This will likely be somewhere in the 160 to 190 degree range based on what your drive.Īnother thing to consider when watching your engine coolant temperature is what the engine cooling fans are set to. If you call your local auto parts store, like one of our partners below, they will be able to tell you what temperature your engine’s thermostat is designed to start opening. The best place to start in comparing your vehicle’s normal engine coolant temperature to see if it’s correct is with your thermostat setting. If you have an OBDII scanner, you may even be able to graph coolant temperatures in your app and track them that way. Now that you know what your car’s engine coolant temperature actually is, watch it for a few days in a variety of driving situations. One of our favorites is made by Foseal and can be linked with an app on your phone like Torque which will allow you to see the value of various sensors in your car’s engine. Get a device to plug into that port to read the coolant temperature. If your car is older than 1996 it will have an OBDII port.If your car was built before 1996, install a mechanical coolant temperature gauge made by a reputable company.

One vehicle we test drove did have a temperature gauge closer inspection the gauge stayed centered even though the vehicle’s actual coolant temperature ranged from 140 degrees up to 230 degrees! So how can you be sure of your engine coolant temperature? Even your owner’s manual probably doesn’t tell you what temperature those lights turn on and off at. Before we get into what normal engine coolant temperatures are, a better question you maybe should ask is what temperature is your engine really running at?ĭoes your car have a temperature gauge? Can you really trust it? Many cars being sold today simply have a blue thermometer dash light that turns off once your car is warmed up and a red thermometer dash light that turns on if your car gets too hot. Normal engine coolant temperature depends on a lot of factors.

Coolant in chevy sonic engine