Boiling Point

[Morton]

Say, I've had overheating issues in the past, but I've solved most of them. Thanks to a VS V8 thick core radiator and a thermo fan override switch, I can fairly consistently keep my temperature under control by watching an aftermarket temperature gauge.

Here's a question though - we know water in a pressurised cooling system will boil at around 130 degrees plus, right?

That's all well and good to know, but we don't ever want to venture near that point in an ideal world. I run my after market gauge, and my standard dash gauge at the same time. The dash gauge is wired up just after the thermostat, getting the hottest point in the cooling system like the factory sensor.

So, when my dash gauge is within farting distance of the redline, my aftermarket sensor is reading a happy 120 degrees. Something I try to avoid.

Is it safe to say that 120 degrees and beyond is potential head gasket territory, or has 110 been a known failing point?

I'm just curious if anyone here has some experience or knowledge in safe short-term cast iron V6 operating temperatures, because I tend to turn my thermo fans on at 100 degrees - and I'm wondering if this is an over-reaction?

Could I be safely letting this temperature ride to 110-115 without being too concerned?

Obviously cooler is better, and keeping it below 100 can't hurt anyone - but curiousity still gets the better of me

</ramble>

[Just_a_stocker]

well mate unless you have a modded cam or FI, it shouldnt really be an issue.
the fan cuts in when it gets too hot.

so far to ward off peak hour summer traffic over heats I have done the following-

new water pump
good coolant to spec
new radiator
power flush
new coolant temp sensor
new radiator hoses
new water pump hose

car actual;y driving quite cool now, i just did 1400km in her interstate and she didnt miss a beat, driven to work in the summer and yes the worst thing for overheating is sitting at the lights on hot tar in very slow traffic.

they dont like it...come to think of it,, either do I,,too damm hot

ill just add that i didnt do that stuff all at once but in repairs over about 6 months

[greenfoam]

Morton but why does it get so hot ? My V6 use to barely get warm, you must have blocked water passages or something. The coolant retard map retards the timing at 110c and beyond so that must be the happy time limit. 120c is costing you 3 degrees advance just on the coolant map alone

[Morton]

well mate unless you have a modded cam or FI, it shouldnt really be an issue.
the fan cuts in when it gets too hot.

so far to ward off peak hour summer traffic over heats I have done the following-

new water pump
good coolant to spec
new radiator
power flush
new coolant temp sensor
new radiator hoses
new water pump hose

car actua;;y rin quite cool now, i just did 1400km in her interstate and she didnt miss a beat, driven to work in the summer and yes the worst thing for overheating is sitting at the lights on hot tar in very slow traffic.

they dont like it...come to think of it,, either do I,,too damm hot

haha, yeah, it's only sitting in or crawing through heavy Brisbane traffic on a hot day that makes her overheat. It's only natural for a car to get hot, my only catch is the fan has never automatically kicked in at high temp, which is why I installed the override.

------------------------------------
Sep 07: new water pump
Feb 08: good coolant to spec
Feb 08: new radiator
Feb 08: power flush
Sep 07: new coolant temp sensor
Feb 07: new radiator hoses
Feb 07: new water pump hose
------------------------------------

New thermostat too, which basically crosses off all of those causes And my cooling system doesn't lose a drop between half-yearly flushes. Mystery, hey?

Morton but why does it get so hot ? My V6 use to barely get warm, you must have blocked water passages or something. The coolant retard map retards the timing at 110c and beyond so that must be the happy time limit. 120c is costing you 3 degrees advance just on the coolant map alone

Yeah i know, I'm fairly certain I have blocked water galleries somewhere, but the thermo fan can drag temperatures back to 90 degrees within a couple of minutes, so I don't stress. My only concern is that one day the fan's going to burn out and I'll have to shut her down on the side of the road.

For now, during daily driving, she sits around 90 degrees. 95 if I have the front grille on. It's AMAZING how much temperature difference is made by taking those chunky plastic grilles off the VP

[Just_a_stocker]

guess you could always get a good battery. twin Ford fan and get it to cut in early...isnt there some kind of adjustable thing for that???

[savage1987]

yeah I'd imagine you can set up a similar setup to the common 5L mod .. twin AU thermos and a separate temp sender to run them at preset temps.

Just a guess though, not sure of the work involved at all.
Sam