another oil temp question ... Options

[SirAndy]

sooooo, i decided today to hook up the stock oil-temp gauge (the little one without numbers).

i tested the gauge (werks fine), i tested the wire all the way back to the sender, werks fine too.
i could NOT test the sender itself (duh, it's *IN* the engine right now).

then i took her for a drive, ran some errands, just around town, for about 30 minutes, no freeway or otherwise particular hard driving.

my question is:
what kind of oil temp should i see on a 80 deg. day after 30 minutes cruising around town ???
anyone here who can give me any references? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)


the needle barely made it about 5mm to the right of the first white stripe.
that would indicate the engine wasn't even up to operating temps.
can this be right??? oh, forgot to mention, the thermostat is removed, full airflow to the oil-cooler at all times.

thanks,
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Andy

[Demick]

All of the talk about 1/3 or 1/2 of the way up the gauge or 5mm from this white line etc is pretty useless. What you need to know is what the actual temperature of the oil is. With 30 year old gauges and senders that have been mixed and matched in a variety of ways, there is no way of knowing what the temp is unless you correlate it to real oil temps.

Easiest way is if you have an infrared temperature sensor. Shoot it directly at the sump screen plate for an accurate measurement of your oil temp. Do this for a variety of indicated temps on your gauge. Then you will know what temp corresponds to the indicated levels on the gauge.

If you want, you can even take apart your gauge and label it (although not so easy with a center console gauge).

Demick