Temperature Sending Unit

[Mango]

Here I go Again
Temperature Gauge reading Low, old one would read just below 210 then it would no longer read above 120 might have something to do with accidentally spraying some PB Blaster on it when preparing to remove the O2 sensor OOPS
Installed a New Temp Sensor it had some teflon tape on it, Now Gauge reads just above 210?
What is the normal temp on these old 350s with a 195 thermometer
89 Burb with 197,000 miles
Thanks

 

[HotRodPC]

These gauges are not perfect. If you have a 195 and it's reading at 210 then I'd call it good. You can pretty much forget the #'s on these gauges. They're a ball park. You can use the needle as a benchmark, or KNOW what's normal. So if it's reading a tad over 210 now and it's not overheating, then that's your new normal. So now you know if it goes over that, then you know it's running warmer than normal or HOT.

 

[Chevy 88]

I agree, the numbers on the gauge don't really need to be there. Learning the needle position is what matters. If it were a clock with only an hour hand - Mine would run at 12:00 and go as high as 12:30. I flushed the system and changed the fan / shroud design, and clock went down to 11:00 and stays there all the time.

Also, for about $13 you can get one of these on Amazon, so that you can see what the gauge position actually means:

 

[Mango]

@Edelbrock I have a Temp Pointed at the Temp Sending unit read 150 ish Would that be a good Location to check?

 

[Chevy 88]

@Edelbrock I have a Temp Pointed at the Temp Sending unit read 150 ish Would that be a good Location to check?

Its best to take multiple readings from different parts of the engine, but you want to stay away from the exhaust manifolds / headers.

What ever area gives you the highest reading is the most accurate temp. The inlet of the radiator, various spots on the intake manifold, front of the heads, etc. Doesn't hurt to take a temp reading on the bottom of the oil pan, just for a more rounded picture of the overall engine temps.

 

[fast 99]

After it's been running for a time thermostat housing or the area near stat on intake. Reading will be slightly lower than actual coolant temp.

 

[Ricko1966]

Here I go Again
Temperature Gauge reading Low, old one would read just below 210 then it would no longer read above 120 might have something to do with accidentally spraying some PB Blaster on it when preparing to remove the O2 sensor OOPS
Installed a New Temp Sensor it had some teflon tape on it, Now Gauge reads just above 210?
What is the normal temp on these old 350s with a 195 thermometer
89 Burb with 197,000 miles
Thanks

You do not that all the senders are not the same. They vary by year so your sender needs to match the year of your gauge. You can tell the correct sender by reading resistance values. I do not have them memorized. Found it for you.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[xm20k]

The stock gauges in these trucks are far from accurate and are just more of a heads up when something is a bit off so to speak.

 

[Snoots]

Temp Sensor should NOT have Teflon tape on it. Remove the sensor, clean the threads and put some copper anti-seize on them. For the sensor to work it needs a clean shot to ground.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Temp Sensor should NOT have Teflon tape on it. Remove the sensor, clean the threads and put some copper anti-seize on them. For the sensor to work it needs a clean shot to ground.

a dab of liquid thread sealer is fine.. but they should be taper fit pipe thread.. no? The sealer would be to prevent seizing and incidental liquid maybe

i just wouldnt want copper antiseize near the coolant

 

[Snoots]

I just use a light coat. Nothing like Tammy Faye Bakers' makeup.

 

[HotRodPC]

You can also get a temo SWITCH if you want. Many times you can do the research on a SWITCH and it'll tell you at what Temp the SWITCH is Activated. So some can come on a 240, some 260. I had nice manual, not electric, but manual Stewart Warned gauges in my street.strip truck. With that biggo cam I had, driving in Los Angeles traffic coming home from work, 220-230 was common and that's with an electric fan and a big azz custom built 4 core radiator and it still ran hot. I had a 180 degree thermostat in it cuz you don't want to be rappin' on a cold engine and bending rods and possibly valves. For the idiots iike my gf or myself when tired and not paying attention to the gauges, I had idiots lights. A blue light for cold. The truck didn't move until that blue light went off, those were the rules. Then a yellow light came on at about 230 and Red came on at 260 and the rule was, any RED light come on, shut the truck off and get to the side of the road or in a parking lot. Had the same for oil pressure. If any Red light came on, shut it off. If the Yellow temp light came on, start watching that gauge. There were some very hot days, like heat wave days in LA over 100 degrees, that truck would get up to 240-250 sitting in traffic so I'd pull it over and wait for traffic to die down before I went home. Back in those days, me and my buddies, what we raced was our daily driver so it happened at times. But yes, if you wish, you can find you a switch that has a COLD and a HOT. The cold light would stay on til about 100, and 240ish, the hot light comes on. It's simple to do. Just add a red pilot light on your dash and make it hot off the ign key switch, then ground goes to the SWITCH that you mount in the head or intake just like you would a temp sender for a guage. Then when the switch activates, it's grounded and it makes the light come on at the dash.

 

[Ricko1966]

You can also get a temo SWITCH if you want. Many times you can do the research on a SWITCH and it'll tell you at what Temp the SWITCH is Activated. So some can come on a 240, some 260. I had nice manual, not electric, but manual Stewart Warned gauges in my street.strip truck. With that biggo cam I had, driving in Los Angeles traffic coming home from work, 220-230 was common and that's with an electric fan and a big azz custom built 4 core radiator and it still ran hot. I had a 180 degree thermostat in it cuz you don't want to be rappin' on a cold engine and bending rods and possibly valves. For the idiots iike my gf or myself when tired and not paying attention to the gauges, I had idiots lights. A blue light for cold. The truck didn't move until that blue light went off, those were the rules. Then a yellow light came on at about 230 and Red came on at 260 and the rule was, any RED light come on, shut the truck off and get to the side of the road or in a parking lot. Had the same for oil pressure. If any Red light came on, shut it off. If the Yellow temp light came on, start watching that gauge. There were some very hot days, like heat wave days in LA over 100 degrees, that truck would get up to 240-250 sitting in traffic so I'd pull it over and wait for traffic to die down before I went home. Back in those days, me and my buddies, what we raced was our daily driver so it happened at times. But yes, if you wish, you can find you a switch that has a COLD and a HOT. The cold light would stay on til about 100, and 240ish, the hot light comes on. It's simple to do. Just add a red pilot light on your dash and make it hot off the ign key switch, then ground goes to the SWITCH that you mount in the head or intake just like you would a temp sender for a guage. Then when the switch activates, it's grounded and it makes the light come on at the dash.

Did you read the info I put up for this guy regarding electric fans,4 core radiators,but most importantly look at the published specs vs. the actual specs on the fans that I put up. Maybe a fan change will help you. Some of the advertised electric fan specs are grossly inaccurate.

 

[HotRodPC]

Did you read the info I put up for this guy regarding electric fans,4 core radiators,but most importantly look at the published specs vs. the actual specs on the fans that I put up. Maybe a fan change will help you. Some of the advertised electric fan specs are grossly inaccurate.

No I didn't read that, but I know you're right about the specs being wrong. I don't have that problem anymore. That street/strip is long gone. I sold it when my son was born and I had my first back surgery.