temp gauge senders help please

[MaSnaka]

I have the Stewart Warner electric gauges in my car. I replaced my water temp and oil temp senders with these;

Stewart Warner 114873 - Stewart Warner Performance Gauge Sending Units - Application - SummitRacing.com

Now my temps are reading higher than I like and I'm wondering if I put in the wrong senders. I notice Summit has several listed with gauge temp values for instance a 280f water temp and a 320f oil temp. Before the one I listed above was the only one availible.

The water temp seems good as my fan comes on at 195f with the auto fan switch which is set at that same 195f temp but the temp will creep up to about 225 while sitting at a light, hot/warm or cool day. I pulled the radiator to see if it was clogged and it checked out fine.

The oil temp likes 220f but will not hesitate to creep up near 280f (no oil cooler) stopped at a light or spirited driving. It does not matter.

The engine runs great and does not seem like it's overheating, no bad smells or extreme heat radiating off the block.

My side pipes are ceramic coated and the coating is comming off at the bend and just in front of the muffler. The guy who does the coating says that it's possible the pipes are getting too hot for the material to stick. He has already redone them once.

Are all these symtoms trying to tell me something?

Thanks...I'm open to ideas.

John

[Gaz64]

John,

Both liquids are "coolant", if one is heating up, the other might go up also.

The thermostat dictates the minimum operating temp, the radiator dictates the maximum operating temp.

When moving at 30mph, the radiator should be capable of keeping the temp at the thermostat temperature.

If the engine begins to overheat only when stationary, you have two options:

Larger capacity radiator (BTUs), and/or larger capacity fan (CFM).

[strictlypersonl]

Go to the Stewart-Warner site, look up your current gauges and their appropriate senders. Match that number to the number listed on the Summit page.

[Dwight]

check you timing and the air fuel ratio. If the pipes are getting hot then your to lean. Timing and fuel


Dwight

[MaSnaka]

StrictlyPersonl- I checked the SW site and may have purchased the wrong senders for my gauges. I will re-order and see what happens. Thanks for the tip.

Dwight- I had my engine dyno tuned and dialed in with the timing and AF ratio a couple years ago. The problem was putting the air cleaner (large flat oval style) back on, everything went back to rich. I have since milled off the choke horn to open it up a bit but I can't see doing that would make it too lean. Timing hasn't changed either. I'll see if I can get another af reading. Thanks for bringing that up because it would explain the hot pipes.

Gaz64- My guy at the radiator shop said I have plenty there to keep the engine cool. He suggested I bring the running car in so he can measure the temps with his gun to verify the gauge reading. I just haven't done that yet. I'm leaning towards the senders as the problem. Thanks.

John

[Dwight]

Sear and some parts stores sells a Digital Infrared Thermometer Gun for $40-$80. I use one to check temp at the headers, heads, sending units, hoses, radiator,etc.
Very useful tools.

Dwight