Oil Gauge Question

paslantnose · paslantnose's Garage

Going through old posts and i don't see an oil gauge like what's in my 911.

In the picture, the oil temperature never gets above the white "divider" line.

Opinions, bad sender, bad gauge or, the oil temp really is THAT cool (bad thermostat) ?

Also. anyone be able to tell me the correct sending unit PN for this (1980SC-3.0, USA) ?

paslantnose · paslantnose's Garage

pic (attempt 2)

Early_S_Man · 02-12-2006, 02:14 PM

Most people call that the 'non-numeric' gauge ... however, as posted many times -- there ARE very, very tiny centigrade, or °C numbers along the far left edge of the dial! Get close, and use a flashlight!

paslantnose · paslantnose's Garage

FAR OUT !
I would have most likely never seen those numbers over there !
Penlight and mag glass (43 yo eyes) reveals that the gauge never goes above 90*-100*

Guess it's time to do some diagnostics to find out if it's the sender or the guage is accurate and the oil temp is always low.

THANKS s_man !

javadog · 02-12-2006, 05:01 PM

It depends on where you live, how you drive and what kind of oil cooler you have. Maybe the gauge is right. I have an '80 turbo. It's bone stock, apart from the removal of the A/C and a slightly modified front bumper. The later cars (86-on) had an opening above the right fog light on the underside of the bumper to to admit more air to the cooler and I have duplicated this. It has a 28 tube brass cooler and never gets above that same mark, even in summer. In winter, it never even gets to the mark. It is driven on the highway, generally no city or stop-and-go traffic.

JR

paslantnose · paslantnose's Garage

Mine has a front-center cooler behind a 935 style front air dam.
Would it be feasible that everything is actually working properly ?

William930t · 02-12-2006, 05:17 PM

A quick check would be to touch the oil lines at the thermostat and the front cooler after a spirited drive...are they hot?

javadog · 02-13-2006, 04:07 AM

A cooler mounted in the front bumper/valence area is dramatically more effective than anything mounted in a fenderwell. I am confident your oil temp is fine. It's hard to get much above 184F with such a setup. This is the temperature the thermostat opens and sends oil to the front cooler. It should also be about equal to the temperature that you indicated you show on the gauge.

In the winter, none of my cars gets hot enough to open the thermostat to send oil to the front cooler, in normal driving. The cooler on the engine, coupled with the air from the fan, is more than enough to cool the engine.

You have no problem.

JR