How hot is too hot?

[Carledo]

Most of my customers run their Sprints on the 82 degree "summer" thermostat all year round (those that actually drive them in the winter) and of the several electric fans with fixed cut in/out senders I have fitted, when given the choice, customers choose 90in/85out which always strikes me personally as a little low.

But caution and fear of HGF trumps the possibilty of improved thermal efficiency and (possible) fuel consumption and smoother running benefits every time!

Steve

[cleverusername]

Most of my customers run their Sprints on the 82 degree "summer" thermostat all year round (those that actually drive them in the winter) and of the several electric fans with fixed cut in/out senders I have fitted, when given the choice, customers choose 90in/85out which always strikes me personally as a little low.

But caution and fear of HGF trumps the possibilty of improved thermal efficiency and (possible) fuel consumption and smoother running benefits every time!

Steve

Won't running the car that cold lead to richer running and premature engine wear?

[Jod Clark]

......we programmed the temp gauge steady normal from 60 degrees to 110 degrees and after that the gauge would rise again. When you stop a modern hot engine and start again after a minute the temp has also risen but cannot be seen on the gauge like you can see beautifully on the old capilairy types. Probably all car manufacturers do it this way as "modern" cars are within a few km's on operating temp and then the needle never moves again when reaching horizontal or vertical.

Just to avoid to have drivers unneccesary nervous when temp fluctuates.

Jeroen

Exactly. The temperature 'gauge' (where fitted) in all moderns is controlled by the ECU and will show centre-scale readings for any temperature from 50ish to 110ish C. This is why modern cars appear to 'suddenly overheat' as the gauge is told to show fully hot when the upper threshold is passed. My neighbour's VW Beetle has no gauge, just a blue and red light for temperature, Blue for cold and red for OH s##t THE ENGINE HAS MELTED. The vast majority of modern motorists neither want nor understand all this extra information, and car manufacturers now understand that a car which overheats is as bad as a car that rusts, so they have engineered them accordingly.

I used Sprint radiator, 92 degree thermostat and 101 degree fan switch on my OHV engines and that worked just fine. Hotter is better.