Thermal modeling and simulation of IC engines have attracted considerable attention from the research community in the last three decades. An accurate understanding of the IC engine's heat gradient would help enhance the engine's efficiency. Researchers have used software developed by multiple vendors. Using the Using not only help in better understanding but will also aid in reducing the design time and research effort of engineers. The simulation would also aid engineers in studying engine performance without using expensive prototyping and physical testing. This will bring the cost of design and hence the total product cost. An effort has been made in this work (i) to study the various approaches proposed by researchers in studying engine performance by performing the thermal simulation (ii) to figure out research gaps and (iii) to provide future directions. The research contribution would help academicians, researchers, and practitioners pursue further research in the thermal simulation of IC Engines.