What is the normal temperature that a 1996 cavalier runs?

I have a 1996 cavalier and the tempareature is always over half. Is this normal?

Thank you!

my 96 cavy runs in the middle, it was going over before, but i switched out the antifreeze and.. poof middleville.. so you might want to get the acidity of your antifreeze checked

normal opperating temperatures should be around 185-190 if you have a temp guage...depending what you have done on your car it could be around 200, but if it gets anywhere near 220...turn the damn thing off!!

Thanks for replying, the thing is I am a woman and I don't know a thing about cars. All I know is that the temparature stick is always at 3/4. I bought the car two months ago, I have no idea of what have been done to the car.

mine runs a little bit over the 195 mark... but ussually it stays about 195

'95-'99s don't have the degrees marked on the gauge. I had a '99 and half or below was the norm. If its running at 3/4 all the time, there is an issue somewhere. Easiest thing to check would be if there is enough coolant in the resevoir. If that doesn't work, a cooling system flush along with fresh coolant would be next. There's many other things it could be also, but thats a start.

Both the Sunfire and Cavalier run hotter than most cars, the normal is 3/4 on the gauge. Doesnt make sense to have a gauge the way they display the temp. If they run at 195, put that degrees in the damn middle so people wont think there car is running hot. There is no issue with that temp, while there are some that run cooler than others,because they alter things by changing the thromostat to a lower temp. This is normal and your car is built to run at this temp to burn the fuel and run right. Dont worry unless the temp is above 3/4. These cars are known for blown head gaskets, so its easy to do with overheating the engine.

My coolant temp on my 96 2.2 LS has been always (as long as we can remember) 1/2 mark at hight way & 5/8 to 3/4 for street driving (fan was on frequently). This week I swapped out the thermostat. Bought a 180 degree one; surprisingly the old one had the "D 180" marking too (never changed before and the car was bought new from GM dealership)... Now, the needle stay just shy of mid point and hasn't gone over 1/2 mark and I don't hear the fan running either... My vote is to change the thermostat & coolant and is a $20 job DIY...

I had the same problem.
Initially I was starting to run really really hot especially during the peak summer season. The needle would hit nearly red line. I dumped the anti freeze, changed the thermostat and put new dex cool anti freeze. On top of that, I also had a burnt out rad fan. It would never ever trigger on, so i replaced that as well. Ever since that day, I've always been a little bit before the middle heat level on my guage. Hope this is has helped you as well. *consider a burnt out rad fan! But i would defintally recommend the thermostat change and dex cool as well! It's a cheap fix! As stated as before, roughly 20$ for rad fluid and termostat. :rolleyes:

My 2001 Cavalier stays about halfway most of the time, if I'm going about 70 or 75 on the highway it might go one mark down or if I'm sitting at a red light it might go one mark up but thats about as far as I've every seen it go up...