What is too hot?
 

Greetings,
I have been a member for awhile now and I am impressed with all of the innovative people and all of the great info. I just purchased a 1999 Escort 2.0 5 speed. My odometer reads 208K, and it runs and drives great. I am getting about 39 MPG with it. I had an Echo, and other Escorts before that.

I am going to install a grille block and want to know what is a good safe temp to run at. It has a scangauge II and it shows the car has been operating at about 197 degrees most of the time. + or - a few degrees. Usually 197.
I have read escorts can get hot, overheated, and drop a valve seat. I saw a old escort in the bone yard with a hole through the upper front of #4 cylinder and now I know why.

I'm running my tires at 42 psi, I have Goodyear Vivas in the front (44max)and Primewells in the back (40 max), all in very good condition so I'll run what I have for now. I want to make skirts, add a grille block and a warm air intake. She is a beaut but the scangauge does not come on when I first start up.

Thanks to all,
John

well your fine now, you probably have 195F thermostat .
Not sure on your vehicle but many older fords electric fans come on around 215-220 (which is a little high IMO ).
If it was my car while moving I wouldn't like it over 205-210 , then stopped if should come on when fans trigger it .

just make sure everything is in good shape. full coolant, radiator clean (no clogged cores) and rest of engine good shape .
Those other cars probably had combination of few things wrong or running real low on coolant .

...what's the thermostat temperature (°F), you typically shouldn't get more than 10% higher (or lower) during normal operation.

I am guessing it is 195 because it mostly hovers right around that temp. So a grille block is OK up to 205-210?

Yup. Most modern cars are a 195* t-stat, so yours likely is as well.

I wouldn't worry about 197, I would worry about 205+ though.

I would say you want to block the grill to the point it doesn't raise temps much under similar conditions .
If you avg 197-200 then block grill no more than 200-205, you don't want the blocked grill to trigger fans because you blocked to much area .

As long as your fans don't trigger until 210* or later, 210* is fine for continuous operation of a modern engine. They don't mind running warm at all.