typical engine temperature?

[rangerin]

OK, this seems like a silly question, but ever since I put an actual temp gauge in the ranger, I've become curious. I've got an old 2.8 v6; how hot is considered too hot? Driving around during the heat of the day and the gauge will get up to 205 so I know I'm fine, but I'd like to know when I should get concerned.

 

[adsm08]

Most t-stats have approx 192* regulating temp, will top out at 198ish, 205 in hot weather isn't too bad. Above 230 damage starts to happen.

I once saw an engine completely cooked, no coolant, if you tried to fill to fill the bottle you could hear the water running through the block, and then we took the plugs out and cranked it, looked like one of those water fountain shows.

The freeze frame data from the overheat codes indicated a cylinder head temp of about 330* before the engine stopped.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

190-210 is typical. 220-230 max on most cars with an electric fan.

230 and beyond is pretty much the point of no return.

 

[wildbill23c]

My 84 Bronco 2's 2.8L V6 seems to stick around 190-200 degrees even during the summer. Max I've ever seen it go was 205 degrees. Well except when I had an air pocket in the coolant system, which caused the temp to spike to about 230 degrees for a bit till I got the air bled out of the heater core & lines. After that, its never got hotter than 205 degrees under hard acceleration in 100 degree weather.

 

[97RangerXLT]

I checked this via my Bluetooth adapter and Torque app on android for my Ranger today. it ran 197-199. you could tell when the thermostat opened at 199 and it would then close at 197. Kind of neat watching it real time.

Now as for the accuracy of the temperature sending unit that tells the ECM how hot the coolant is.... that is another story, but the the engine and pcm is telling me 197-199

AJ