'82 911 SC overheating

[sdmuntz82SC]

Hi all. I know there have been several threads on this topic, but wanted to get up-to-date advice.

I've had my 82 SC for a few months. Driving the snot out of it for the first three months, in all conditions (fwy, stop and go, hot days, cool days, driving hard, driving easy) the temp needle never got higher than just past the first white mark on the gauge.

Three weeks ago on a freeway cruise with outside temps in the mid-80s, the needle crept up to just over half way between the two white marks.

A week later, in stop-and-go traffic for a half hour on a warm, low-90s day, the needle went to the second mark. I made it to open road, and it cooled to just higher than half way between the two white marks - still hotter than it used to be, but not panic-inducing.

Last week, on a fwy cruise with outside temps in the high-70s, the needle moved fast to the second mark, then slowly climbed to halfway between the second mark and the red. It seemed to stop there, but I shut down to not do any damage.

I did not do anything I can think of that would cause this. I topped off the oil between the first time I noticed the needle creeping up and the stop-and-go drive. It was about a quart low before that. The oil lines are hot to the touch. The oil pressure seems good, ranging from the low end to the high end at modest to red-line revs. The oil is clean. There are no obstructions around the trombone, or atop the engine. The engine runs great and pulls strong.

I'm new to 911s, but have had (too) many old cars with chronic overheating issues, and this has my blood pressure nearing redline. Any ideas??? Thanks a million.

[cudabnu]

I'd suspect a faulty thermostat

[stlrj]

Mice have been known to store nesting material inside 911 engines.

[rgoodrich]

My sc has numbers on the guage, you might consider the upgrade, the top of the white box is 180. 9:00 is about 220. You may not have a problem. Upgrade the gauge and get hard data, you may not have a problem

[Drdogface]

And get rid of the trombone oil cooler under the rf fender.. Replace it with a Carrera cooler. I have never had a problem since.

[sdmuntz82SC]

Thanks for the ideas, all.

[Halm]

Originally Posted by Drdogface

And get rid of the trombone oil cooler under the rf fender.. Replace it with a Carrera cooler. I have never had a problem since.

Just had that done to mine as well. Excellent mod. Almost required if you live where temperatures go north of 85 for any extended amount of time.

FWIW, in a previous SC the PO had installed a turbo 28 row oil cooler. I did not find it as effective as the Carrera cooler.

[Jdub]

Immediate solutions might be to tap the thermo. to ensure it is opening at the expected temp. Like the old fuel pumps that need a whack to remind them of their duty. If you can get the car on a rack you might have someone who knows check the engine-side oil cooler for any mice activity/

Upgrades would include a new oil sender/oil temp gauge (numbered) pair - this should ease your mind about the real temp of the car. I have a 28-tube at hand but I am told by Mr. Walker that it will not be much of an upgrade over the trombone. So a Carrera w/fan (manual override switch in cabin) would be useful.

But mostly I'd like to know where you live - important to this situation. If you are in the mountains or in a mostly hot area of the country, or you DE/Track regularly you would do well to upgrade items and keep your engine as cool as possible.

[sdmuntz82SC]

I live in Southern California, near the coast. We have stretches of warm (mid-to-high 80s) weather. I haven't tracked the car, and my area is pretty flat. What is strange is that this temp issue did not appear at all for the first few months. It just started, and it doesn't seem dependent on the ambient temp or driving conditions.

Come to think of it, when I first got the car, it took a long time for it to reach operating temp. Sometimes it took 15 minutes of regular driving to reach the first temp marker. Could that be a sign that the thermostat was stuck open, and now it is sticking closed?

Since this is my first 911, I am concerned about whether this could signal a serious problem internally, or if it is most likely something external, like the cooler(s), thermostats, or fan.

I would like to upgrade to the newer cooler, but also want to make sure I'm not masking another problem. I also will go with a gauge with numbers.

[Halm]

IMHO you need a better cooler no matter what the guage says.

[cudabnu]

Where in Socal?

[sdmuntz82SC]

I'm in Huntington Beach.

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by sdmuntz82SC

I'm in Huntington Beach.

pm me.

Gerry

[stlrj]

Originally Posted by sdmuntz82SC

I would like to upgrade to the newer cooler, but also want to make sure I'm not masking another problem. I also will go with a gauge with numbers.

That's what I was thinking too. It seems that all the upgrades that are recommended would be nothing more than band aids to cover up a more serious problem.

[mca]

I'll chime in with a couple of ideas since I was chasing problems a while ago with my old engine.

Check your timing and mixture. If your mixture is overly lean, it will make your engine run hot (some injectors could be clogged, could have vacuum leak, etc)

Make sure oil is circulating. Carefully feel oil lines and trombone.

Back to my old engine. After I sold it I was notified that I had a broken valve spring. I would imagine that his could cause excessive heat as well.

[Kemo]

good advice already listed...run the car up to temp and check and see if the trombone is hot. should be pretty darn hot. If not, check thermostat. I just went thru this.

there is another thermostat on top of the motor near the 'on engine' cooler, behind the CIS. Real hard to get to without an engine drop. I dont know how often these fail.

other concerns could be a crushed oil line.

I have heard that running lean as well as running advanced timing will also push the temps up.

I ended up replacing my stock external thermostat with an OEM one and installing a Setrab 72 ROW cooler up front. Now im cool as a cucumber. I almost got a Big Mouth from Elephant. If my car was more street and less track, thats the route I would take. In any event, a stock Carrera cooler is usually enough for most people. BTW, I havent gotten past 9 oclock yet on the thermostat, even at the track.

[teenerted1]

before you replace the gadge...insure the sender is working correctly.

then start looking to upgrade the cooling.

my pressure gadge gets wakky high sometimes and it is the sender starting to go tits up. if i disconect and reattach all is good.

have you changed oil brands when you did your oil change? you say you have had it for a 3 months, and should be due for an oil change by now...
BP and other dino/dino blends oils do tend to run hotter than synthetics

[sdmuntz82SC]

Thanks again for all the advice. I really appreciate it.

[sf2oc911sc]

I got up to 220 sitting in a sig-alert on the 5 and shut down to prevent overheating and was told later by my wrench that it would have been fine till it gets to the red. He recommended a Carrera cooler with fan upgrade also. See ya around town, I'm in the Guards Red '83 with a whale tail! What does your new toy look like?

[FrinkFrog]

On my car, I replaced the trombone w/the 28 row brass Euro cooler... that improved things, as did repairing the pinched oil line where someone put a jack under it (once upon a time). Also, if you want to know numerical degrees on your current oil temperature gauge, get a small flashlight and look into the left side of the gauge - you will see the temp. numbers in small print in under the bezel. Once you see where they are, you can make a mental note as to how they correspond to the white marks. That's what I do anyway. My car is very stock and I want to keep it that way.