Is my car really running hot?

[gforbess at attglobal.net (Gordon Forbess)]

On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 03:10:33 +0000, "matt" <matt@safearmy.com> wrote:

>According to the temp gauge my 84 is running extremly hot. on hot days on the highway the needle is touching the bottom dot at the top of the gauge. basically just before the red. According to the MFA my oil temps are in  220-225f  range. seems normal right? If the car is really on the verge of overheating shouldn't the oil temp be higher. The car is not losing coolant. has a  pretty new water pump and pretty new radiator. so i'm not sure why is would be running hot. Maybe it's just a bad temp sender?

I'd be concerned about oil temps in that range.  Standard practice in
the past (like mid-80s when I built my car) was to keep the oil temp
at 180F, which a real oil cooler with a thermostat will do.  Even a
bone stock motor will benefit and anything beyond that makes it a
necessity.  http://pws.prserv.net/gforbess/scirocco/cooler.jpg

I was surprised a few weeks ago when I replaced my corroded water pipe
with a new (larger diameter A2) one and saw the normal water temp drop
almost a needle width.

 

Gordon
75 Mk I/Drake 1.9
http://pws.prserv.net/gforbess/scirocco/scirocco.htm