Normal Operating Temperature

[Carl83911]

Hello,

I have a 83 SC w/85k miles. I purchased it in December of last year as a project car. I live in California where it beginning to warm up. I've noticed that when on the road, the oil temp reads approximately below the first notch but when in stop and go trafic, the needle moves up to just a little over half. It was on 72 degrees that day.

I discovered that my heater blower isn't working and will need to replace it. Does this have anything to do with cooling while the car is stationary?

[IROC]

The blower motor isn't really involved in keeping the oil cool - don't worry about that...

As for "normal" temperature, I would say anything between 180F and 212F would be within the range of what most people call normal. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with what temps correspond to the marks on your gauge. If you look very closely at the left edge of the gauge, you should be able to see the numbers (they are very small).

Mike

[Carl83911]

As for "normal" temperature, I would say anything between 180F and 212F would be within the range of what most people call normal. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with what temps correspond to the marks on your gauge. If you look very closely at the left edge of the gauge, you should be able to see the numbers (they are very small).

Mike [/B][/QUOTE]

____

Thanks for responding Mike, I was at Tower of books on Sunday and was reading the Bently manual for 84 on. I know my car is an 83 but I found a section about Cooling that stated "The blower motor aids in cooling the engine when that car is at idle." I'm not sure if this would apply to the older 3.0.s

[Carl83911]

As for "normal" temperature, I would say anything between 180F and 212F would be within the range of what most people call normal. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with what temps correspond to the marks on your gauge. If you look very closely at the left edge of the gauge, you should be able to see the numbers (they are very small).

Mike [/B][/QUOTE]


_____

Here are pics of the Oil temp gauge. I am assuming the the minute numbers are in centigrade. I just need to convert to farenheit. I think the formula is F=Cx1.8 +32 . My gauge was up between the 90 and 120 degree centigrade mark. So, at 100 degree centigrade, converted to farenheit, My temp was up at 212 deg F. that's at the upper scale of Normal during a 72 deg weather day. Just curious when in the summer daytime temp hovers between 90 to 100 and even higher on certain days.

[Gunter]

Forget about the fan blower. Any size engine, air cooled, or water cooled, theoretically it aids in cooling the engine somewhat, but, it's minimal. Can you picture people running the fan blower on a hot day in SoCal along with the A/C?????????Your oil temp. is controlled through the big alternater-fan air cooling and the two oil coolers. Buy the Bentley SC manual; you'll find a lot of good info there.

[IROC]

IMHO, 212F in the 72F ambient conditions you were in is a little high. We've had temps in the upper 70s here lately and my 3.2 doesn't exceed 190F.

212F in and of itself isn't that bad, but if it's only 72F outside, you're going to see alot higher temps when it reaches 90F or so. You might to check the usual cuplrits to make sure everything is functioning correctly.

Mike

[Bill Verburg]

the t stats open at 80&degC (~176&degF), 80&degC - 100&degC is normal, lower end of scale is better for performance, higher end of scale is better for oil life and emissions

[Wil Ferch]

Of the two gauges shown...for the one on the right:

- lowest white block 60 degC ( 140F)
- next up white mark, 90 degC ( 194F)
- next white up, 120 degC ( 248 degF)
- lower part of next up red block, 150 degC ( 302F)

we can "estimate" these numbers as 150/200/250/300... no need for numerical gauge updates !

- Wil

[Carl83911]

Originally posted by IROC

212F in and of itself isn't that bad, but if it's only 72F outside, you're going to see alot higher temps when it reaches 90F or so. You might to check the usual cuplrits to make sure everything is functioning correctly.

Mike [/B]

_____

Thanks IROC, I'm new to the 911 scene and have a lot to learn about the Porsche. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and have worked on my BMWs mostly.

Can you give me examples of the usual overheating culprits you mentioned?

[DavidI]

Carl, about a year ago my 83SC seemed to be running extremely hot (220F) during normal driving in SoCal. What I found was that my oil temp sender was from a 81 and my gauge was from the 83. Because they did not match, I was getting the wrong temp. I ordered a gauge and sender from our host (to make sure they match-about $70) and now have an accurate reading of 190-200F.

You may want to check that as well, David

[Steve87-911]

Don't know how my 3.2 temps compare to a 3.0, but with 105k miles on her, these are my typical temps. The green arrow is for mildy-spirited driving on a 75 degree day. The yellow arrow was a 90 degree day in a traffic jam with A/C running. The red arrow was with no A/C on a cool day while I was trying to keep up with Jack and others on a fun run.

[Deschodt]

Thisis what I did on mine to solve this problem:

http://members.rennlist.com/greg/911.htm

Scroll to the carrera cooler pictures.. Heetsheets didn't hurt either !

[masraum]

Originally posted by Carl83911

Thanks for responding Mike, I was at Tower of books on Sunday and was reading the Bently manual for 84 on. I know my car is an 83 but I found a section about Cooling that stated "The blower motor aids in cooling the engine when that car is at idle." I'm not sure if this would apply to the older 3.0.s

That's only for the 3.2L models, I'm pretty sure. They have a sensor in the back that turns the fan on when the temp gets to a certain point. I don't think the SC's have the same sensor.

When one of our cars is sitting in traffic it's going to heat up. At idle with no air circulation it's just going to happen. Sitting in traffic during the summer you may see temps as high as 230 or 250. As long as it cools off when you start moving again it shouldn't be a huge problem. Everybody panics when the engine hits 250*, but the factory set the thermostat for the fan on the 3.2L models at 245*, so I don't think that temp range is the point where the engine turns molten.

[Carl83911]

Originally posted by masraum
That's only for the 3.2L models, I'm pretty sure. They have a sensor in the back that turns the fan on when the temp gets to a certain point. I don't think the SC's have the same sensor.

When one of our cars is sitting in traffic it's going to heat up. At idle with no air circulation it's just going to happen. Sitting in traffic during the summer you may see temps as high as 230 or 250. As long as it cools off when you start moving again it shouldn't be a huge problem. Everybody panics when the engine hits 250*, but the factory set the thermostat for the fan on the 3.2L models at 245*, so I don't think that temp range is the point where the engine turns molten.

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I'm wondering if I can adapt the 3.2l blower/sensor configuration to my sc 3.0 l

[IROC]

Originally posted by Carl83911
___________

I'm wondering if I can adapt the 3.2l blower/sensor configuration to my sc 3.0 l

Well,...yes, but.... Find out whether you really need to first. Check things like oil level, thermostat operation (your oil lines going to the front cooler do get hot, right?), CIS mixture (too lean will cause higher temps), no kinks or rushed oil cooler lines, etc...

In fact, I would make sure the engine is in good running order and then start checking other things. No sense in spending money if you don't have to.

Having said all of that, there are lots of options in the "oil cooler upgrade" arena.

Mike

[masraum]

You probably could adapt the 3.2L option, but for the effectiveness and cost you'd probably be better off doing something that would be more effective.