Car is starting to run a little hot

I've noticed that my car is starting to run hotter these days than it used to while in traffic (highway speeds seem to be ok, i have a track day this weekend and will report if i have any problems). Instead of holding temprature smack in the middle, the needle is right at the end or just past the 0 and holds steady around there (ambient temprature depending ofcourse). I've cleaned out the radiators, and i'm not dripping any coolant. Should i flush and recharge the coolant system and throw in some water wetter? I'm also operating under the assumption that this could be caused by the new evoms intake i added. the open filter element might just be sucking in more hot air when stuck in the calamitous cesspools that are downtown cities.

Mine runs about the same spot Omar. I'm not really concerned...seems normal.Hey, do you know offhand how many miles were on the suspension I bought from you a couple of months ago? Just had it installed today and was curious. Thanks.

How many miles are on the car? It could be time for a flush if it is has high mileage and hasn't been done. I have used water wetter at the track and it made a little difference. Really as long as the light isn't coming on you are not over-heating. K

barn...probably around 25,000kms so under 20,000 miles kc996..my car just passed 52000kms...is that considered high?

Thanks Omar.By the way...is that you riding through the air on the road bike in your avitar??I happen to agree with "golf is for pussies". I just don't like the game.

i wish! i used to ride superbikes (and will again soon), but no one was ever around to capture my stupidity for the world to see (and the crown prosecutor to log as exhibit's A thru D) unfortunatly

Omar If the higher temperature started all of a sudden, I would change the oil, in case it is contaminated. When did you last change the oil ( I mean in the car)

Dude it's normal,it's getting hot outside. Considering you only have the side radiators that actually pretty good. If your paranoid you may want to consider the center radiator kit.

Did you remove the bumper and pull the condensers off of the radiators to clean everything out? I ask because I'm very particular about keeping my car clean, spraying down the radiators, cleaning out the ducts, etc every single time I clean my car, HOWEVER no matter what when i was at the track last year i could run about 10-15 minutes until the temps would start to climb and I'd have to back off for a lap or two to get them back under control. After reading many posts here I felt the 3rd radiator was probably the only solution. A few weeks ago before my most recent track day I pulled the front bumper and was amazed at the crap that I just couldn't get out without the bumper off of the car and without pulling the A/C condensers away from the radiators to get everything out of there. I also drained about 2 gallons of coolant from the car and replaced it with 2 bottles of water wetter ( a racers suggestion) and the remainder with distilled water and had no issues at all with temps at my latest track day. Granted it's still early in the season here and was only in the low 70's for that day but I never saw above 105 degrees on the diagnostic readout the whole weekend, whereas last year the car would climb easily to 115 degrees in 10-15 minutes then I'd have to back off and let it cool down. I have a couple more days coming up in the warmer weather that will tell the real story on if the 3rd radiator is really necessary...but so far things are looking promissing. Andy

Hmm..i didn't take off the condensers, just the bumper and ducts and scoop everything out of there, so that might be it (i forgot the condensers sit infront of the rad). everything looked pretty clean tho, my car doesn't really get driven thru crud, and usually the shop strength powerwasher gets everything out from within the nooks and crannies. i'll try ur suggestion tho. in places like columbus and toronto, a 3rd rad shouldn't be needed. i used to run the car all day nonstop for 20+ minute sessions without seeing a rise in temps in to critical areas.

Radiator Fan and Engine Compartment Fan Switch Mod The 3.4 996 runs extremely hot when driving around town in temperatures higher than 75 degrees. This mod is a way to reduce coolant temps back to a safer level, helping to reduce oil temps and improving performance. The mod consists of installing a switch that will allow you to turn on the high speed radiator fans at any time, while maintaining the automatic operation of the fans. This will help maintain engine temperatures below 200F at all times. Radiator Fans Connect a wire to the ground (Pin #85) of the 2 high speed fan relays located on the relay carrier located in the driver’s side foot well. The relays are #20 and #22. Feed this wire to where your switch will be located. Connect the wire to one side of the switch. Connect another wire from the other contact on the switch and then connect the other end of this wire to a chassis ground point. With key on, this switch will now immediately turn on both radiator fans providing maximum cooling. When you turn the key off, the fans will continue to run for about 5 seconds until the relay shuts down. Your fan operation remains normal when the switch is off. Jim

thanks jim, i'll definitly do that. (Aside, drove the car to work this morning on the highway and it stayed in the zero area).

Have you noticed any trace of oil in the coolant? That was the beginning of my issues. Just open the coolant tank and if there is no oil on top, then that would be a good sign

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i doubt i have more than 6000kms on my oil but i will be changing it tomorrow for my track day on sunday. coolant and oil are clean. no dripping from the car anywhere, and it doesn't burn oil either (possibly the best 996 evarrr? ) I think i might just be over-reacting. I will do 1999's fanmod and flog the car at the track and if i run into problems i will go thru the other diagnostics suggested. I won't be putting in the 3rd rad. I don't want the extra weight and i know the car can run cool without it, so i will try to keep it as such. thanks for the input, if anyone else has any other ideas, please contribute. cheers.

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Have any pics of the mod?

When you cleaned the front radiators, if you did not pull the A/C condenser from the coolant radiator and clean in there, then chances are that is your problem. A fine mat of gunk can build up between the 2 radiators and very effectively block air flow. I have seen significantly lower coolant temperatures after cleaning here.

Does your open element filter suck air out of the engine compartment or does it suck air out of the duct that goes through the spoiler? If it's changed the air intake where you're sucking air from inside the engine bay then in heavy traffic you're sucking air that's soaking heat from the engine versus air from the outside.

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Thanks great idea. Summertime in Atl, my car gets hot in traffic, not so it's in the red but above middle

Omar, Where are you located at?

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I have a mod for that one too: Engine Compartment Fan Connect a wire to the ground of the relay located in the relay carrier behind the passenger seat, driver�s side. Relay #8. . Feed this wire to where your switch will be located. I simply fed the wire along the driver�s side of the car and under the door sill. Connect the wire to one side of the switch. Connect another wire from the other contact on the switch and connect the other end of this wire to a chassis ground point. With key on, this switch will now immediately turn on the fan drawing air into the engine compartment. When you turn the key off, the fan will continue to run for about 5 seconds until the relay shuts down. Your fan operation remains normal when the switch is off. This mod helps keep the engine compartment much cooler when driving around town and is particularly beneficial to any engine that draws its intake air from inside the engine compartment, such as the EVO SC. If you are adventurous, you can automate the operation of these switches so they will switch off at a specific speed, or operate when vacuum is present only, etc. You can choose any style switch you want and even use Porsche switches. I simply used 2 toggle switches that I installed in the batwing, Jim

Man you love those fan mods!

Have you checked the simple things, like making sure both of your fans are running at both high or low speed? VERY common issue to have the series resistor burn up and lose a side. Easy to check, if AC on and both fans not running, you've more than likely got a burnt up resistor. Under normal operation, any time the fan come on for EITHER high or low speed, those puppies get hot enough to seriously burn you, so be careful. If your gauge needle is at or to the right of 0 in 180, then both of your fans should already be on (low speed), even w/o AC running.

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His fan should be on HIGH speed at that temperature. Needle at right side of 180 means your temperature is 215F+. Goal is to keep the temperature below 200F which is easier to address while temps are low rather than having to cool it down to that level.