eighty2shark

I was out for a sunday drive when i was heading back home, my oil temp was going very high! I never went into the read but it was close to it. Also i noticed smoke coming from under my hood and the car smoked a bit when i took off. Any ideas? Hope i haven't blown anything...

7T1vette

Have you checked oil level lately? Did you have an oil lube place service the car recently?

How is the oil pressure when the engine is warmed up?

bashcraft

What was the coolant temperature?

0Willcox Corvette

You can pull the wire off the sending unit and verify the output.

Here are the output readings in respect to the gauge face reading. This should tell you if the oil is actually hot or not.

All the questions above are very valid questions and you should also consder looking in to them as well.

Face Reading - Required Ohms input

eighty2shark

I had an oil change done back when i got my brakes redone about a year ago, since then i put more oil in but i hadn't got around to changing it myself. Did not change oil since i dont drive the car that often, also my temp gauge is broken so i dont know what the coolant temp was.

eighty2shark

the oil temp got up to the hash mark past the 250 degree mark...never went into the 300 range though

0Willcox Corvette

Honestly, I've never owned a car with an oil temp gauge and I've never worried it in my cars, but without having a working temp gauge it probably would scare me too!

Anyone want to post the temps the oil is at?

One thing you should do is use the numbers I posted above and see if the sending unit and gauge is working properly. It is real easy to check.

Willcox

cargo247

i have an 81 as well and had the same thing going on.
read this

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...emp-be-on.html
Todd

spedaleden

also my temp gauge is broken so i dont know what the coolant temp was.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure what your saying because in the next post you state the oil temp got up to the hash mark past the 250 degree mark...never went into the 300 range though

How did this happen if guage is broken? or you must be talking about water temp

My temp gauge read just like the pic from Wilcox. This is when engine has been run for 45 minutes. I have never seen it go above that, no matter how long I sit in traffic on a 95 degree day.

Imo Apita

On the risk of a thread hijack; I guess the '81 or '82 came with oil temp gauges since my '79 doesn't?
I've been thinking about adding one though since the clock is right twice a day....
Which aftermarket one to use and does a '79 350 block have a location to hook it up?

gingerbreadman1977

both my electric gauges work in my 81 but i also run a mechenical oil pressure and temp seperate on the dash .. i just cant fathom driving a car without a working temp gauge. if you had smoke coming then you have a problem and there is a fair chance your motor is now a boiled egg. get a temp gauge and see what your really running at. with water temp comes oil temp...im certain your driving around with coolant or lack of coolant in the 250 range .

mikem350

You really should do a careful check on the cooling system...basic stuff, like coolant level, belts, hoses, Fans working (fan clutch), junk in front of the radiator, rad cap OK?

Oil level and quality...consider a change to 10-30 synthetic if temps still high

0Willcox Corvette

The oil temp gauge was an option on the 1980-1982 cars. This usually took the place of the clock when the digital clock moved to the radio!

If you are going to add this option it is easy to do but you should look for an original 80-82 gauge. If you find one, I have a picture of how to wire it up and it's pretty simple.. Power, Ground and Ohms wire from the sending unit.

On the 80-82 cars, this was a separate connection in the harness and not part of the printed circuit. The printed circuit was different on cars equipped with this option but all you need to do is make a slight mod to the printed circuit to get the clock power leg out of the way.

Willcox

Goody

I am pretty sure your engine is fine. I have an '81 with the oil temp guage and it goes to about 240*-250* each time I drive it and my water temp is within range as well. Never overheats, no smoke or other oddball events.

Where did the smoke come from you posted? Did you see it when you removed the oil fill cap with the engine running or???? What you describe could just be a little blowby.

Bangkok Dean

I would try to fix or replace your water temp gauge as that is one really important gauge on any car.

eighty2shark

Hey Goody...when i opened my oil cap smoke was coming from there and also looked like it was coming from my heads. while driving the smoke was coming from under the entire hood.

BoostedBusa

SOunds like you have some valve cover leaks going on. I would switch that car to a full synthetic oil and get the Water temp gauge fixed asap.

Even if the car just sits you still need to keep the oil fresh... You need to get the dang thing out and drive it instead of riding around in that Tahoe all the time...LOL

7T1vette

Without a working coolant temp gauge and with hot oil temp gauge and "smoking", your engine was overheating and the oil temp was shooting up as a result. You may have 'cooked' your engine by running it really hot. Or, you may be lucky and it didn't go hot enough to do significant damage. [Keep your fingers crossed.] Get your coolant gauge working...or add an alternate one to the engine...before you fire it up again; then find out what's going on with the cooling system in your car. Hope it didn't do too much damage, but smokin' oil is NOT a good thing.

Mike Ward

You guys need to look at how old posts are before replying.