2007 Silverado 4.8 idle temperature????

[zach1990]

My dad recently purchased a 07 (gmt900 style) Silverado LS package with the 4.8 motor. He was asking today about the normal idle temperature since neither of us have any experience with electric fans. He said his normal temperature is 210 and idling in traffic it will go as high as 225. Question is is this normal for the newer trucks or is there a problem here. Temp never goes higher than 225. I did a search an can't seem to find an answer

[Doug_Scott]

My 2010 has metric gauge, but, temp stays basically straight up, maybe moving a quarter of an inch to either side. I would not trust the gauge to be actually showing 100% correctly. Grab a scan tool and see what it says temp is.

[zach1990]

That's the plan next time I can make it to his house. I've read the gauges are terrible on these trucks

[Jsdirt]

210°F on mine is straight up, high noon. I've got the 5.3. Only time I've ever seen that gauge come off center and go higher, was towing roughly 5,800 lbs up a very steep grade at 45 MPH, with the outdoor temp reading 93°F. Transmission also hit 210°. On the way down the other side, everything immediately went back to normal - 210° coolant, 185° tranny. There was only one other time in the 8 years of owning it that the same situation happened. It had only slightly come off center, and cooled off the second I crested the hill. Truck is still 100% OEM as far as the cooling system goes, including the coolant.

 

I do hate how the gauge doesn't tell you the exact temperature. It's basically a glorified idiot light.

[Chris]

That is the average reading for them. When it says 210 it is really like 195. It is just an estimate. Hook up an OBD2 tool or scanner to it and pull the live data. As for going to 225, might be the electic fans. Ive seen mine climb to 214 on the scangauge in stop and go typical California traffic that is portrayed in movies. And then both fans kick on high and it quickly drops