Engine Temp gauge higher than before

Since I've had the car when the engine gets up to temp the gauge usually hovers very slightly past the 180 mark. Today with around town driving I've noticed the gauge to read higher (see pictures). Is this indicative of anything that I should be concerned about? IMG_9851_1.jpg IMG_9850_1.jpg

Is it a particularly hot day? Check your coolant tank for cracking. When was the last time you pulled off the front bumper and cleaned the rads?

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its about 35 degrees out today. Radiators are clear. Not sure how to check coolant tank but I'll use google

Mine hovers around there as well. From my research - completely normal. old thread: https://www.renntech.org/forums/topi...r-temperature/

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Good to hear. Just odd that it's always ran a bit lower and then creeped up

35 = roughly 95 degrees F, right? I would expect the car to run a little warmer in higher ambient temps. It would still be worth going over the cooling system to ensure the coolant level is correct, the water pump seems sound, and the radiators are clear of debris, especially if you noted the change and it seems significant to you. The temp gauge is more of a "trendometer" than an exact instrument...

35 degrees F. Im a North American 😁. but I'll take a look at that coolant and see what my mechanic has to say

Please understand that the CTS is in one of the coolest parts of the engine .So the dash gauge substantialy under-reads peak/spike temperatures in critical areas. If this is of any interest, I suggest you research a low temperature thermostat.

Could be a sign of catastrophic muffler bearing failure failure mode 657 All seriousness aside It probably nothing to worry about. As Schnelly said, take a good look at all the cooling system components

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It's in the back with the engine to the left. You can eyeball the level - is it ok? Is the cap leaking ? Is the tank leaking ? - Sometimes they get cracks and leak.

My Boxter's coolant temp gage needle can climb even in 35F temperature if I'm slow driving in traffic or around town, with lots of stop and go. You have already been advised to check the coolant level. Because the tank gets so stained and it is hard to determine the level of coolant I wait until the engine is dead cold and remove the cap and confirm the level is ok. Be sure the cap is clean and so too are the threads of the tank. Screw the cap on straight and be sure you tighten it down all the way. If the level is low the cap can be leaking. I have experienced this two times now once with my Boxster and once with my Turbo. Neither car exhibited any overheating signs though. I was made aware of the problem by a low coolant level warning light. 'course there can be other leaks as well. One thing not mentioned but needs to be is be sure both radiators come on. Not only come on but blow the same amount of air out the back. The engine controller should turn on the radiator fans when the coolant reaches 212F and switch the fans off when it drops to 205F. (On a real hot day if the temperature climbs above 212F the fans switch to high speed at 216F and switch off at 205F.) You will have to use an OBD2 code reader/data viewer to monitor coolant temperature in "real time".

Good, thorough answer from Macster. As always. I ran my car extensively at speed last weekend in 75-80 degree temperatures. The temp gauge never read as high as yours in the photo. If mine was running higher like that I'd be digging in to identify the problem. Of course for me, that means asking my mechanic ��

One or both rad fans not cycling, rads clogged.

Were you stuck in traffic barely moving? Or driving at speed? The readings on your gauge are totally normal. The gauge can go as high as all the way to the edge of the zero and still be within spec (104C, 219F).

My mechanic said it's within normal operating temps but if it goes higher the thermostat may be sticking. I had the coolant flushed around 2 weeks ago. I will check the level tomorrow

I've never understood why some folks engines run just past the 180 mark, considering that the thermostats only starts to open at 194F.

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I was in stop and go traffic and some light traffic

What years the car and mileage? Water pump not functioning properly?

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Yep, normal. Also, if you normally have the AC set to Auto, with the snowflake icon lit, your car will run cooler because the radiator fans will turn on low, versus not on until the temps are as high as you've seen on the gauge.

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Thanks for the compliment. I have to point out your observation of the behavior of the temperature gage "at speed" (75mph-80mph) is what I would expect to see based on my monitoring/data logging coolant temperature vs. speed, intake air temperature, etc. For instance I have a data plot of the coolant temperature. Intake air temp in the 70F to 80F range. Speed varies from stop and go or from 0mph up to 45mph. About half way through the trip (which lasted 33.20 (mm:ss) the speed ranged from around 65mph to 80mph. The coolant temperature started at 80F and about 7 minutes later had reached 183. For the portion of the trip in stop/go traffic the coolant temperature ranged from a low of 178F to a high of 190F. However, once I got out of the stop/go traffic and got the car up to highway speed the coolant temperature essentially flatlined at 183F. My experience as I touched upon in a previous post is around town driving, stop and go driving, can have the coolant temperature gage needle swinging to the right of the "180" hash mark by several needle widths. Might mention here while the temperature looks quite elevated you can't really extrapolate the temperature from the needle's position. The only way to know the actual (or as close to it as one can probably get) coolant temperature is to monitor this with an OBD2 code reader/data viewer. Even in the case of the OP's car and its dash coolant gage that's not an overheating condition. When I encountered very high ambient temperature conditions (116F) in AZ and my Boxster's coolant gage needle swung quite far to the right and the actually coolant temperature was 226F while hot that was not overheating. The temperature never got above 226F. Through my dealer's service department I submitted a question to the factory about the operating conditions and the various readings and the coolant gage's needle position and the word from the factory was as long there were no warning lights on there was no overheating. The engine was operating within the coolant temperature range for which it was designed. In short while the needle's position looked like there as an overheating condition was occurring, and the coolant temperature (at first) also looked like an overheating condition was occurring, everything was within what Porsche considered normal. I only suggested some things for the OP to look into: cap leaking, radiator fan not running; because while I have not had any overheating events with my Boxster (or Turbo) I have had coolant caps leak (which while the coolant level was low enough the warning light was on, the engine never exhibited any signs of overheating), coolant tanks leak, radiator fans stop running (or in one case the radiator fan motor shaft snapped), and a leaking water pump and even in the Turbo 3 (oh yes, all 3) radiators leak.

The photos didn't open for me (that's my issue). But I can offer a few thoughts from personal experience. 1. When I'm running at speed (freeway speeds) the natural air flow through the radiators is enough to keep things cool. The radiator fans stay off. 2. When I get into slow-n-go or stop-n-go traffic, the car does run hotter because the natural air flow isn't sufficient. The coolant heats up until the first or both radiator fans kick on. 3. What I've found useful is to make note of and compare coolant temps when operating the car at similar conditions--speed, ambient air temp, etc. If I spot a significant difference that would trigger further investigation and PM work like cleaning the radiators and testing the fans' operation with my Durametric. I have found comparing coolant temps at different vehicle operating conditions to be interesting, but not useful. Good luck.

Today running at highway speeds the temp gauge ran a bit lower. I think the gauge was a bit higher because of around town aggressive driving. Coolant level and cap etc was fine.

If your condensers and rads haven't been cleaned, it's a significant improvement. I found half of the sand from the Permian basin in my condensers and rads when I cleaned them. At first, I was seriously considering just replacing both rads, but with some air and pressure washer I was able to clear most of it.

Check and make sure both fans work in low and high settings. Durametric can activate thr fans.

I have a 2000 C2 and my friend has a 1999 C2. Both of our gauges show at or to the right of zero.

99 C2 Pretty regularly gets to the mid/right of the "0" Hottest I have seen it was about a needle width from the dash mark. This was 220F on my OBD tool. Both fans were on hi and you could feel them dumping tons of heat at the front end of the car. I have cleaned the debris in the radiators, replaced the water pump and thermostat (OEM), and replaced the cap at the top of the expansion tank. I have accepted that this car really does not enjoy stop/start traffic and prefers to be on the move to keep air moving through the radiators.

This is where mine sits when moving. In stop and go traffic, it's a tick hotter.

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My 3.2 Carrera was like that too. Interesting that Porsche let's these cars get that hot. Or maybe it's just not that hot after all. When you're in stop and go traffic, consuming 5-10 horsepower, the engine's not making much heat, so maybe the issue isn't absolute temperature after all.

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Now that I can see the pics (yeah for my home PC) -- you have a Tiptronic which I *think* means you have a third radiator. From my experience having just added a third radiator to my '02 C2 Cab with 6-speed manual, I find the coolant heats up a bit more in slow-n-go traffic because some of the coolant bypasses the two (side) radiators where the fans are. The center radiator is cooled by airflow from the car moving only; no fan assist. Once on the move, however, the coolant temps come down faster because of the extra heat exchange area. With the third radiator, clean side radiators, and a 160F thermostat my car runs right at the 180 mark at speed but heats up as high as your pictures show in bad traffic.

Mine gets up that high during "spirited" canyon driving. Totally normal. My Aprilia RSV4 will range from 167* on the Hwy to 220 when stuck in traffic. What really concerns me is the 34k miles on your ODO!!! OH, and I have a low temp stat too.

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i bought it 1 month ago with around 33,7xx on it. Promptly got IMS done, tires, and coils done etc and plan to put many miles on the car... then maybe fingers crossed get a newer gen 911 like a 991.1 in a few years depending on where I'm at in life and where P-car values are.

So this happened to me. It wasn't the position of the needle before, but it started a few months ago to run hotter. So I had the radiators checked, and bumpers removed and all the gunk cleaned up there that had accumulated (a LOT)...nothing changed. Had the thermo and the sender tested and the water pump tested. The water pump was okay but it has a plastic rotor and plastic raliling and this is an old car so we replaced it (making a bit of bearing noise anyway) but all else checked out. Bunch of money and it runs exactly where it has been for the last two months. So I'm not worrying about it anymore.