What is the ideal operating temperature for a 74 2liter with dual Weber carbs? If the oil temp gauge is reading 240 after 45 minutes on the road is this bad?

I'm thinking about getting a 914 and the owner described this as one of the cars "possible'" mechanical issues. The engine is also leaking from the valve covers.
Could these two problems be related?

Thats running fairly hot, the question is why?

Fixing the leaky valve covers is pretty easy. If its from the pushrod tubes its alot more work to fix.

Geoff

Ideal oil temp would be in the 190 to 210 range. A little hotter will work, but 240 is hotter than desireable. The valve covers leaking oil isn't related unless they've lost enough oil for the engine to be low on oil. Which can make it run hotter.

yupp, that's too hot. you should not see that kind of temp unless you are on the track pushing the car hard for a few laps ...

normal running temp should be just below 200f ...

there are a lot of reasons why a T4 will run hot.
lean mixture is one. dirt/grime in the cooling fins. plugged oil-cooler/filter etc. cooling flaps could be stuck (do you still run the thermostat?)

Andy

Don't rule out that the oil temp guage CAN be wrong. They usually are unless set up by someone who is knowledgable of these cars..
If you REALLY want to know you'll have to either check the guage or the oil temp by some other means. There are a few ways to do this, but sorta a pain, involves boiling liquid and pulling your sender.
-Bob O

To check oil temp, you can also just poke a meat thermometer (the kind with the cable and probe) down the dipstick hole. Alternatively, buy a thermistor from Radio Shack for under a buck, solder it to a length of wire, and use your DVM instead.

What do you think the head temp should be?

Apparently this car was raced a number of years ago so it's equipped with a couple of extra gauges. One gauge reads ether the cylinder or head temperature, I can't remember right now.

It depends on where the sensor is located. If it's under a spark plug, it should run about 325-375dF, depending on load.