Ron's 914, High oil temp Options

[Ron914]

Hello all,
It's been about 4 months since I passed my smog test and thought I would be on the way to finally be able to drive my 4 year project .

Well I have been enjoying driving it but only for short trips around town because I feel it has a high oil temperature problem . This is after a short drive around town of 30 minutes . A 45 minute drive will bring the needle on the gauge right to the red zone ,which looking at Phil's calibration photo would indicate about 250F , I don't continue to drive once I get to 250F and pull over and let its cool .



Not exactly sure why or if it really is high ( I don't want to damage my new motor ) but I was given a few things to check by the members hers @Superhawk996 , @emerygt350 .

First I checked my oil Temperature sensor to verify type and operation.

It is a VDO 200 C sensor .


I have the later oil gauge . I removed the sensor and placed it in 212F boiling water and it seems within the correct range on the console gauge .

I am using a Efeng turkey fryer thermometer to check against the gauge in console . The thermometer is accurate . The gauge ( apex seems close to the same reading



There was a discussion the other day on this subject with the question of whether missing a cooling tin on bottom of engine could cause the overheating problem @930cabman .

I have the same issue as I have the tin that the shift rod passes through removed because it the shit rod comes into contact with the tin installed and it shifts better with it removed .

Wondering if I should work on getting it reinstalled to help my cooling ?


I have also worked on the cooling flaps /thermostat but will start a new post for those questions .

I saw a comment about the type of oil . It sounds like Synthetic oil might be a better choice for air cooled oil .

I currently have no oil in my motor and was wondering if Mobil Syn oil would be better than putting back in the Valvoline VR1 20-50W ?

[emerygt350]

Definitely a problem with the line or the gauge or the sender. I can't remember which direction it works in but I think it would be easy to pull it and put a multimeter on that circuit a d see where it is with just the key turned not running cold engine. If it is where it's supposed to be you know the gauge is funky. I am betting the line or the sender is the problem though. I would have to check mine to know what 0 temp resistance would be. Maybe someone on this thread knows. I seem to have a memory of something like that happening on my car. There is no way to wire that backwards is there? Maybe try swapping leads.

26 minutes to 212 seems pretty quick unless you are on the freeway or climbing hills.

There is a pressure relief system that keeps high pressure (cold) oil out of the oil cooler. Do you have an oil pressure gauge? If your pressure never drops below that level the oil will not enter the cooler and it will get hotter until it does.

If there is a high pressure pump in your motor, and your clearances are all tight, that might be your problem. I would try some high quality 10w30 just to see what happens. Use something like mobil1 classic car 10w30. Cheap at walmart.

I am certain the plug isn't in tight. Don't force it. If you strip it or cross thread it you are out of luck. Pull it, look it over, see if you can bend that ring in a way it won't get cockeyed as you thread in the plug. It's tough on my car so I rarely pull plug 3 unless I really need to. When I put mine back in I really take my time and I don't tighten it unless I am really confident it's not cross threaded.

[Ron914]

Definitely a problem with the line or the gauge or the sender. I can't remember which direction it works in but I think it would be easy to pull it and put a multimeter on that circuit a d see where it is with just the key turned not running cold engine. If it is where it's supposed to be you know the gauge is funky. I am betting the line or the sender is the problem though. I would have to check mine to know what 0 temp resistance would be. Maybe someone on this thread knows. I seem to have a memory of something like that happening on my car. There is no way to wire that backwards is there? Maybe try swapping leads.

26 minutes to 212 seems pretty quick unless you are on the freeway or climbing hills.

There is a pressure relief system that keeps high pressure (cold) oil out of the oil cooler. Do you have an oil pressure gauge? If your pressure never drops below that level the oil will not enter the cooler and it will get hotter until it does.

If there is a high pressure pump in your motor, and your clearances are all tight, that might be your problem. I would try some high quality 10w30 just to see what happens. Use something like mobil1 classic car 10w30. Cheap at walmart.

I am certain the plug isn't in tight. Don't force it. If you strip it or cross thread it you are out of luck. Pull it, look it over, see if you can bend that ring in a way it won't get cockeyed as you thread in the plug. It's tough on my car so I rarely pull plug 3 unless I really need to. When I put mine back in I really take my time and I don't tighten it unless I am really confident it's not cross threaded.

I really do not know what oil pump was replaced by the guy who put the motor together just that he did not like the one that came with the car so he installed a new one $30 or 40 .

I bought an oil pressure gauge but it is a 60 mm and I don't have the sending unit yet
,I will be posting this for sale later .

I built another gauge panel and want to convert to all 52mm gauges . I will probably take me a month or so to get the parts together to switch over .

I did make an offset bend (like a spatula ) to make it easier . I agree and really do not like changing the #3 plug . I used some di-electeric grease on the threads but it just seemed like too many turns on the ratchet ,although there not full turns as access sucks

The resistance I feel just might be the ring seating down into that hole but again . I'll give that another go in the morning but don't think it will help my overheating ?

I have a few gauges in my want list do you happen to know if a 52mm VDO 310012 oil temp gauge 120-300F will work with the factory sending unit ( it is a single lead case grounded )