Cadillac Repair: Ideal Temperature??, Cadillac engine over heating, natfs

Question
Hello Rob,
After reading all your warnings and comments on overheating I wonder if I have a problem??
I have a 91 Seville with 4.9L.When driving the temperature is around 200,then when stationery in traffic it goes up to around 215 and if in heavy traffic jam can go up to 224. When it reaches 224 the fan then kicks in and it goes back down again to maybe 205. Had a new radiator about a year ago and to me the car runs perfect. What is the temperature range for normal driving/traffic jams and when should the fan kick in?? The fan always kicks in at 224-is this o.k,I dont want to ruin my engine after all your warnings on here.Thank you.

Answer
Hello,

I appreciate that you heed my warning on these engines, but you are fine as long as you are not using straight water in your cooling system.

Anti freeze/coolant raises the boiling temperature when in a 50/50 mix with water.

What happens commonly is that a cooling system problem will occur and the temp guage will go from 230 degrees upward and the car is driven no matter how high the temperature goes. Then in many cases the intial damage is head gadkets and once the heads are removed, more damage is found and its time for a new engine.

Your car is operating properly and the fans are to go on to cool the engine when stuck in traffic.

I appreciate your concern which means my message is getting out there.

For those that have an overheating problem where you need to get the car off the road safely, a temporary measure it to take the heater dial and put it in the red, or on digital controls, put the temp on 90 and turn the fan on. It may be a hundred degrees out, but doing this allows the coolant more flow. This is temporaly only! In fact, if you put in the defrost mode better because the fans should come on as well.