A concept of good ergonomic design of gauges is that when everything is
normal, the needle should be vertical (or horizontal-depending on the
orientation of the gauges). That allows you to scan the gauges quickly and
see if there is a problem somewhere without actually having to study the
gauges. That is why digital gauges were a failure in race cars and such. If
your temperature gauge begins to move to the right, so that it is not
vertical, theoretically it is trying to tell you that you have a problem.
With a 180 degree thermostat, the temperature should be between 180 and 200.
To determine what your safe running temperature is... test the thermostat.
Find out at what temperature it is fully open at and that is the "safe"
temperature for your car. For example, my Hillman runs a 160 degree
thermostat-it begins to open at 160 degrees and is fully open at 180.
Anything over 180 degrees indicates that I am beginning to over heat as the
cooling system is now fully working and there is no way to increase my cooling
capacity.
Jan Eyerman
1973 Hillman Avenger
1962 Hillman Minx
Lloyd Elliott <lloydel@uclink4.berkeley.edu> wrote:
So how hot is "too hot"?
All winter my S1 ran under 190. Now, going uphill on warmer days I see it
climb to 200 or more.
At what point does one start to worry?
Lloyd
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