oil temp sender testing

[juanbenae]

i have researched this topic and have found some good info on it but have a few questions. first my current situation, i recently put the numerical gauge kit with matched sender in my SC. i also have about the same time put a c2 deck lid on my car. currently i have not been able to get the car above 180 on even the most spirited of drives. the exterior thermostat is opening and i am getting circulation to my front cooler.

i suspect that the combination of cool air temps we are experiencing and the better air flow over the motor due to the 964 deck (even when not deployed in the up position) may be why i have not been able to get oil temps up. i have even run the thing on the freeway in fourth gear for a few miles this last sunday and was not able to get it up above the 180 mark. i have idled it for 20+ minutes without getting it above 180 as well.

i would be satisfied with this except i am used to my old gauge being more active, meaning it would move up and down more clearly depending on driving conditions, even in the winter's cooler months. i am not experiencing that with the new set up, and with a track day in a week or so i want to get it sorted out so i can be sure my gauge is giving me the correct readings.

i have grounded the sender wire and put the key in the on position and the gauge pegged at 300, as was noted in the many threads ive researched. i want to test the thermostat sender next. is it agreed that the boiling water submersion while hooked up with the key in the "on" position is going to be my best method of testing? i have read about boiling veggy oil but that seems a bit extreme, and oily fingers and hot liquid seems like a disaster waiting to happen. will the water work just as well and not have any adverse effects on the sender, so long as i dry it well prior to reinstall?

am i just being paranoid due to cooler weather & deck ? if my system is in good working condition, maybe it opens the exterior thermostat and that’s why its stuck at the very efficient 180?

all comments welcome

[juanbenae]

bump

[Dan in Pasadena]

Did you change the sending unit when you changed to the numerical gauge? I know that is basic but someone will ask, may as well be me!

[javadog]

Toby,

You didn't mention what cooler you have or what your ambient temperatures are but, in my neck of the woods, getting a 911's oil temp above 180 this time of year is essentially impossible. The thermostat should open just before 180 and if you have a decent cooler in the front and good airflow to it, it will have plenty of excess cooling capacity.

One of my 930s has a 28 tube brass cooler and refuses to get above 180 at highway speeds, even in the summer.

JR

[juanbenae]

yeah dan i did, second sentence. thanks for getting that out of the way for the group though .....

i have one of the 19 row in fender mocal cooler. i also have put duct inlets in my valence to get air to the cooler. air temps were prolly 60 degrees. a couple things i should have prolly been more specific about.

again, i just want to test the sender and looking to see if i am best served by using the boiling water method, or other advice.

additionally i will restate another part of my question more clearly, if others that have installed the numerical gauge in an sc, do you see alot less movement out of the numerical gauge as opposed to the stock unit?

by the way, thanks dan and jr for not letting me slip to the 2nd page again....

[javadog]

Toby,

There's more than one type of each gauge out there and I don't know which ones you are comparing, so here's some generic advice. If you have the same range between minimum and maximum temperature on both gauges, then you should see the same movement. If the new gauge has a wider range than the old one, then you might see less movement.

You might want to use an infrared, or other non-contact thermometer, at a few places between the engine and the front cooler to see what temperatures you are getting, before you test the sender.

JR

[juanbenae]

JR, thanks for you interest in my plight. i got home yesterday a bit early and got my water a boiling, pulled the sender out and jumped the wire to the new sender and with my pop's guidance i grounded the threads with another jumper wire back to the block. i would have not known that and prolly been wetting myself when i got dick on the test. grounding the sender very important grasshopper... its nice having an electrical engineer in the family at times like this, that and the support of this board.

i got the water out into the garage and dropped the sender in, it raced to 180* and sat there like a duck on a pond. i was shatting myself thinking i got a bummed sender. i then got out my pyrometer and checked the water temp, it was only 180... i thought water boiled at 212, and it does.. i then got another pan (not the one i cook my vittles in) and started boiling the water according to an old family recipe, and got my MAP torch out. set up the torch to heat one side of the pan and dropped the sender in again where the water was boiling. it shot up to 210 like it was out of a cannon.

reinstalled and very content i headed in the house and started cooking those vittles i mentioned earlier. for those of you still following it was a couple of BBQ'd pork chops, a side of salad, some steamed broccoli and a slice of french bread with a low-cal spread. it was delicious!!

thanks for the overwhelming support and offers of advice in this post, your guy's knowledge never ceases to amaze me! don't know what i do without your support. and if anybody wants a marinade recipe for these wonderful BBQ pork chops i do, PM me.

T$

[Gunter]

Thanks for the details on the test but,...............
Low-cal spread on white? Pork chops? If the salad was Iceberg lettuce, then the only nutrition (Vitamins & minerals) was in the broccoli, the rest was starch and grease with a little protein. Hmm.

Low-cal is just another word for hydrogenated poly-unsaturated fat to give the appearance of a healthier choice. The chemical process of making low-cal, or "light", is actual worse than leaving things alone. Try a soy-based organic spread; it tastes good, has good fatty substances and contains a complete, unmolested protein.

Couldn't resist

[vash]

hell, i had brown rice, small egg beater omelette, microwaved a frozen veggie mix. washed it down with hot green tea in a water glass.

toby, just found this thread. why didnt you just aim your IR at the sender? i did this on the other car, and i was off by maybe 5 degrees.

[juanbenae]

Originally posted by Gunter
Thanks for the details on the test but,...............
Low-cal spread on white? Pork chops? If the salad was Iceberg lettuce, then the only nutrition (Vitamins & minerals)

Couldn't resist

no gun, romaine hearts, purple cabbage and onion, carrots, mushrooms, and some broccoli slaw, with a home made itailan dressing. and i noted just a slice of frenchbread. i have to indulge myself a bit you know? i have lost 30 lbs in the last 9 months, so i am working on it. my cholesterol has gone down 40 points since last april, with no meds.

i eat/cook pretty good for a single guy. i have cooked for fellow pelican cbeers before after a bar visit, he can tell you how i roll out the vittles.

[Gunter]

That's more like it, sounds good.
There are so many temptations out there; I know about single-cooking.
Feels good to lose those pounds.
It all revolves around the grease-intake and fortunately for me, a couple women in my life gave me a wake-up call re: nutrition.
Keep it up.