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Is Coolant Temperature of 220° Normal?

18K views 54 replies 18 participants last post by  Billi 
#1 ·
I have a scan tool attached to my OBDII port and can monitor my coolant temperature in my 2019 Sorento SX. I noticed that at turnpike speeds the temperature reads between 215 and 220°F. In my 2013 Sorento that reading was always steady at 185°F. I spoke with the service manager of the KIA dealership and he assured me that this was normal.

If the motor has a 185° thermostat, shouldn't the coolant temperature be at or near 185°? In stop-and-go traffic, the fans are actuated to move air across the radiator to keep the engine from overheating, but at highway speeds there is enough air flowing past the radiator to maintain the proper temperature.

Should I be concerned or is the service manager right?
 
#3 ·
T-stats are not meant to maintain a set temperature based on their rating, that's just their opening/closing point and is programmed for the best emissions. 220 seems like high normal to me but is the dash indicator slightly to the left of middle? Don't know if the dash gauge is linear or stepped but should still give a fair indication of "normal" temps. I'll have to hook up my scangauge and see what kind of readings I get. My C6 Corvette always ran 220-225, my wife's Accord 195-200, my 4Runner 210-220 so cars seemed to have their cooling capacity "programmed" to get into the best temperature for emission control for that particular engine.
 
#13 ·
the temp gauge is junk for anything close to an accurate measurement.

Connect a scan tool of any kind (Torque?) and you will find that the stock temp gauge goes to its "normal position" of just below half for anything starting at about 65c. I've never had mine go any higher than the stock normal position from 65 to 92C (I've never seen my car higher than that)

note

92c = 198F, 65c = 149F so your car is running plenty warm for sure.

.
 
#4 ·
Check your radiator surface for debris that might be blocking it.
Then find out what temp the thermostat is?
The engine under normal highway speeds should be a little higher than the stat. setting.
Under heavy loads(Hills,Towing) it will be higher.
What is it reading around town?
 
#5 ·
The car has less than 400 miles. The radiator is clean like new. I'm guessing that the thermostat is a standard one at 185°. Driving around town, the coolant temperature is 210-220°.

The electric fan goes on at 204-206° after a warm-up. Then the temperature fluctuates between 204 and 210° on continuous idling.
 
#8 ·
Water boils at 212*F , 50/50 mix of antifreeze brings it up to 235* F and 15 lbs of pressure in the cooling system (radiator cap) brings it up to about 275* F. So your 215 to 220 is 55* F from the danger zone Another two factors come into play, a 180* T-stat STARTS to open at approxamatly 180*F but valve does not fully open till about 195*C, and the engine temperature sensor is not near the T-stat it's usually in a spot that runs the hottest so the temps never match. Other considerations are the ECM fan control. The fan is controlled by engine temp sensor, and the fans start running about 35% speed at 200* F and increase speed to full speed at about 220*F. Also under normal level road cruising the fans basically shut down above 45 MPH.
 
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#14 ·
Design Flaw or Bad Thermostat?

The KIA Sorento 3.3 motor has a 192° thermostat. The electric cooling fan kicks in at 204°. So why does the normal operating temperature of the car, either city or highway, fluctuate between 215-220°? That means that the fan is operating ALL the time once the motor warms up!

There is absolutely no reason for the fan to be operating at highway speeds since there is sufficient air flow through the radiator to keep the motor cool.

I can almost guarantee that there will be a future recall to replace the thermostat with a high-flow thermostat to solve that problem.
 
#16 ·
The KIA Sorento 3.3 motor has a 192° thermostat. The electric cooling fan kicks in at 204°. So why does the normal operating temperature of the car, either city or highway, fluctuate between 215-220°? That means that the fan is operating ALL the time once the motor warms up!

There is absolutely no reason for the fan to be operating at highway speeds since there is sufficient air flow through the radiator to keep the motor cool.

I can almost guarantee that there will be a future recall to replace the thermostat with a high-flow thermostat to solve that problem.
What method did you use to determine the fan is operating at highway speeds? I have a hard time believing the fan is running all the time.
 
#18 ·
My wife just got home from a long run of shopping on a 104 degree day so took her car back out, did the readout on the Scan Gauge II I have in the OBD port and my fan isn't kicking on until 215-218 degrees and when I went out on the Interstate for a five mile run, airflow kept the temps right around 208-210 but then when I got off and started home in traffic, temps would go up to 215, fan would kick on, reduce the temps back down to 210(ish) and the fan would cut off and then back on a few minutes later (about what I would expect). Since we're both taking the reading from the OBD port, have to assume our readings should be identical but supposed the Scan Gauges (or whatever other people use) could be calibrated incorrectly. I doubt there is going to be a t-stat recall since this engine has been in production (V6) for years and used in the Sorento since 2016 so problems would have come up years ago and been corrected. Since it directly impacts the life of the engine, Kia isn't going to let something that could shorten the life of the motor and cost them warranty money, go uncorrected when it's as simple as a redesigned t-stat.

Are you using a phone app for the OBD port readings? Many of them are cheap but also wildly inaccurate and the transmitters that plug into the port are very cheaply made, subject to a lot of errors. I tried one in my 4Runner and it constantly gave me trans temp overheat readings and yet the built in temp system said everything was fine. I tossed it in the trash after that and went with the dedicated Scan Gauge II setup.

There may also be some logic built into the system that it knows the engine is at idle, temps are rising rapidly and so it kicks the fan on proactively to reduce the rapid rise in temps. When it's on the highway, it knows that there is constant airflow and so the fan can be less reactive - just a guess.
 
#19 ·
If someone has a device attached to their OBDII port that can monitor engine coolant temperature, etc., what is your normal temperature at highway speeds and in traffic? Mine is usually 215-220°, but sometimes it momentarily drops to 190-195°.

I have replaced the thermostat and still get the same results.
 
#23 ·
Mine is usually 215-220°, but sometimes it momentarily drops to 190-195°.
The temperature of a liquid doesn't drop by 20 degrees at a moment's notice, unless you're talking about extreme conditions. If you see the reading change like that, that sounds like an electrical/sensor issue to me. To really know the temp, you have to point a temp gun at the engine. Then compare it to the reading you're getting from the computer.
 
#21 ·
I've got a scangauge II on mine and get almost the exact same readings. Around town the fan seems to cut on at about 220, drops the temp down to the range of the t-stat, 190-195. On the highway, at speeds, the temp maintains itself right around 200-205 and that's in 110F ambient. IIRC, in what passes for winter around here, it never gets to 220 around town but we have almost no traffic congestion in Tucson. Traffic light to traffic light is about as stop and go as it gets. Not sure why you replaced the t-stat, the system is pressurized to raise the boiling point of the coolant which is already raised by the anti-freeze mixed in. Getting engines hot quickly and maintaining a higher level of heat helps emissions, or so I've been told.
 
#22 ·
I don't mind the high temperature, in fact the motor is more efficient there. What bothers me is that the electric radiator fan kicks in at 204° and remains on all the time at higher temps. I'm sure that's what its not supposed to do at highway speeds when the air flow across the radiator should be sufficient to drop the temperature below 204°. That's why I suspected that I had a faulty thermostat. I reached out to the community to find out if my situation was normal, as the KIA service reps told me. Now I suspect that there is a piece of floating debris at the entrance to the thermostat that causes this erratic behavior.
 
#29 ·
Is this with A/C working? Maybe you could give a bit more info under what conditions this is happening, like in stop and go crawl traffic that the rad fan stays running. A/C operation will engage the rad. fan motor ...normal.
 
#25 ·
I want to thank tom4416 for his helpful reply but I was hoping that there were a few more of you out there that have the need to know more about what is stored in the ECU than what KIA provides. I'm pretty certain that the running temperature of the 2019 Sorento V6 motor is 190-195°, I just needed some confirmation.
 
#27 ·
Thanks, but that's a different motor and probably with a different thermostat. Yet it still shows that the temperature is near the listed temperature for the thermostat. The 2019 Sorento V6 thermostat is listed @191° and is supposed to be fully open @ 205°.
 
#33 ·
You're right; I'm not like most people. I've been building and racing cars for over 50 years and that's why I have all those "gadgets" to check the operation of my motor. And I think it's a major problem for the radiator fan to be operating all the time. I'm happy to have learned that my case was an anomaly and not the norm and that that the problem could be fixed.
 
#36 ·
Please read the entire thread.
Before one can attempt to "fix" a problem" he needs to determine that the problem exists.
I have and have been a part of it. Your responses to questions directed to you have been quite evasive. Do I take it correctly that your main concern is that to YOU the rad fan is running for too long a period of time? IF so just how long is too long to you?
 
#39 ·
The local service manager doesn't see is as a problem as long as the car isn't overheating and the little arrow on the idiot temperature gauge stays in the correct range.

Do you still have your Mustang? I just sold my Bama-tuned 2015 GT. Ran 11.8 @110mph.
 
#40 · (Edited)
The local service manager doesn't see is as a problem as long as the car isn't overheating and the little arrow on the idiot temperature gauge stays in the correct range.
The service manager is right, after-all, the car is under warranty and if there was a case that its overheating it would be in their interest to address it before it leads to a replacement engine on their dime.
The best you can do if you have serious concerns that the engine is at risk, make sure that you have those comments recorded in a work order or even an email with the service manager.

It is most likely the hysteresis of the thermostat - you could test this with a temperature controlled oil bath tracking the thermostat movement/opening/closing going up and down very slowly in temperature - painstaking slow process, but can be done.

What do you think needs to be done to it?
Do you still have your Mustang? I just sold my Bama-tuned 2015 GT. Ran 11.8 @110mph.
Yes, it's my wife's car.
 
#50 ·
I believe I had "alluded" to that possibility in one of my postings, along with possible air entrapment from when you changed the T-Stat. This NOT knowing of time period of the concern,and not getting any feedback about it.
All in all, glad you have found the culprit.
 
#51 ·
We know that KIA changed the T-stat to a 215° from a 192° but kept the coolant fan actuation temperature at 204°. I'm almost certain that this setpoint is kept in one of the tables in the ECU. These tables can be accessed by instruments in the service departments. I raced a Ford Mustang and a Nissan and I was able to improve engine performance by adjusting these tables (spark advance, fuel mixture, fuel type, injector parameters, etc.) with appropriate programmers.
 
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