Thermostat testing and engine temps

[madmaxx]

Thanks, I have never ever felt comfortable with the engine or oil temp. Now the oil hangs around 5C hotter than the coolant all the time. I will probably remove my plexiglass from the oil cooler. It reached operating temp in 2.5 miles. I know because I run and when I left my house I drove through the neighborhood to ensure no leaks and looked down at it was at 92C, at my halfway point then settled at 85C. Prior it would take 7 or 8 miles. Outside temp in Houston tonight was 65F.

[PANAVIA]

Good Stuff Madmaxx. -- it is a good thing to get your oil up to the point of burning off condensation.

We have seen a ton of over cooling problems and it shortens engine life severely.

[madmaxx]

As you can imagine I cannot leave well enough alone. True my temp hangs around 82C but stopped at a light for long time and it will climb to 100C and the radiator fans kick on which cools the engine temp to 98C and then the kick off . I found one fan is actually enough to maintain any temp. My plan is to wire one fan to come on at 92C (196F) intake manifold temp and leave the remaining to come on at 100C (212). This will minimize thermal cycling, just like in your everyday car, wow, that would be nice. Now the stock switch is located in the radiator and comes on at 92C (196F) and off at 87C (186F). Please remember this is in the radiator, the engine cooling temp is in the intake manifold. That is why I get 100C on engine temp before the radiator kicks on at 92C. My plan is to look for an empty port on the intake manifold and buy a switch and wire it to one fan. Then one fan kicks on at 92c off at 87C. The other will kick on when the radiator gets to 92C. Switch is only about $17.00, wire to rerun existing power to new switch $3.00. Total mod $30.00 and my engine coolant temp will be as stable as any car and at the correct temp. Guess the next time I will need to spend $50k on a roller to get this technology.

Option b, just unplug the cold leg of one fan and run one all the time. with one fan running you do not even notice a blip in the amp gauge. If for some strange reason you get in a hurrican evacuation line for 4 hours, jump out open hood and plug other fan back in. LOL

[GEE TEE]

After much research and discussion, I decided to go with the simple plan and replace my high dollar Bosch thermostat with the cheap Duralast. On my inaugural drive to the weekly club breakfast gathering, my new Smiths water temp guage stayed rock steady at 78C during my 50 mile drive where I ran 55-70MPH in 40F ambient temps. While idling for ridiculously long lights in holiday shopping traffic, the temp reached just over 90C before the fans kicked in and quickly brought it back down to 85C. I guess I can say that my overcooling issues are solved. It was also nice to see the engine reach operating temps in a couple of miles instead of tens of miles; a nice bonus as we enter the winter driving season.

I really like MADMAXX's idea for staged fan operation and I'll be looking into it this winter.

Contrary to what I've seen posted regarding the Smith's mechanical guages, the new guage responds very quickly to temp changes as the thermostat opens.

[madmaxx]

The smith water temp gauge is extremely responsive and accurate. It is as good as any electric gauge for out purposes.

The temperature sending unit and corresponding sending tube is filled with ether (starting fluid) and temp causes the gas to expand, gauge moves up. It reacts instantenous. I know my spelling is horrible LOL