Wondering if a couple of things are normal - hot car

igeak691

Member
Just noticed today (maybe cause its getting pretty hot) that after I drive my car, everything gets too hot to the touch. Of course, not only talking about the engine block and coolant, but also the hood and radiator cover in the front. I noticed this because I leaned to clean a spot on my hood and it just seemed abnormally hot. Almost too hot to touch. The coolant radiator cover is definitely too hot to touch, sometimes for a full hour or two after shutting the car. I wonder if this is normal, it seems my car has been running fine, no loss of coolant or oil, no overheating. So I'm wondering if this is the same for everyone else.

Also, after driving car if you open the oil filler cap does a little oil smoke come out? Should I be worried about this, as it may be slowly burning oil and then the smoke can potentially leave via the PCV valve leading to loss of oil over time. (Is this normal because the m54 engines are known to burn a little oil every few thousand miles?)
 
My car is similar, the hood is hot to the touch but the temperature gauge always displays mid-range. So I too am wondering if this is normal.
 
Temp gauge is the coolant temp though.. I'm thinking about checking via obdII the oil temp as I'm driving along. Wonder if its hitting above 210-220 fahrenheit, which it should be. Wondering if that's the reason the engine oil is smoking a bit when I open up the filler cap.
 
Radiator fan working? Can you sit in traffic on a hot day, indefinitely?
 
igeak691 said:
Temp gauge is the coolant temp though.. I'm thinking about checking via obdII the oil temp as I'm driving along. Wonder if its hitting above 210-220 fahrenheit, which it should be. Wondering if that's the reason the engine oil is smoking a bit when I open up the filler cap.
The temperature gauge is telling you the temperature of your engine isn't it? If it says normal, I wouldn't worry.
 
If your engine coolant temp is normal then oil mist under the oil filler cap is nothing to worry about at all and is very common. As long as you are checking oil levels regularly and oil use is within spec, with no leaks then you can relax and :driving:
 
All sounds perfectly normal to me. 105c+ water system, exhausts at a few hundred and a hot block. It's all going to burn to touch if you are soft or brave enough to poke around.

Alloy bonnet and no insulation will feel very hot.

If water and oil levels are correct, and temp gauge in the range then just drive and enjoy it. If you had a cooling problem it would boil over the moment you stopped at traffic lights...
 
Thanks for all the replies.. makes me feel better about the car. The fact that it has never overheated on me no matter how hot it is and how hard I drive makes me feel that the car is fine. Time for some autocross :thumbsup:
 
I was fixing a chip on the bonnet yesterday and I had to stop because it was too hot to touch even though the car never started that day, so pretty normal I guess !!
 
benv6 said:
I was fixing a Ship on the bonnet yesterday and I had to stop because it was too hot to touch even though the car never started that day, so pretty normal I guess !!
Now that I would like to see!
 
benv6 said:
I was fixing a Ship on the bonnet yesterday and I had to stop because it was too hot to touch even though the car never started that day, so pretty normal I guess !!

I'd park further from the harbour next time...
 
cj10jeeper said:
benv6 said:
I was fixing a Ship on the bonnet yesterday and I had to stop because it was too hot to touch even though the car never started that day, so pretty normal I guess !!

I'd park further from the harbour next time...

I will have to blame it on predicted text !!! :oops:
 
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