2002 SL2 Idles Hot

I just bought a 2002 SL2 and love it but for one thing; I noticed that
when stopped at a red light or in traffic the temperature gauge goes
from slightly over 1/4 to past 1/2. Once the car gets moving again,
the temperature goes back to normal. (I've never just let it sit for
ten minutes or so to see if the temperature will keep climbing.)

According to the Saturn dealership I called, this is normal, but I
wanted to check to see if anyone else had noticed this.

Joseph

 

short version:
They are correct

longer version:
....this is what I wrote in a recent thread:

"it is actually normal for the engine temperature to go up _some_ when
you're in city traffic, as compared to highway driving. Two reasons for
this include a) you're not pushing volumes of air past the radiator b)
you're working the engine harder in stop/go traffic, ie at a steady
65MPH you're probably holding somewhere around 3000RPMs (DOHC). In city
driving you're constantly going from ~1000 to 4500 (or so, depending on
MT or AT) under load."

one other reason that I didn't mention there is also that the water pump
isn't moving as much coolant - since the water pump's flow rate is
directly related to the engine RPM.

It is NOT normal for the temperature to go past 1/2, then go past 3/4
and just keep going up - all the while with the cooling fan never coming
on. When the fan does come on, you should notice a fairly rapid drop on
the gauge. Keep in mind tho the cooling fan doesn't respond to the
gauge - there is a seperate sensor which goes to the computer which
decides when the fan should come on. The fan will also not come on over
a certain speed (MPH) because running the fan at speed tends to block
more air than it can push across the cooling fins.

-rj
98SL2

 

(Joseph Bloch) typed until their fingers bled, and
came up with:

The temp guage in your Saturn (and all S-series - not sure about the
ION,VUE, or L-series) shows a much SMALLER range than "normal" guages.
Normal driving temp should be around 1/4 on the guage - 96+ seem to read a
bit higher, 91-95 a bit lower, in my experience. The red mark on the guage
marks the upper end of the "normal" temp range, NOT an overheating
condition. The fan should kick on when the guage reads 3/4.

 

No ... it is not normal. What I should say is that is should not be that way.
But, if you leaven your airconditioning off and do not add an additive to your
oil ... then it will happen. First, when you stop on a hot day ... you want to
have the airconditioning ON ... that will cause the fan to kick on and keep
your engine cool. Next, Add something like DuraLube to your engine a litte
each oil change and it will never climb ... it will stay just over the 1/4
mark. Roy,

 

erm, huh? oil additives to keep the engine cooler overall? It is
suggested that oil additives are not only generally useless, but may be
more harmful than helpful because they can interfere with the designed
composition of the oil itself.

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/05/duralub2.htm

In any case, when you turn on the A/C, you're forcing the engine to work
harder to run the compressor and generating heat from the
compression/cooling process. This is why the fan comes on - to
compensate. At best, on a hot day, you're offsetting the work of the
fan by adding more heat to the system.

The fan will come on automatically when needed. You do (should) not
have to force the fan to come on, unless there is something wrong with
ie, the temp sensor and the fan never comes on. In the SLs (at least),
the behavior as described by jbloch is normal.

-rj
98SL2

btw, the case with the FTC seems to have been resolved in 2000, but it
is mostly lawyer-ese which I can't understand:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/05/duralube.do.htm

 

No ... it is not normal. What I should say is that is should not be that

Ummm, no.......

Is there any particular reason you push oil additives so much?

 

Is there any particular reason you push oil additives so much?

because, you can actually see the difference in the temperature gauge

 

Is there any particular reason you push oil additives so much?


Also, there seem to be a question regularly about oil temperature ... which,
the basic way to solve that is to keep the airconditioner on and have some kind
of oil additive.

 

Did you read anything I wrote? Your suggestion might be "the basic way"
but it is not the correct way, and is fundamentally flawed in its logic.

I'll repeat myself for the hard of hearing: Turning on the A/C creates
additional heat from A) running the engine harder and B) the heat
exchange process of the compressor. The cooling fan will come on when
the PCM finds it is nessecary.

Also, did you miss where the Federal Trade Commission found that the
advertising claims of the oil additives were bunk?

If the engine is overheating and there is enough coolant flowing, you
can reduce the engine temperature some by turning on the heater full
blast (not the defroster - in some vehicle makes this runs the
compressor). If you are venting or don't have any coolant, this won't help.

If you're really bent on running the cooling fan at will, you would be
far better served by wiring an override switch to the relay. _However_,
the original question asked if the behavior described was normal. My
response stands: affirmative.

-rj
98SL2

 

This just came to me... Not sure if this applies to your year or make
and I never looked this up but when looking at a fuse box under the hood
of a saturn I recalled seeing 2 fan relays. One said high, the other
said low. Maybe the high speed fan relay is bad. Again, I do not have a
wiring diagram on hand but this is something to look into. Anyone out
there with a book or GM SI disk or something able to referance a 02 SL2?

 

i had a similar issue with my '97 sl2. the fan motor was bad. on the
97, the A/C relay and the fan relay were the same part number, so i
switched them out in order to narrow things down.

nanook

 

I'll repeat myself for the hard of hearing: Turning on the A/C creates

The sounds good. But, what is logical is often wrong. The key is to keep the
engine temperature down and those two basic ways (leaving air conditioner on so
the fan runs and add an oil additive ... specifically Duralube or probably STP)
will keep the tempurate less than the temperature the PCM decides is about to
ruin the engine.

 

(ProfWdesk1) typed until their fingers bled, and came
up with:

The key is to

Actually, just turning the A/C on, and then off again after a few seconds
will cause the cooling fan to run for 2 minutes.