use a inch pound torque wrench, there is just not room for a toque wrench.
Your owners manual gives you the number of quarts your cooling system uses. My LT4 is 14.6 quarts. I think yours is 14.5.
Also from the owners manual with a coolant change is adding the supplement. The part number for GM's supplement is in the 96 Corvette owners manual.
I bought my 96 LT new so today was the third time I have changed the coolant. Change the coolant in the overflow tank as well and like the owners manual states, distilled water is perferred for the coolant system. Bought mine today for $ .82 cents a gallon at the grocery store.
Bar's Leak sells the same supplement for the coolant system as what can be bought from GM. It looks like the very same product and they both come in a blister pack. Bar's Leaks probably makes GM's. Six round brown tablets put in last. I bought mine at O'Reilly's Auto Parts also today.
Recommended coolant change with DEX-COOL is 5 years or at 100,000 miles.
Those temps are fine, just as designed. Every time someone asks this question there are disagreements, some people are not comfortable with temps this high, but a lot of very smart engineers designed it to run this way. Those temps are "normal" for your car.
08-20-2011, 10:20 AM
#20
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My 96 runs the same temps as yours, if I'm sitting in heavy traffic and the engine temp starts climbing up there I start getting a bit nervous and I don't wait for the fans to kick in so I turn on my ac. The fans start to cool the engine down almost instantly and the pucker factor goes away.