Ready for Vegas?

220 at idle in traffic is okay.

at speed it is way too high

do you hear boiling, bubbling when you shut car off? that is bad thing.

If you can see 220, park the car and walk away without noise or fluid hitting the ground, I would suspect your gauge or sender. Gauges are notorious for not being true. Try putting a candy making thermometer in the surge tank and starting the car. see if the gauge matches the tank as things warm up.

take it from there.

Larry

quote:

Originally posted by Keithstoy:
Hi, I just need some opions on #1447. I think I am ready for Vegas except about the engine, I think it might be running warm. I have a rebuilt stock radiator with two 800 cfm pusher fans, (brand new). I drive the car to max temp (approx 30 miles), and the gauge reads 220 degrees and never goes up from they're. I can grab any of the hoses and squeeze them and hold them for about 4-5 seconds before I have to let go! Should I get a digital gauge on it(have to buy one first)to check correct temp of engine? Or not worry about it?

A hand held digital temperature gun is the way to go to find out what your engine cooling system is doing. Let it get warmed up, then shoot the thermostat outlet pipe and the radiator outlet line. This will tell you what your radiator and engine is doing.

From what you are saying about the hose, I don't think that you are running at 220 degrees. Stock Pantera gauges are known for not reading the correct temperature and oil pressure. The question of why there is not a Veglia sending unit to match the oil pressure and temperature gauge never made any sense to me and I have yet to hear an answer to that question since I bought my Pantera in 1977.

I recently purchased a digital laser thermometer, and took some readings after the gauge read 220. The upper rad hose was 184 and the lower hose was 164 degrees. The overflow tank read 160 and the hottest part of the block was at 169 degrees. So I added another resistor, I may still need to add another one. So the car is running ok although the overflow tank is almost full when hot and nearly empty when cold the next morning. Is this much expansion normal?? Also has alot of hot ambient air in cabin too??

quote:

Originally posted by Keithstoy:
I recently purchased a digital laser thermometer, and took some readings after the gauge read 220. The upper rad hose was 184 and the lower hose was 164 degrees. The overflow tank read 160 and the hottest part of the block was at 169 degrees. So I added another resistor, I may still need to add another one. So the car is running ok although the overflow tank is almost full when hot and nearly empty when cold the next morning. Is this much expansion normal?? Also has alot of hot ambient air in cabin too??

You might still have some air in the system because the main surge tank level should not drop that far from hot to cold. If you are getting a lot of hot air into the passenger compartment, check the bellows seal on the shift linkage and the seal on the steering wheel shaft going through the floor. I just changed the bellows seal on the steering shaft on my car and it eliminated all of the hot air coming into the car.

Most likely you are not too hot, especially if you can hold onto a hose. In cant even touch an upper rad hose in a normal car when it is NOT overheating. I suggest you get a mechanical gauge and like many people, install it in your rear window. You can use the hole in the pipe that goes from the thermostat to the swirl tank as a place to insert the sensor. This gives you a good double check.

The overflow tank now moves only about an inch from hot to cold and not much in the way of cabin heat either, but damn it's cold in Colorado!!!!