Soooooooooo, now that I have a oil temp dip stick, whats to hot 4 this 1.7 stock engine. I drove it to Prescott and back today, bout 60 miles. When I got home it was at 185 degrees. It was like 88 degrees out side. Is this ok, and what's to hot. Just want to have a understanding since I never new what temp is good and bad.

Below 180F is too cold. 250F is "too damn hot". I prefer 212F, but others like 180-185F as a normal operating temp.

--DD

Cool, thanks 4 the info.

My 2.0L has a sticker in the engine bay saying 186 F is the proper operating temp. I think anything 185-210 is good.

So how does oil temp relate to cylinder head temp?

I think the temp reader fits under the spark plug, but I might be wrong on that.

Head temperature readings are going to be much hotter. An aftermarket single sensor type usually goes under the plug in the hottest cylinder (#3). Some folks run sensors on all 4 locations.

Pic please? I wonder who made the sticker...




They don't really relate. Oil temps are affected strongly by RPMs and air flow into/through the engine bay. Head temps are strongly affected by mixture and load. Depending on the gauge, head temps of 350F are normal, 425F would be in the too hot range.

The stock sender for head temps is only useful for the fuel injection. It's in a part of the head that reacts more slowly to temp changes than the critical areas, so it isn't a great location for a gauge sender. It also works on a different principle than the ring-type sender that goes under the spark plug, producing a completely different signal.

--DD

Mine has a VW sticker on the left side of engine bay. I was wrong on the temps it says though. It says: 122-158 degrees F.

I learned how to take pics here at 914World.

I think I need new spectacles to read that sticker picture.

122-158 degrees F?

Mine hits 100° higher than that

OK, one more pic hopefully better. Rust included in upper left corner.

As is evident by my pic, all of your motors run way too hot!!

I think the oil temp part of the emissions sticker is for a guide line when setting fuel mixture, the engine is warmed up but not running overly hot. I'm sure it was required to have a standard measurement range just for the emissions certification.

Still, I think I'm going to install an external cooler