Date: 6 July 1993
From: ghall@hebron.connected.com (Richard Hall)
Subject: How hot is too hot?
I have been following the recent discussion about
overheating. In 70 deg weather my Triumph Stag runs one to two
needle-widths below red on the temperature gauge. Creeping along
in traffic sends it into the red. My own testing and that of a
garage indicate that this (the usual spot below the red zone)
corresponds to an actual temperature of about 200 to 210 deg F.
Is this excessively hot? Everyone with anything to say about
Stags talks about what to do to prevent overheating, but never
says what this temperature (overheated) is.
The manual specifies an 82 deg C. thermostat, which it
claims should start to open at about 180 deg F and be fully open
at 200 to 205 deg F. I am using an 82 deg C thermostat that
starts to open at about 190 deg F and is open fully at 200 or
so. Which curiously enough is what the car runs at. At the next
anti-freeze change, I planned to put in a lower rated thermostat
just to see if I could get further away from the red on the
gauge. But should I?
I also just bought a new sender for the temperature gauge
which makes it read even higher than the old one. TRF indicates
that it is one-size-fits-all now when it comes to senders for
Triumphs. I have been thinking of getting a mechanical gauge
with actual numbers on it. But, assuming that it is accurate, I
still won't know how hot is too hot. At least it won't have that
nerve racking red zone.
Richard Hall
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Richard Hall, ghall@hebron.connected.com
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