09 challenger 255 4tec runs too hot?

[Ajent]

Hi! New member, have been lurking for a while now. Trying to decide if my new-to-me challenger is running too hot. Here's the story:
Bought boat, went for first long run after water testing. It ran great, good power etc. Threw an over heat, p1116 after going almost full Throttle for 5 ish minutes. Panicked and let it idle, buzzer shut off almost instantly. Checked engine, exhaust cool to touch, engine hot. Ran it the rest of the day under less throttle, no problem. Took it home, flushed and changed coolant. Found ride plate horribly corroded, sanded it to bare aluminum again. Brought boat out another day and brought a good ir temp gun. Had a friend drive and I sat and watched temps. At a 35 mph cruise, front of head is about 200, valve cover at rear about 210, coolant at temp sensor is about 190, 195.. Coolant to ride plate is about 180 and comes back about 160
Crank it to almost wot and cruise at about 47, temps are up to 218 at front of head, 230 rear of valve cover, temp sensor at 215, ride plate at 195 and 165. I think it would have gotten hotter if we ran longer, but it was a 5 minute run, so roughly what set it off before. temps drop fairly rapidly once you slow down.
Am I overthinking it or is that just too hot? Any ideas or suggestions? Has anyone else ever checked running temps like this?

 

[Digdog]

Not sure what a P1116 code is , but you could have a faulty thermostat , bad pump impeller.

 

[Ajent]

Not sure what a P1116 code is , but you could have a faulty thermostat , bad pump impeller.

Sorry, mistyped, meant p0116, coolant temperature sensor

 

[Digdog]

P0116 Is a bad sensor circuit , look at this screenshot it may help you , you should get a service manual for your machine , it could save you a bunch.

 

[MacSeaDoo]

What does the coolant reservoir look like? Is it at at least the min mark? What color is it?

As mentioned it could be the sensor as the code is for out or range temp expectations.

BTW

The thermostat opens at 189 and the beeper comes on at 230 in the SC engines. The coolant temp sensor is in the cyl head so it will reflect the true temp if accurate.

I would say if you are getting 230 from the head with an IR temp gun, you are overheating. The engine should not be running at 230.

 

[Ajent]

What does the coolant reservoir look like? Is it at at least the min mark? What color is it?

As mentioned it could be the sensor as the code is for out or range temp expectations.

BTW

The thermostat opens at 189 and the beeper comes on at 230 in the SC engines. The coolant temp sensor is in the cyl head so it will reflect the true temp if accurate.

I would say if you are getting 230 from the head with an IR temp gun, you are overheating. The engine should not be running at 230.

It's clean, I flushed it before last test so I did have to burp it on the water, but before it was right at full level. It does not spew coolant out, after another run today its 100 percent not a head gasket.
I had a look at pictures of the head, in pretty sure the heat at front is being bumped up by exhaust heat. I was more or less wondering if anyone has done these same tests and could verify that these engines normally have hot spots or if mine has flow issues.
So what I'm going to do is fire the parts shotgun, order a water pump and thermostat, as well as a new sensor. Might just buy candoo while I'm at it. Break out another thousand!

 

[MacSeaDoo]

I bought the Candoo for mine so that I can troubleshoot. Once I bought it and it arrived, I already solved my issues. I have i though for any future troubleshooting.

With it, you will see the temp sensor value.

I will shoot my temps when I can but I am in Canada. Water is 75 degrees and air will be in the high 70;s low 80's. Depending on where you are at maybe not a great comparrison.

 

[Ajent]

Well that's handy, I'm in Canada too, Lake Erie and grand river are my normal runs! If you ever get a chance I'd really appreciate it!

 

[Joe Starbuck]

P0116 has nothing to do with temperature. It is a bad sensor, read what DigDog posted.

 

[Ajent]

P0116 has nothing to do with temperature. It is a bad sensor, read what DigDog posted.

Yep I understand that, I have an e- manual, but read what I was saying about the actual temperatures, and also note that cleaning the ride plate has kept the warning from coming back. I've read on greenhulk that 0116 can come on during an engine overheat even when sensor is still good, not sure if that's true though.
I've been using it for a few weeks now, haven't been brave enough to go wot longer than a minute or two but it hasn't done anything since first ride and getting the plate cleaned up and coolant flushed good. Basically all I was looking for in this thread was to see if anyone else has ever put an ir gun on one of these 4tecs and if I should be digging harder into getting the temps down or if it's just normal.

 

[Joe Starbuck]

Yep I understand that, I have an e- manual, but read what I was saying about the actual temperatures, and also note that cleaning the ride plate has kept the warning from coming back. I've read on greenhulk that 0116 can come on during an engine overheat even when sensor is still good, not sure if that's true though.
I've been using it for a few weeks now, haven't been brave enough to go wot longer than a minute or two but it hasn't done anything since first ride and getting the plate cleaned up and coolant flushed good. Basically all I was looking for in this thread was to see if anyone else has ever put an ir gun on one of these 4tecs and if I should be digging harder into getting the temps down or if it's just normal.

No, sorry, I have not. Have you done the resistance checks that the manual says to do? That could avoid the parts shotgun, if indeed the sensor has a problem, as indicated by the sensor fault code, by the computer designed to tell you if you have a sensor fault.

 

[Ajent]

No, sorry, I have not. Have you done the resistance checks that the manual says to do? That could avoid the parts shotgun, if indeed the sensor has a problem, as indicated by the sensor fault code, by the computer designed to tell you if you have a sensor fault.

I did end up getting the oh meter out and removing the sensor, checked at 80 degrees and at boiling, was in spec.
Also found the raw water cooling restrictor o ring blown out completely while doing wear ring, which has nothing to do with any of my problems but makes me feel better now that it's fixed lol
I'm just going to send it for the remainder of this season, the ride plate has started leaking coolant slowly now so she's coming completely apart this winter.